Politics

ZAGREB, 31 January, 2021 - Croatia has many advantages from EU membership, as confirmed by the adoption of the EU budget which guarantees €24.5 billion in the next seven years, but for Croatian farmers it also means that older member states' market surpluses end on the Croatian market at dumping prices, MP Marijana Petir has said. She was speaking in a debate on the future of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and Croatia's adjustment to reforms, organised in Zagreb last Tuesday by the European Parliament's Croatian office in cooperation with the Croatian parliament's Agriculture Committee, which Petir chairs. She said that after the adoption of…

ZAGREB, 31 January, 2021 - Deputy Prime Minister Boris Milošević said on Sunday that according to the information available to him, the bill on the post-earthquake reconstruction would be put to the vote on Thursday, and he expects all political parties to show consensus rather than one-upmanship considering this topic. "The information I have is that the bill will be put to the vote on Thursday, the parliamentary majority is stable," Miloševic, who is a vice chairman of the task force for dealing with the 29 December earthquake, told the national radio on Sunday morning. "I hold that the law on the…

January 31, 2021 – The Croatian Embassy in Sarajevo was last night again the target of an aggressive act. The flag of the European Union, which hung above the entrance, was ripped from its mounting and left lying on the ground in the darkened street The Croatian Embassy Sarajevo was attacked last night. Zagreb-based media Vecernji List learned the news from their sister title in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A wall mounting that jointly held poles carrying both the Croatian flag and the flag of the European Union were the focus of the attack. Someone tried to rip the metal mounting…

ZAGREB, 30 January, 2021 - SDP leader Peđa Grbin said on Saturday that the HDZ, the prime minister and the parliament speaker were responsible for the non-adoption of amendments to the law on post-earthquake reconstruction, noting that the Opposition's quorum-breaking on Friday was not politicking but politics. Amendments to the law on post-earthquake reconstruction were not passed because of two people, Andrej Plenković and Gordan Jandroković, the leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) told reporters during a visit to the eastern town of Beli Manastir, where he presented the party's candidate for mayor. The Opposition on Friday broke the quorum…

ZAGREB, 30 January, 2021 - Petrinja Mayor Darinko Dumbović has said that the Opposition's quorum-breaking on Friday, which resulted in the parliament not adopting the amended law on post-earthquake reconstruction, is "the biggest disgrace ever", noting that earthquake victims want solutions and not divisions. "This is the biggest disgrace, a disgrace for the Opposition, the We Can!, the SDP and others, it's a disaster, what kind of message is that to people in Banovina," Dumbović said on Saturday while touring locations in Petrinja where work was being launched to demolish buildings damaged beyond repair in a 6.2 earthquake that hit Sisak-Moslavina County on 29…

AGREB, 30 January, 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Saturday that by breaking the quorum in the parliament on Friday, which was why amendments to the law on post-earthquake reconstruction were not voted in, the Opposition had "impudently turned its back" on earthquake victims in the Banovina region. "Not only did they not enable the adoption of the law on post-earthquake reconstruction, they also prevented the declaration of the Exclusive Economic Zone in the Adriatic and the adoption of the National Development Strategy, which reveals an unbelievable degree of political destructiveness and lack of political culture," the PM said…

ZAGREB, 29 January, 2021 - The Conflict of Interest Commission on Friday launched proceedings against Tourism and Sport Minister Nikolina Brnjac for her failure to declare a speed boat her husband owns in her Declaration of Assets in a timely fashion. The complaint notes that Brnjac and her husband obtained a valuable asset without a loan and failed to declare the Jeanneau Leader 805 speed boat registered in her husband's name on her Declaration of Assets. The applicant of the complaint claimed that Brnjac's husband only declared a small vessel while failing to declare the new vessel purchased in 2018 that is valued at…

ZAGREB, 29 January, 2021 - PM Andrej Plenković said on Friday that his HDZ party will not forget that the opposition broke the quorum in parliament due to postponement of a vote on abolishing the mandatory membership fee for the Croatian Chamber of Commerce at a time when HDZ MP Miroslav Tudjman was in hospital due to COVID-19. "One of our MPs is in hospital because of COVID-19 and they did exactly what I thought they would. This is not about the quorum but about the fact that Mr Tudjman is unable to attend. That is a very important message. The Opposition broke the…

ZAGREB, 29 January, 2021 - Croatian MEP Karlo Ressler (HDZ/EPP) has been appointed the European Parliament's rapporteur and negotiator on the EU budget for 2022, his office said on Friday. Ressler is the youngest budget rapporteur in the history of the EP, assuming one of the most important roles ever held by a Croatian MEP, his office said. He said the next two years would be crucial for economic and social recovery and that special emphasis would be put on those most affected by the COVID-19 crisis as well as on digital and green transformation, investment in quality jobs, science and research. The budget must…

ZAGREB, 29 January, 2021 - Due to the lack of quorum in parliament on Friday the usual voting on discussed items was postponed, including on amendments to legislation related to post-earthquake reconstruction, the declaration of an Exclusive Economic Zone in the Adratic and so on. Voting is postponed until conditions allow and that won't be today, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic said after establishing that conditions to conduct voting did not exist as only 75 MPs were present instead of the necessary 76. Prior to that, MP Zvonimir Troskot (MOST) called out Jandroković for allowing the parliament to turn into a circus because he…