Politics

ZAGREB, June 17, 2020 - State Electoral Commission vice president Ana Lovrin said on Wednesday that men were insufficiently represented on some lists of candidates for the July 5 parliamentary election. All that will be established within 48 hours, after which fines will be proposed for slates which did not comply with the Gender Equality Act, she said on the public broadcaster after the deadline for submitting slates expired at midnight on Tuesday. Lovrin said 192 slates were submitted, 187 by parties and five independent ones, and that they listed at least 2,600 candidates in total. "We expect that all…

ZAGREB, June 17, 2020 - The president of the Democratic Alliance of Serbs and Deputy Mayor of the eastern Croatian town of Vukovar, Srdjan Milakovic, submitted his slate to the State Electoral Commission (DIP) on Tuesday. Milakovic told the press that his list of candidates was targeting one seat in parliament and that their views were closer to those of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) due to their position on human and minority rights. Milakovic said he is aware that the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) is controlling more or less all Serb political and cultural institutions and that the SDSS is confident…

ZAGREB, June 16, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic on Tuesday received a delegation of the Voice of Entrepreneurs association who informed him of its activities and objectives, the president's office said in a press release. During the meeting, the association's representatives said that they established the association as a response to the government's measures during the coronavirus pandemic and that now they are continuing to act as the voice of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, trades and their employees, the press release said. The delegation said that the association's motto is more work and justice, lower taxes, and absolute transparency and that they wished to be the driver…

ZAGREB, June 16, 2020 - The leader of the SDP and the Restart coalition, Davor Bernardic, said on Tuesday that the Church should not be interfering in politics and elections because Croatia is a secular country, commenting on the recommendations by the Croatian Bishops' Conference for the July 5 parliamentary election. "First of all, Croatia is a secular country and the Church should not be interfering in politics or in elections. This suggests that they are dissatisfied with the government because it failed to ban work on Sundays," Bernardic said at a presentation of the Restart coalition's education programme. Speaking of…

ZAGREB, June 16, 2020 - The leader of the Labour and Solidarity Party, Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic, on Tuesday, presented the party's slates to the State Electoral Commission (DIP) for the July 5 parliamentary election, saying that after the election he was prepared to cooperate "with everyone who has Croatia at heart." "I am prepared to cooperate with everyone who has Croatia at heart and a better life for our citizens. Just as we cooperated with this government - on projects and not seats - we will cooperate with the new government," Bandic said, adding that his party was offering a…

ZAGREB, June 16, 2020 - The political platform We Can! - Zagreb Is Ours! has published its election platform, saying that it is ambitious and that it will "change our common future". "We see this moment as a necessary turning point for our society to recover and become more resilient to future challenges that are certain to come. We bring the knowledge and fighting spirit with which We Can! do it. There is no going back to the old ways. The political elites have been trying for years to convince us that Croatia cannot do better. We can!" it said,…

ZAGREB, June 16, 2020 - The leadership of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) has agreed on lists of candidates for the July 5 parliamentary election and they will be submitted to the Electoral Commission at 3 pm on Tuesday, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said late on Monday after a five-hour meeting of the party's presidency and national council. He said that the meeting had taken so long because consultations had to be made on the 154 people on the lists. Plenkovic confirmed that Miro Kovac, Bozidar Kalmeta, and Stevo Culej, who had opposed him at the last party election,…

ZAGREB, June 15, 2020 - The Restart Coalition on Monday submitted to the Electoral Commission slates for the parliamentary election, with its leader, SDP president Davor Bernardic, saying they "submitted winning slates with a team which well ensure a new start and better life for citizens." "We are running in the parliamentary election with the best people and a clear plan on how to pull people out of the crisis and how to ensure the necessary new start for Croatia and a better life for all citizens," he told reporters. In the first weeks after the election, we will form a smaller…

ZAGREB, June 15, 2020 - Minister of Environment and Energy Tomislav Coric said on Monday, after an informal video conference of EU energy ministers, that Croatia has initiated the signing of a memorandum of understanding for the implementation of the Declaration on Clean Energy for EU Islands. "Croatia has initiated the signing of the Memorandum that is the successor of the Valleta Declaration and is aimed at advancing energy transition on the islands, while respecting the specificities of each island, and at expanding and strengthening cooperation between member states," Minister Coric said, as carried by a press release from his ministry. Coric presented at the video conference the…

ZAGREB, June 15, 2020 - The newly-built border crossing Sot-Principovac on the Serbia-Croatia border, which is expected to relieve big crossing at Batrovci and Sid during peak summer and holiday traffic, was inaugurated on Friday, Serbia's Customs Administration said on Monday. The crossing is envisaged for passenger vehicles, buses and empty lorries. Last year the old crossing was used by 350,000 passengers and 40,000 empty lorries circulating between the two states. Sot-Principovac is one of the nine Serbia-Croatia border crossings. It now has two lanes for entering and exiting Serbia.