Politics

ZAGREB, Sept 25, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic on Friday repeated his claim that Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic had known details about the JANAF case investigation, and he also thinks that information on the case is leaking from the Office of the Chief State Prosecutor (DORH). Milanovic said that the prime minister had to know everything that was important and a burden on the system because otherwise, there was no one running anything, but only anonymous people hiding behind DORH's name. "Who is DORH, who was in charge of that case? That person has a name and surname," Milanovic told reporters…

ZAGREB, Sept 25, 2020 - Former President Stjepan Mesic on Friday confirmed that he had visited a club owned by former Janaf CEO Dragan Kovacevic, who has been arrested in the Janaf graft case, but he could not recall whether that was during the coronavirus lockdown, noting however that they kept their distance. "I don't remember when I went to the club, perhaps it was in the midst of the coronavirus epidemic. However, if you keep your distance, everything is all right, and we did keep our distance," Mesic told reporters on Friday when asked whether it was contentious that he went…

ZAGREB, Sept 25, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Friday that he was not pleased that three of his ministers had visited the club of former JANAF CEO Dragan Kovacevic during the lockdown when all bars were closed and citizens were advised to avoid large gatherings.  "I think the same as you do. You think I am thrilled? You should ask around a bit more about who was there and when. I don't know, but you look into it," Plenkovic said in response to questions from the press after a meeting of the parliamentary group of his Croatian…

ZAGREB, Sept 24, 2020 - Croatian Minister of Science and Education Radovan Fuchs on Thursday met with Hungary's Minister for Human Resources Miklos Kasler to talk about impact of pandemic on education system. The two ministers discussed the challenges in education as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic, the ministry said in a press release. Minister Fuchs presented Croatia's experience in planning the new school year and the option of three models to conduct classes based on epidemiological circumstances, the ministry said and added that they also discussed continuing cooperation and defining new cooperation programmes in the field of education and science.…

ZAGREB, Sept 24, 2020 - Parliamentary opposition parties on Thursday raised a series of objections to the government-sponsored Defense University bill to establish a Defense and National Security University, with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) proposing that the bill be withdrawn from the floor. "The bill belittles the science and education sector," said Sanja Radolovic (SDP), claiming that it was unconstitutional and unlawful. "We support the development of defense and security, but why to establish a university, why not start with a college?" she added, wondering who would validate degrees and why the Ministry of Science and Education was not…

ZAGREB, Sept 24 (Hina) - The government is considering a security clearance requirement for officeholders as part of a package of anti-corruption measures, the Minister of Physical Planning, Construction and State Assets, Darko Horvat, told the press on Thursday. "Work is ongoing on an anti-corruption package, and the Minister of the Interior, Davor Bozinovic, and the Minister of Justice and Public Administration, Ivan Malenica, will inform you about it in due course," Horvat said before a cabinet meeting when asked about the security vetting of government officials in light of the JANAF corruption case. Horvat said that as far as…

September the 24th, 2020 - There have been many predictions about the state of Croatia's GDP as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with some expectations being worse than others. Finance Minister Zdravko Maric was a guest of the Croatian Radio show "A sada Vlada/And now the Government" recently, during which he spoke about the guidelines for the 2021 budget. As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 23rd of September, 2020, Zdravko Maric said that a document on economic fiscal policy should be adopted at a Croatian Government session on Thursday. "These will be updated macroeconomic projections for this year and…

ZAGREB, Sept 23, 2020 - After a meeting of left and right opposition parties regarding the launching of an inquiry commission into the work of the DORH state prosecutor's office on Wednesday, MP Nikola Grmoja (Bridge) said that the opposition would work together for a parliamentary inquiry commission to be established.  Each opposition caucus will propose one MP and someone from the relevant expert services to prepare that framework, Grmoja, who initiated the idea, told reporters, adding that the commission would investigate the influence of politics and the executive government on the work of independent institutions. "Our aim is find out…

ZAGREB, Sept 23, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic on Wednesday said that Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic should have known about the investigation against suspected JANAF CEO Dragan Kovacevic as he is the "keeper of state secrets," adding that the premier should not pretend to be naive. "I sincerely wanted to help him. I am not nervous. I am worried because this is a terribly serious scandal and someone has put him in a serious situation because he obviously was not informed, because if he was there is no way he would have appointed Kovacevic for another term," Milanovic told reporters on…

ZAGREB, Sept 23, 2020 - The main objective of Croatia's economic policy should be to increase employment, and Croatia must make the transition from a holiday country to a great country for work, President Zoran Milanovic said on Wednesday while speaking at the Big Plans Day conference organised by the Lider weekly. "We should strive to increase the share of highly educated people in the workforce because they are a key source of competitive advantage," the president said, adding that the Croatian society and economy needed to open up, because being closed led to being non-competitive and falling behind. Commenting on…