Politics

May 17, 2020 - Croatian Tragedies. As it seems that health and tourism are the priorities, has the focus of Croatian authorities moved elsewhere until Election Day? We are all intelligent people, so I want to keep this short.  Croatian Tragedies 2020.  The timeline. Corona arrives on February 25, 2020. How to deal with it? RESPONSE: A reassuring display from new Health Minister Vili Beros. Communications like no other Croatian minister in living memory. A reassuring start. A website, an app, a Viber channel with daily updates to half a million people, a social media channel follow. Croatia is praised as…

ZAGREB, May 17, 2020 - Culture Minister Nina Obuljen Korzinek has said that the March 22 earthquake in Zagreb and the reconstruction of the city should not be politicised, calling on all interested stakeholders to join in public consultation on a bill on the reconstruction of Zagreb following the March 22 quake. Obuljen Korzinek's comment was a response to a protest staged on Sunday outside government and parliament offices by about 20 people, leaders of the parties We can! Zagreb is ours!, New Left, ORaH, Workers Front and For the City, and their supporters who are dissatisfied that the parliament will be dissolved before the law on the reconstruction…

ZAGREB, May 17, 2020 - A coalition between the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) would not be possible even in the worst of nightmares, SDP leader Davor Bernardic said on Sunday, noting that the HDZ was staying in power thanks to political trade-offs. "There can be no coalition with the party that is being tried for corruption, whose government lost 11 ministers due to suspected corruption and which has been staying in power thanks to political trade-offs in the parliament. A coalition with the HDZ would not be possible even in the worst of nightmares," Bernardic…

ZAGREB, May 17, 2020 - The Voice of Entrepreneurs association said on Sunday that the HDZ, IDS, Reformists and the Milan Bandic 365 (MB365) party did not respond to their request for the implementation of radical reforms, noting that some parties were evidently not interested in true reforms. The association said that its request to parties to formally oblige themselves to implement radical tax policy reforms, abolish parafiscal levies, ensure public finance transparency, reduce the expenditure side of the budget, reform the judiciary and redefine the role of the State Inspectorate, had been responded to by 12 parties but not the…

ZAGREB, May 17, 2020 - No one in Croatia should feel like a second-class citizen because of their gender or sexual orientation, President Zoran Milanovic said on Sunday. On the occasion of International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, Milanovic said in a Facebook post that he had on many occasions expressed a wish for Croatia to be a solidary community of citizens who may be different but are all equal. "Today, when democratic and civilised societies around the world mark International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, let me reiterate my firm belief that no one should feel like a second-class citizen in Croatia…

ZAGREB, May 17, 2020 - Former Croatian President Ivo Josipovic on Sunday most strongly condemned the Croatian parliament's sponsorship of the Bleiburg commemoration, saying that it was not an act of commemorating the victims but a problematic political event and "a case of shameful manipulation." "The Bleiburg commemoration, held under Croatia's auspices, is anything but an act of commemoration. It is a strong political message that serves the purpose of historical and political revisionism, rehabilitation of Ustasha ideology and strengthening nationalism and the political right," Josipovic said in an interview with the Bosnian news portal Faktor. He said the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Prime…

May 17, 2020 - As TCN's Virtual Croatia mailshot initiative becomes a national news story, a little update and a prototype for tourist board reform: Sucuraj on Hvar. A little bit of TCN history yesterday, as not one but two Index articles featuring TCN articles made the list of top 10 most read on Croatia's largest portal, Index.hr.  Apart from the obvious boost in traffic and raising of TCN's profile to Croatian readers, one thing almost always happens when Index takes one of my stories. Positive change. And often rather quickly.  Take last week, for example. An article calling for…

ZAGREB, May 16, 2020 - Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic said on Saturday that defeated Croatian soldiers and civilians were killed at Bleiburg and along the Way of the Cross without a trial, contrary to international conventions, as victims of a crime committed our of revenge and due to ideology. Jandrokovic and the prime minister's envoy, War Veterans Minister Tomo Medved, laid a wreath on behalf of the parliament and government at Zagreb's Mirogoj cemetery on the 75th anniversary of the Bleiburg tragedy, paying tribute to civilians and soldiers of the Nazi-allied Independent State of Croatia, killed in the aftermath of…

ZAGREB, May 16, 2020 - Cardinal Vinko Puljic said at a mass for the Bleiburg victims in Sarajevo on Saturday that reconciliation could be built only on the truth and called for equal respect for every war victim, while thousands of people in the city centre honoured the victims of fascism in WWII. The Archbishop of Sarajevo celebrated the service in the Heart of Jesus Cathedral as part of a commemoration organised by the Bleiburg Guard of Honour under the auspices of the Croatian parliament. Puljic greeted everyone who joined in the prayer "for so many victims of violence." He also greeted the…

ZAGREB, May 16, 2020 - Let's Change Croatia leader Ivan Lovrinovic, and Human Shield leader Ivan Vilibor Sinicic signed on Saturday an agreement to form a coalition for the coming parliamentary election, inviting everyone from centre-left to centre-right to join them for key changes in Croatia. At a press conference, Lovrinovic invited all political parties, associations, and individuals to unite with the intention to run in the election and take over political power, so that key programme aims for the revitalisation of the economy, state, and society could be implemented. He explained that, as a result of a bad election system, "which was invented on purpose…