Politics

ZAGREB, May 9, 2020 - President Zoran Milanović said on Saturday he was completely neutral ahead of the coming parliamentary election but he would not "go under a quilt and look with a periscope at what is happening" because that was not why he was elected. The president said he hoped the election would not undermine the pace of coming out of the epidemiological restrictions imposed because of COVID-19, and noted that for the next three to four months, after parliament was dissolved, Croatia would probably be without a government. "I'm totally neutral. I just found out that a left…

ZAGREB, May 9, 2020 - Leaders of five opposition parties on Saturday presented the Restart Coalition in which they will run in the coming parliamentary election, announcing a new start for Croatia and the defence of the country against the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). The Restart Coalition comprises the Social Democratic Party (SDP) led by Davor Bernardić, the Croatian People's Party (HSS) of Krešo Beljak, the Croatian Pensioner's Party (HSU) of Silvano Hrelja, the Civil and Liberal Alliance (GLAS) headed by Anka Mrak Taritaš, and the Civil Activism Party (SNAGA) of Goran Aleksić. "Croatia needs a restart more than…

ZAGREB, May 9, 2020 - Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman and the president of the House of Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Parliamentary Assembly, Dragan Čović, said at a video conference on Friday that the declaration adopted at an EU-Western Balkans summit was of historic importance. At the summit, which was held as a video conference on Wednesday, the EU sent a strong message about unquestionable EU membership prospects of Western Balkan countries. European Commission President Usrula von der Leyen said at the event that the Western Balkans was an absolute priority for the EU. Grlić Radman also commented…

ZAGREB, May 9, 2020 - Croatia had one of the strongest resistance movements in World War II Europe, which is why it was on the side of the victors, the Croatian government said on Friday, underlining the important role of Croatia's first president Franjo Tuđman in that movement. In a statement issued on the occasion of Victory Day, the government said that "a large number of Croatian citizens rose against Hitler's fascist regime that had conquered the whole of Europe." The Croatian antifascist movement - the National Liberation Movement - was led mostly by Partisan units under the command of…

ZAGREB, May 9, 2020 - Former Defence Minister Damir Krstičević said on his Facebook page on Friday that he had resigned because of his sense of responsibility and military honour. "I resigned at Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence because of my sense of responsibility and military honour. I am above all a general who fought in the Homeland War and I always took responsibility and care for my men, both in wartime and in peacetime," Krstičević wrote. He thanked Croatian Army servicemen and Defence Ministry staff for their dedicated work over the past four years. "Keep on working…

ZAGREB, May 8, 2020 - On the occasion of Victory Day, May 8, and the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Zagreb, delegations of the Office of the President, the Government and the Parliament, as well as a delegation of the City of Zagreb, laid wreaths at the Tomb of National Heroes at the city's Mirogoj cemetery on Friday. On the occasion of the two anniversaries, the Alliance of Antifascist Fighters and Antifascists (SABH) issued a statement, saying that Croatia must and should celebrate Victory Day, while the Network of Antifascist Women of Zagreb (MAZ) issued a statement warning about…

ZAGREB, May 8, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković accepted Defence Minister Damir Krstičević's resignation on Friday, after a military plane crashed on Thursday killing two Croatian army pilots, saying that he did not make that decision because he believed Krstičević was responsible but rather because he respected him. "Personally, I don't see any reason how I could in any way connect his political responsibility with the fact that that plane crashed, however, I understood from our talks that this situation has affected him personally," Plenković said after a four-hour meeting with Krstičević in Government House. Plenković explained that he…

ZAGREB, May 8, 2020 - Croatia recorded a 76.8% fall in the number of tourist arrivals and a 69.3% fall in the number of overnight stays in March 2020 compared with the same month in 2019, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (DZS). In March this year only 104,000 tourists stayed in commercial accommodation facilities, generating 290,000 overnight stays. The drastic decline is the result of the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic and travel restrictions undertaken by countries across the globe to contain the spread of the novel virus. Domestic tourists generated 43,000 arrivals and 106,000…

ZAGREB, May 8, 2020 - Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman on Thursday commented on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Facebook post of a Great Hungary map which includes a part of Croatia, saying the two countries had excellent relations and that territorial claims were unthinkable in the EU. "Generally, any territorial claims in the European Union are unthinkable as all states recognised each other," Grlić Radman said, adding that "the border between Hungary and Croatia has always been known." "The existence of historical maps which can be bought in an antique store, and not sought in a closet, doesn't…

ZAGREB, May 8, 2020 - Presidents Zoran Milanović of Croatia and Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany said in a phone conversation on Thursday that cooperation and solidarity among European states were important in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, Milanović's office said in a press release. Croatia is currently presiding over the EU and Germany will follow it on July 1. "The two presidents agreed that common European efforts are necessary to overcome this situation and that the success of the fight against the crisis caused by coronavirus will greatly impact Europe's future," the press release said. After slowing down the spread…