Politics

ZAGREB, May 29, 2020 - Minister of Labour and Pension System Josip Aladrovic and unions representing state administration employees on Friday signed an annex to the basic collective agreement. "Today we held a fourth meeting with state administration employees' unions. What we hoped for and expected was achieved - a compromise, which is the same as the compromise with public sector employees. This closes our negotiations. On Monday we expect the signing of the annex after the government approves it," Aladrovic said after the meeting. He reiterated that the same annex was signed with public servants, envisaging the deferral of the base pay rise that…

ZAGREB, May 29, 2020 - The government held a conference call on Friday to dismiss Josipa Rimac, who was until now a state-secretary in the Public Administration Ministry as well as Assistant Economy Minister Ana Mandac, the government announced in a press release. The two office-holders were among several other officials and business people arrested earlier in the day as part of an investigation by the Police anti-corruption office (PNUSKOK) on suspicion of committing white-collar crimes, including corruption, in connection with a project of wind farms near Knin.  CEO of the state-run forest management company - Hrvatske Sume - Krunoslav Jakupcic was…

ZAGREB, May 29, 2020 - Commenting on the arrests of state officials, including Croatian Forests CEO Krunoslav Jakupcic and Public Administration Ministry State Secretary Josipa Rimac of the HDZ party, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Friday that nobody was above the law and that one had to put an end to corruption. "I know about it from what police have reported. In any case, this is an operation of independent prosecutorial and police authorities, as it should be," Plenkovic told Media Servis, an agency specialising in making radio programmes, which published parts of its interview with Plenkovic on its web site.…

ZAGREB, May 29, 2020 - Croatian Forests management board president Krunoslav Jakupcic was taken into custody on Friday morning on suspicion of abuse of office and influence peddling, sources close to the investigation told Hina. The premises of Croatian Forests and Jakupcic's flat are being searched, the source said. Jakupcic is expected to be questioned at the USKOK anti-corruption office in the afternoon. Allegedly, his arrest is part of a large operation by the Interior Ministry and USKOK, and more arrests are expected during the day.

ZAGREB, May 29, 2020 - The Interior Ministry confirmed to Hina on Friday that a number of state officials and business people were being arrested since morning on suspicion of corruption. The police office for the suppression of corruption and organised crime began an operation early this morning in the Zagreb, Split, Knin and Gracac areas following months of investigation, ministry spokeswoman Marina Mandic said. Sources close to the investigation told Hina that among those arrested were Josipa Rimac, state secretary at the Public Administration Ministry and former Knin mayor, and Krunoslav Jakupcic, chairman of the Croatian Forests management board.

ZAGREB, May 28, 2020 - Prime Minister and HDZ party leader Andrej Plenkovic said on Thursday that he would run in the July 5 parliamentary election as a candidate in Constituency No. 1 and that he believed his party would win the same number of seats as in the 2016 election. Constituency No. 1 covers the northwestern part of Zagreb County and parts of central and west Zagreb. "Consultations are underway, the number of candidates is much bigger than the number of places on slates. We have been in talks with county leaders and our partners, some of whom will be on our…

ZAGREB, May 28, 2020 - Regional Development and EU Funds Minister Marko Pavic said on Thursday that soon Croatia would apply to the European Solidarity Fund for the reconstruction of Zagreb after the March 22 earthquake and that it expected to receive over €500 million. Responding to questions from the press ahead of a cabinet meeting, Pavic said the deadline to apply was June 14 and that he expected Croatia, i.e. the City of Zagreb, to receive over €500 million. The estimate of the damage will be finished this week and it must be done according to a methodology recognised by the…

ZAGREB, May 28, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic called on citizens on Thursday to vote in the July 5 parliamentary election, saying he was not thinking about the election interests and chances of the ruling HDZ or the opposition SDP and that he did not wish to influence that. "I call on everyone to go to the polls, and it's unbelievable how a well-meaning and defensive statement by me has prompted several analysts to react. My message is 'vote', and I'll see, because I don't want any bias to be ascribed to my activity," Milanovic told reporters, explaining an earlier statement that he…

ZAGREB, May 28, 2020 - By amending the decision which temporarily banned crossing the border, Croatia will enable the entry of citizens of Slovenia, Hungary, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Germany and Poland, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Thursday. "According to our comparative analysis of the epidemiological situation, those are the countries with either similar progress as Croatia or the trends are such that we can adopt such a decision and enable the arrival of those countries' citizens during the tourist season, with the appropriate epidemiological recommendations and the special application that has already been made," Plenkovic said at a…

ZAGREB, May 28, 2020 - Croatian and Slovenian economy ministers, Darko Horvat and Zdravko Pocivalsek, met on Wednesday in Mursko Sredisce for the talks on economic cooperation after the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic and on better connectivity with the construction of a new bridge across the Mura River. After the meeting on the bridge across the Mura River and in the office of the mayor of the Croatian border town of Mursko Sredisce, Minister Horvat said that both economies were cooperating very well and they were the top five strongest trade partners to each other. They pledged to make sure that the bilateral cooperation…