Politics

ZAGREB, June 24, 2020 - Leader of the Social Democratic Party Davor Bernardic, who is at the helm of the Restart coalition, said on Wednesday that the coalition's task was to further decentralise Croatia and enable Istria, known for its tolerance and inclusiveness, to develop even faster. Only investments can change the economic structure He added that for that reason one of the first measures the Restart coalition would put in place would be for a zero tax rate on wages of up to HRK 5,000 so that workers could immediately receive HRK 300 more in their monthly wages. The SDP-led…

ZAGREB, June 24, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic reiterated on Wednesday that postponing the parliamentary election was not an option even if the coronavirus situation deteriorated, stressing that Croatia was in a better situation than other countries facing elections. "Our government defeated COVID-19 in the first wave. If you look at the figures, we are among the top three EU countries with the lowest number of new cases and the lowest number of active cases," Plenkovic said while responding to questions from the press during a visit to the northern city of Cakovec. By way of illustration, he cited…

ZAGREB, June 23, 2020 - Homeland Movement candidates in the 9th constituency on Tuesday asked Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic why he was not in self-isolation after attending the Adria Tour tennis tournament in Zadar which was cut short due to the coronavirus outbreak. "Will he (Plenkovic) sacrifice and jeopardise Croatian citizens with his irresponsible behaviour or will he, as a conscious citizen regardless of currently testing negative, go into 14 days of self-isolation?," Hrvoje Zekanovic told a press conference in Zadar. Zekanovic noted that people who were in close contact with an infected person but avoided the prescribed measure of self-isolation were until…

ZAGREB, June 23, 2020 - Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) president Andrej Plenkovic said on Tuesday that July 5 remains to be the date of the parliamentary election and that wise and smart balancing was needed to do good for the economy and protect the public healthcare system. Asked by the press in Rijeka if the election date stayed the same, he said, "Of course it does. I don't understand how holding the election can even be brought into question." He said the Electoral Commission was in charge of that. "No spins or, mainly opposition, arguments about some lack of safety. That isn't…

ZAGREB, June 23, 2020 - Croatia will continue to insist on solving the issue of persons gone missing in the Homeland War and the equal treatment of minorities in the two states, Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman said on Monday, a day after a parliamentary election in Serbia. "There must always be cooperation, talks must always exist, especially because we are neighbours. We have certain outstanding issues, we have 1,892 missing persons we are tracing," the Croatian minister told reporters. Asked what kind of cooperation he expected after the landslide election victory of President Aleksandar Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party, he said…

ZAGREB, June 22, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic said during a visit to Montenegro on Monday he did not see any reason to postpone the July 5 election for the Croatian Parliament. After meeting with his Montenegrin counterpart, Milo Djukanovic, Milanovic addressed reporters who were interested in the possibility of postponing the election due to the spike in coronavirus cases in Croatia. "The election in Croatia is set for July 5. I called the election for that date and I do not know how that can be changed in a democratic country," said Milanovic. "Now that Parliament has been dissolved, we have to…

ZAGREB, June 22, 2020 - Croatian President Zoran Milanovic has cancelled his visit to Russia due to a fault on the government plane and will not be able to attend the Victory Day parade in Moscow on June 24, his office said on Monday. "President Milanovic has cancelled his trip to Moscow because of a fault on the government plane which cannot be repaired by the planned date, and there are still no commercial flights to Russia," presidential spokesman Nikola Jelic told Hina. Milanovic is currently on an official visit to Montenegro, after which he was due to travel to…

ZAGREB, June 22, 2020 - The head of the national coronavirus crisis management team, Davor Bozinovic, said on Monday that anyone who did not adhere to social distancing rules at the tennis tournament in Zadar, who shook hands or had close contact with others had failed and caused damage to themselves and their loved ones. "Anyone who did that has fallen short for their own health and for the health of their loved ones," Bozinovic told reporters when asked who was to blame for the spike in coronavirus cases in Zadar following the Adria Tour tennis tournament. Three participants at…

ZAGREB, June 22, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic was not in contact with the infected tennis players at the Adria Tours in Zadar, government spokesman Marko Milic said on Monday, adding that given the situation with the spread of the disease the prime minister would undergo a test for COVID-19 today. "Prime Minister Plenkovic attended the tournament in Zadar and spent about 45 minutes there but he did not have any contact with Grigor Dimitrov or Borna Coric," Milic said. He added that during his visit to the tournament, Plenkovic spoke briefly with Novak Djokovic and Goran Ivanisevic, and then greeted Marin Cilic in…

June 22, 2020 - The Croatian general election is less than two weeks away. Leading political commentator Kresimir Macan offers his thoughts in this pre-election preview.   More questions than answers expected after July 5th, polling date in Croatia Two weeks ahead of July 5th, the date set for the Croatian general election, everything seems more blurred than ever. Add to that the recent corona outbreak, and what looked like a clean reelection for Prime Minister Andrej Plenković could turn to a nightmare. His HDZ (Hrvatska demokratska zajednice) right party lags somewhat behind the broad left Restart coalition formed by SDP…