Politics

Finance Minister Zdravko Maric has no doubt been plagued with questions about much needed reforms over the last few years, and even more so as Croatia prepares to eventually adopt the euro as its official currency and as such become a full Eurozone member. But, when will those reforms actually happen? As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 18th of July, 2020, the Minister of Finance, Zdravko Maric, revealed that the reform priorities of this new Government headed by Andrej Plenkovic will involve the reform of the administration, as well as the reform of healthcare, for which, as Zdravko Maric says,…

ZAGREB, July 18, 2020 - The main committee of the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) on Saturday unanimously decided to call an internal party election for September 26, supporting the proposal put forward by the party's presidency. The SDP leadership will analyse the results of the July 5 parliament election after the party suffered heavy losses at the ballot box, which has forced Davor Bernardic to step down as SDP president. Contrary to announcements, Bernardic briefly showed up at the start of the meeting to greet the members of the main committee and thank them for their campaign efforts and the…

ZAGREB, July 18, 2020 -  It would not be good to water down the idea of a strong and quick response to the economic consequences of the coronavirus crisis, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic told reporters before the continuation of the EU summit in Brussels on Saturday.  EU leaders were meeting on Saturday in renewed efforts to reach an agreement on the next seven-year budget and the coronavirus recovery plan after negotiations hit a deadlock on Friday because the Netherlands insisted that payouts from the recovery fund should be decided unanimously. Plenkovic said that the Dutch position was bad. "The…

ZAGREB, July 18, 2020 - Croatia's Minister for Foreign and European Affairs, Gordan Grlic Radman, on Friday called for "a more European Europe" instead of "withdrawing into oneself" at the time of the global coronavirus pandemic, the crisis of multilateralism and trade disputes, the ministry said in a statement.  Grlic Radman was in the German city of Hof to attend Paneuropean Days organised by the Paneuropean Union, the oldest movement for European unification. During a discussion on challenges to European unity at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, Grlic Radman cited as an example the coordination of diplomatic efforts in…

ZAGREB, July 18, 2020 - Most of the EU member states want a deal on the next seven-year budget and a coronavirus recovery plan to be reached on Saturday or Sunday, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic told reporters during the EU summit in Brussels on Friday evening. The leaders of the 27 member states gathered for their first physical meeting after five months to reach an agreement on the Multiannual Financial Framework and the plan for a recovery from the consequences of the global coronavirus pandemic. The meeting started at 10 am on Friday and showed great differences among the…

ZAGREB, July 17, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic on Friday received a delegation of the Independent Union in Science and Higher Education who had requested the meeting in order to inform the president of the latest developments at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb, the President's Office said in a press release. The Independent Union in Science and Higher Education considers, the delegation said, that it was inappropriate to suspend the faculty's dean. According to the delegation, the situation at the faculty is the result of the abuse of the university's autonomy. The union has become involved because it wishes to…

ZAGREB, July 17, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic said on Friday that it was his duty to point to problems, and described as "utterly uncivilised" some media interpretations of his tete-a-tete talks with PM Andrej Plenkovic as his attempt "to pontificate and lecture" Plenkovic on how to solve the problems. Milanovic said that attempts by some to retell what he and Plenkovic discussed during their tete-a-tete talks on Thursday were uncivilised and criticised media articles that claimed that during the ceremony of entrusting Plenkovic with the task to form the next government he "pontificated and lectured" Plenkovic on the role of the…

ZAGREB, July 17, 2020 - The negotiations on the  Multiannual Financial Framework for 2021-2017 and the recovery package are politically most important for the development of the EU in the next seven years and require a high level of political maturity, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said in Brussels on Friday. "We will advocate Croatia's interest and seek possibilities of funding our national programme for recovery, including projects that will make sure that Croatia has a balanced regional development. the development of agriculture and also investments in the digital and green economy and all other things in connection with the future and catching up with…

ZAGREB, July 16, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic on Thursday said he believes that reducing the number of ministries from 20 to 16 is good because that will facilitate doing the job and that decision is the prime minister's discretionary right. "If it will be easier for the prime minister to work, then that is good and that is his right. That is a reduction in the number of ministers and not the number of ministries, several plaques will be changed. That is the prime minister's discretionary right," Milanovic told reporters in the president's office after appointing Andrej Plenkovic prime minister-designate. Milanovic said that the number of…

ZAGREB, July 16, 2020 - Finance Minister Zdravko Maric said on Thursday that it is not true that VAT in tourism and hospitality is 25%, since it is generally 13%. Asked whether a VAT reduction was on the cards as called for by some of the entrepreneurs Minister Maric first said that VAT is a neutral item for payers but that he presumes they are referring to the hospitality sector. He went on to say that that was one of the topics discussed over the past few days with representatives of that sector. "The only segment in tourism that has a…