Politics

ZAGREB, October 5, 2020 - SDP leader Pedja Grbin has said that he will borrow what he considers the best traits of his predecessors - Ivica Racan's calmness, Zoran Milanovic's directness and Davor Bernardic's perseverance but that he will not repeat their mistakes regarding lack of communication with party colleagues. In an interview with national broadcasters on Sunday, the newly-elected leader of the Social Democratic Party said that it was his predecessors' character qualities and communication with party members that he planned to build the new SDP on, which would then be able to deal with problems bothering Croatian citizens. Grbin noted that the public in Croatia…

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes on the 4th of October, 2020, the fighter procurement project, which is ongoing and should be completed by the end of this year by selecting bidders and signing contracts, could finally abolish visas and double taxation for Croatia with the United States, but still leave us outside the Eurozone and Schengen - but maybe, just maybe... it could be the other way around. If American planes equal the removal of American visas, do French planes equal Croatia in Schengen? Although after the collapse of last year's tender, and then with the arrival of the coronavirus…

ZAGREB, October 4, 2020 - Defence Minister Mario Banozic said on Sunday that all four offers of fighter jets were equal for now, and that a lot of technical issues needed to be addressed before the financial aspect. Groups of experts are studying the details of the offers which include not just multi-purpose fighter aircraft but also weapons systems, flight simulators and further training of pilots and technical personnel, Banozic said in response to questions form the press during a traditional military pilgrimage to the Marian shrine of Marija Bistrica, northwest of Zagreb. There are a lot of technical issues that…

ZAGREB, October 4, 2020 - New Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Pedja Grbin said on Saturday night that he wanted to be warned about mistakes as he had warned Davor Bernardic. Grbin dismissed the idea that he had wanted to overthrow Davor Bernardic, saying that he was merely reacting to what he considered bad and added that he expected his colleagues to do the same. Grbin said that there would be no suspensions or dissolutions of party organisations and that they would work on strengthening the existing organisations and establishing new ones across Croatia. He announced that the provision on…

ZAGREB, Oct 3,  2020 - Pedja Grbin has become the fourth leader of Croatia's strongest opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) after defeating his leadership opponent in an election run-off on Saturday. Slightly over 11,500 SDP members were entitled to vote in the second round at 286 polling stations in six electoral regions. Grbin won 65 percent of votes and Zeljko Kolar 35 percent. The party election was held after Davor Bernardic stepped down as leader following a poor showing at the parliamentary election of July 5. In the first round of voting held last Saturday, Grbin received 41.23 percent of votes…

ZAGREB, Oct 3, 2020 - The deputy speaker of the Croatian parliament and leader of the right-wing Homeland Movement, Miroslav Skoro, said on Saturday that the manner of selecting the Attorney-General should be changed. Skoro was speaking to reporters after a grape harvest in Mitrovac, about 200 kilometres east of Zagreb. “We have already raised the problem of such an influential and powerful person being handpicked by a political group. There are a lot of political games played here, under-the-table dealings, and we are all hostages to this system," Skoro said. "The way in which the system works, the way in which…

ZAGREB, Oct 3, 2020 - SDP parliamentarian Pedja Grbin, who is one of the two candidates vying in the runoff for the Social Democratic party chief, said on Saturday that he had no special comment on the criticism targeted by Croatian President Zoran Milanovic, a former SDP leader, against him. The President of Republic is obviously feeding or shielding himself with conflicts, Grbin said after Milanovic on Friday said that Grbin "made mistakes in logic" when tried to defend a performance by two Opposition members of parliament. Milanovic wondered whether "not being able to verbally attack your political opponents or question their logic, the…

ZAGREB, Oct 2, 2020 - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic, who is self-isolating, has tested positive for coronavirus, his cabinet said on Friday. He is experiencing mild symptoms, feels well and he is at home, the press release said. Jandrokovic has been in self-isolation since Wednesday because the head of his cabinet was confirmed to have coronavirus infection on Tuesday evening. Since Jandrokovic had been in contact with the head of his cabinet the day before, epidemiologists imposed a two-week self-isolation on him. During his absence, deputy speakers will chair parliament meetings.

ZAGREB, October  2, 2020 - During a visit to the Lika region on Friday President Zoran Milanovic opened the Autumn in Lika commercial tourism event and said that Lika-Senj County has beautiful and rich land, unbelievable resources, wishing its residents wealthy lives and for everyone to be envious of them. Recalling his own family roots which are partly from Lika, Milanovic said that the fact that this large county has only 50,000 residents "is not a drama or a call for alarm," but that they should be able to use their resources and live a nice and rich life. "The food you offer…

ZAGREB, Oct 2, 2020 - Croatian citizens will soon be able to travel to the US without visas, State Secretary Mike Pompeo told Hina on Friday during his visit to the southern coastal city of Dubrovnik. The abolishment of visas for the Croatians can be expected in the coming months. Asked when Croatia and the US would sign the Visa Waiver Program, Pompeo said he hoped this would happen very soon, in the coming months. He stopped short of specifying the exact date. There is still some paperwork to be done, administrative things, some of which should be done by us and some are up to…