Politics

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 5th of May, 2020, the Croatian Government should finance the repair of chimneys and boilers with payouts of 20,000 kuna to every household that suffered in the devastating Zagreb earthquake just over forty days ago. The welcome ruling announced the introduction of a special law to help with reconstruction after the Zagreb earthquake, but naturally, everyone is now wondering when that law will see the light of day. Construction Minister Predrag Stromar also said when that could be expected. "On March the 22nd, we immediately started drafting that law and said that we wouldn't…

ZAGREB, May 5, 2020 - Prime Minister and HDZ party leader Andrej Plenković said on Monday that his party was not afraid that it would lose voters to right-wing parties that have been gathering around Homeland Movement leader Miroslav Škoro. Addressing reporters ahead of a session of the HDZ leadership, Plenković said that regardless of when the parliamentary elections would be held, the HDZ would win them. Plenković would not comment on a session of the HDZ branch in Zagreb, which was expected to meet on Monday evening to discuss cooperation with Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić. Plenković recalled that an…

ZAGREB, May 4, 2020 - The Croatian Journalists' Association (HND) said on Sunday that the decision by the public television broadcaster to ban the leader of the Croatian Journalists' Union (SNH) from appearing in its popular Sunday talk show was confirmation of censorship at the HRT. "The Croatian Journalists' Association strongly condemns the censorship move by the management of Croatian Radio and Television to ban the editor of 'Nedjeljom u 2' (Sundays at 2 o'Clock), Aleksandar Stanković, from hosting Maja Sever, an HRT journalist and president of the Croatian Journalists' Union, on his show on the World Press Freedom Day,"…

ZAGREB, May 3, 2020 - On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, observed on 3 May, Croatia's culture ministry underscored the importance of freedom of media as a pillar of each democratic society which is supposed to provide conditions for unobstructed and safe work of journalists. This year, World Press Freedom Day, is marked in specific circumstances in which we evaluate in a particular way the role of media in the society, the ministry said in a press release on Sunday. Accurate, true and timely reporting in accordance with the media freedoms in times of crisis represents a pillar…

ZAGREB, May 3, 2020 - The opposition parties in the Zagreb City Assembly said on Saturday that Assembly Chairman Drago Prgomet had called a virtual meeting to protect Mayor Milan Bandić from the opposition's questions about the March 22 earthquake and repairing of the damage. "Chairman of the Assembly Drago Prgomet has called a virtual, online meeting under very strange circumstances. At a time when the restrictions are being eased, when Masses can be held and believers have to be two metres apart from each other, ... we are absolutely certain that a normal, physical meeting of the City Assembly…

ZAGREB, May 3, 2020 - Ahead of the International Press Freedom Day, observed on May 3, the Croatian Journalists' Union (SNH) has called on its members to join the traditional campaign "Five Minutes of Roaring Silence" to draw attention to the importance of journalists and the media and to their worsening position. In a statement on Saturday, the SNH highlighted the importance of workers' rights as prerequisites for freedom of the press. It said that the Labour Act was not respected in Croatia, that media workers were working without collective agreements and that employers were taking advantage of the lack…

ZAGREB, May 2, 2020 - Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said on Saturday that Croatia would send protective gear to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Montenegro and that shipments were worth HRK 1.2 million (€158,000). Zagreb will send shipments of protective masks, tents, blankets, sleeping bags and so on. "In this way we strengthen our friendship and cooperation," Minister Grlić Radman said. He added that Croatia had tackled the coronavirus epidemic in the most organised manner in comparison to other European countries. More coronavirus news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, May 2, 2020 - There are currently 905 active lawsuits against journalists and media outlets in Croatia, with plaintiffs seeking nearly HRK 68 million, the Croatian Journalists' Association (HND) said on Friday, presenting the findings of a survey conducted among the media at the beginning of the year. Ahead of World Press Freedom Day, observed on May 3, the HND again warned about the problem of legal actions, the aim of which, it says, was to censor, intimidate and silence critics by burdening them with legal proceedings, which the HND considers a serious and dangerous mechanism that is threatening…

ZAGREB, May 2, 2020 - The head of the Croatian Bishops' Conference, Zadar Archbishop Želimir Puljić, on Friday expressed satisfaction with the relaxation of some restrictive measures for religious services involving worshippers. He, however, warned that making the measures less stringent does not mean that participants in the services should be less alert to the threat of the spread of the virus. On Thursday, the bishops of the Croatian Conference of Bishops issued a letter to priests and the faithful on the conducting of Masses and other liturgical celebrations during the COVID-19 epidemic, which stated, among other things, that each…

ZAGREB, May 2, 2020 - A group of about 20 citizens staged on Friday a peaceful protest rally in Rijeka's main street Korzo against the measures taken by the National Civil Protection Authority to stop the coronavirus epidemic and called for all measures to be lifted. Three protesters were taken to the police station because they had refused to show their IDs, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County Police Administration said. Protesters carried, among other things, banners saying "We demand immediate abolition of all absurd measures", "We don't want fascism, despotism and totalitarianism" and "Civil protection measures don't save lives, they kill". They…