Politics

July 16, 2020 - The new government of Andrej Plenkovic should have 16 departments, and it will have four vice presidents in addition to the prime minister. The new government will also be much younger, with an average age of 46.  Jutarnji List reports that the youngest ministers will be Ivan Malenica, who has not yet turned 35, and Josip Aladrovic (35), while the oldest is Gordan Grlic Radman, who is 62 years old. There will be at least four women in the government. Davor Bozinovic will continue being Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, and Zdravko Maric Minister…

ZAGREB, July 15, 2020 - Prime Minister and leader of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) Andrej Plenkovic on Wednesday did not wish to reveal the names of his new ministers or how many ministers there would be in the new government, but noted that some new cabinet members had not been minsters yet. "I know how many ministries there will be and who all the people are, but I will let you know in the coming days," Plenkovic told reporters after a meeting with partners who had pledged to support the new government. Plenkovic said that he would meet with President Zoran…

ZAGREB, July 15, 2020 - Minister for Demography, the Family, Youth and Social Policy Vesna Bedekovic on Wednesday confirmed that she will no longer be a minister in the new government and that she would return to her seat in parliament. "My natural habitat is the academic community. I am returning to the Sabor," Bedekovic told reporters after an inner cabinet meeting. She recalled that she was appointed minister after chairing the parliamentary Science and Education Committee and reiterated that her natural environment is in the academic community. Bedekovic added that Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic would advise who will be in…

ZAGREB, July 15, 2020 - The Social Democratic Party received HRK 59,700 in donations in the first half of this year, less than the Democrats, We Can!, Reformists, Hrast, and Croatian Sovereignists, according to statements on donations made public on Wednesday. With the exception of the Homeland Movement, all major political parties published statements on their half-yearly donations. The Democrats received HRK 68,000, the We Can! political platform HRK 83,000, Reformists HRK 103,000, Hrast HRK 123,000 and Croatian Sovereignists HRK 152,000. The deadline for submitting statements on donations to the State Electoral Commission is midnight today. All 167 registered political parties, independent MPs and…

ZAGREB, July 15, 2020 - Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) president Andrej Plenkovic will bring President Zoran Milanovic at noon on Thursday 76 signatures by elected MPs supporting him as prime minister-designate. Before that, representatives of the State Electoral Commission will bring the president the official results of the July 5 parliamentary election. Today Plenkovic is meeting with MPs who support him as PM-designate, including ethnic minority MPs, Croatian Social Liberal Party president Dario Hrebak, Reformists leader Radimir Cacic, and Croatian People's Party leader Predrag Stromar. It is expected that on Thursday Plenkovic will present the new government's ministries. Unofficially, their number is…

ZAGREB, July 15, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic was tested for coronavirus on Tuesday and the result was negative, government spokesman Marko Milic told Hina. Plenkovic was tested because on Monday he was in a meeting with Science and Education Minister Blazenka Divjak, who was ordered to self-isolate and get tested as well. Her result was also negative. Plenkovic was tested because of the responsible office he holds, Milic said.

ZAGREB, July 14, 2020 - The We Can political platform leader Tomislav Tomasevic said on Tuesday that they had rejected Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic's invitation for a party-to-party meeting between the ruling HDZ and opposition parties, as for him all that bore a resemblance to political bartering. Tomasevic said he could see no reason for "what the premier could say to me only what other colleagues from the Opposition should not hear." He went on to say that he "cannot understand what he can respond to the premier's ideas about how to solve the social and economic crisis awaiting us that could not be…

ZAGREB, July 14, 2020 - The Bridge party received nearly 70,000 kuna in donations in the first half of 2020, according to the reports on political parties' donations. This parliamentary opposition party received exactly HRK 68,500 from 108 donors. The four highest donations were 4,000 kuna paid by party officials: Sonja Cikotic, Bozo Petrov and Nikola Grmoja each. The GLAS party reported HRK 51,000 in donations, with its leader Anka Mrak-Taritas having paid 10,000 and parliamentary deputy Goran Beus-Richembergh 8,000 kuna. The Human Shield party had 23,000 kuna of donations, mainly secured by donations given by its members. The New Left…

ZAGREB, July 14, 2020 - The Bridge party said on Tuesday that it would turn down Prime Minister's invitation for a meeting with that opposition party, explaining that it believes that only a joint meeting of Plenkovic with all opposition parliamentary parties would have some sense. Although the Bridge party was initially ready to forget all political differences when it comes to Croatia's interests, and therefore it had accepted the invitation for a meeting in the government, now that party believes "that there is no willingness to ensure a joint and constructive meeting with the whole Opposition." Bridge writes on…

If things go according to the plans and wishes of the Government, Croatia should replace the national currency with the euro about a year and a half before its 30th birthday, but as Poslovni Dnevnik/Jadranka Dozan writes on the 13th of July, 2020, there are numerous obstacles to overcome on the path to the Eurozone... On Friday, Croatia got the green light Brussels for the entry of Croatia (and Bulgaria) into the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II), and we learned that the central parity between the euro and the kuna with which to enter the Eurozone's proverbial ''lobby'' was…