Politics

ZAGREB, June 11, 2020 - The Democrats-Croatian Labour Party coalition on Thursday presented its parliamentary election platform and the first candidates on its slates. Democrats president Mirando Mrsic said their platform "10 challenges and 10 solutions" was telling citizens that they were willing to make cuts that no political elite or party managed or wanted to make. "Without cuts in the autumn and in 2021, we will not only lag behind in Europe but be Europe's appendix," he said. "Both big parties, the HDZ, and the SDP, are offering us a beautified picture of Croatia in the autumn, yet a time of big changes lies…

ZAGREB, June 10, 2020 - Leader of the Restart Coalition and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Davor Bernardic on Wednesday announced that his government would work actively on a prompt transition towards a circular economy so that it reaches a share of 25% and by the end of the decade creates 100,000 jobs. "Based on numerous indicators, Croatia is at the bottom in Europe in terms of the judiciary, corruption, living standards, the economy's competitiveness, absorption of EU funds, and in applying a circular economy," Bernardic warned while presenting the Restart Coalition's green development election platform. "The share of circular use of…

ZAGREB, June 10, 2020 - Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic said on Wednesday that MPs would not go on holiday following the July 5 election, but that the new parliament would immediately resume work as soon as a parliamentary majority is constituted. "The situation is such that members of parliament will be required to seriously, responsibly and promptly start work, so there is no doubt that the parliament will resume work as soon as a majority is constituted," Jandrokovic said in Dubrava, where he attended Municipality Day and St. Margaret Parish Day celebration. He decisively ruled out the possibility that having been…

ZAGREB, June 9, 2020 - Croatia's Foreign and European Affairs Minister Gordan Grlic Radman reiterated on Tuesday that Croatia condemned any act of provocation that hurt its bilateral relations with Hungary. "We have had our say. I'll repeat it once again on this occasion.  We condemn inappropriate inscriptions and provocations that hurt neighbourly relations between Croatia and Hungary. We condemn any actions that stir up problems and turbulence in good-neighbourly relations, instead of strengthening them and enabling a future-looking approach," Grlic Radman said in Zagreb on Tuesday, reminding the press of a statement by his ministry on this topic on Monday. Grlic  Radman…

ZAGREB, June 9, 2020 - State-secretary in the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, Tamas Menczer, said that he expected more respect from Croatian politicians who have recently criticised Prime Minister Viktor Orban and spread fake news. Menczer claimed that his country had made a great contribution to Croatia's economy because last year, 644,000 Hungarians visited Croatia and generated 3.2 million bed nights, the Hungarian MTI news agency has reported. He underscored that Hungarian oil and gas company MOL is "involved in the largest investment in Croatia" and the Hungarian Electricity Works MVM is "about to buy 6.75 billion cubic metres of gas from the LNG…

ZAGREB, June 9, 2020 - Slovakia will, as of 10 June, enable free travel to and from 16 European countries, including Croatia, and there will not be any need to wear face masks, Slovakia's Prime Minister Igor Matovic informed on Tuesday. Apart from the restrictions being lifted for Croatia, visitors from Germany, Lichtenstein, Switzerland, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Norway, Denmark and Iceland will be free to travel to and from Slovakia, the Reuters news agency reported. Last week Slovakia reopened its borders to the Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary. Slovakia had introduced relatively stringent restrictions including…

ZAGREB, June 8, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the priorities of the presidency over the Council of the European Union and the reactivation of the economy and tourist season, during their video conference on Monday, the Croatian government stated. Croatia is the current chair of the Council of the EU, and in the second half of 2020, Germany assumes the chairmanship. Plenkovic outlined Croatia's plans for the Conference on the Future of Europe. The German chancellor congratulated Croatia and the premier on the country's successful first presidency, against a backdrop of the unforeseen events such as…

ZAGREB, June 8, 2020 - According to available information, Canada seems to be the only country where it won't be possible to organise voting for the Croatian parliamentary election set for July 5, the State Electoral Commission (DIP) confirmed to Hina on Monday. The Croatian Embassy in Canada on Sunday informed that because of the coronavirus pandemic it will not be possible to hold the parliamentary election in that country on July 4 and 5. Whether any other of the 50 or so countries that have confirmed that the election can be held, will cancel the organisation of voting of eligible Croatian voters on…

ZAGREB, June 8, 2020 - Social Democratic Party president Davor Bernardic on Monday accused Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic of pursuing a policy which betrayed national interests because Hungarian PM Viktor Orban was laying claims on Rijeka and that in return, Plenkovic was delivering Croatian oil. "Orban is Plenkovic's friend. He claims parts of Croatian territory and as a reward, Plenkovic delivers Croatian oil to Budapest," he said in response to questions from the press, calling this a "policy of betraying Croatia's national interests." As for the announcement from Canada that Croatian citizens there would not be able to vote in Croatia's parliamentary election…

ZAGREB, June 8, 2020 - The Constitutional Court is dissatisfied that the coming parliamentary election will again be held without the constituencies having been changed, which the court requested ten years ago, Jutarnji List daily said on Monday. The election will be legal but the question is to what extent will it be legitimate because the difference in the number of voters per constituency remains much higher than the envisaged five percent. For example, 14 MPs will be elected by 329,000 voters in the fourth constituency, by 344,000 in the first, by 422,000 in the ninth, and by 400,000 in the…