Politics
Sunday, 12 April 2020
Shipment with 60 Tonnes of Protective Gear Arrives from China
ZAGREB, April 12, 2020 - A direct flight from China on Sunday brought to Zagreb around 60 tonnes of protective equipment for the Croatian health system and other services fighting the coronavirus epidemic, the Croatian government said in a statement. The shipment, consisting of large quantities of protective masks, overalls, goggles, gloves and contactless thermometers, to be used for patient triage and diagnostics, arrived aboard a cargo plane of the Chinese company SF Airlines. Attending the arrival of the plane were Health Minister Vili Beroš, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković's chief-of-staff Zvonimir Frka-Petešić, and Chinese Ambassador Erwen Xu. The shipment was…
Sunday, 12 April 2020
Interior Minister Slams Attack on Journalist in Split Church
ZAGREB, April 12, 2020 - The head of the national civil protection authority, Interior Minister Davor Božinović, on Sunday condemned in the strongest terms today's assault on a journalist in a church in a Split suburb who, he said, was attacked only for doing her job. "The reporter was assaulted in a church on the biggest Christian holiday only because she was trying to do her job," he said at a press conference, adding that the police were taking action. He said that according to reports from local news websites, about 20 believers gathered in the church in Sirobuje despite…
Sunday, 12 April 2020
Only Several Thousand Croats From Abroad Have Come Home for Easter
ZAGREB, April 12, 2020 - Over the past four days only several thousand Croats came home from abroad for the Easter holidays whereas in previous years 170,000 would do so, the head of the national civil protection authority, Interior Minister Davor Božinović, said on Saturday. Speaking on Nova TV, he said a little over 700 Croats had entered Croatia per day on average over the past four days and that the figure included repatriations organised by the Foreign Ministry. He said that upon entering the country all were instructed to self-isolate or quarantine in line with COVID-19 protection measures. He…
Sunday, 12 April 2020
Finance Minister Maric Explains Government Minimum Wage Measure
As Novac writes on the 11th of April, 2020, Croatian Finance Minister Zdravko Maric commented on the government's ''minimum wage'' measures for RTL on Friday, stating that the amount being offered by the government was not the workers' full pay but merely support for wages. Minister Maric went on to make the measure more clear. "This [measure] is payroll support. We [the government] cover that part, the rest is up to the employer to make up for if the worker otherwise has a higher salary. The salary should be as is stated in their employment contract. But if someone has run…
Saturday, 11 April 2020
State Officials Offer Best Wishes to Faithful for Easter
ZAGREB, April 11, 2020 - President Zoran Milanović, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković on Saturday issued messages offering their best wishes to believers who celebrate Easter according to the Gregorian calendar. "To Christian believers the holiday of Easter has always been a time of facing one's own decisions and reconsidering one's own actions, with hope and faith in a new beginning and a better future," Milanović says in his message. "We are faced with major challenges of today's world and threats that hang over the entire humankind so this is also a time to remind ourselves…
Saturday, 11 April 2020
Ombudswoman: Institutions Fail to Protect Children Against Violence
ZAGREB, April 11, 2020 - Croatian state institutions in 2019 failed children when it comes to protection against violence, Children's Ombudswoman Helenca Prinat Dragičević says in a report on her work last year. She says that the dramatic increase in domestic violence from 2018, measured both by the number of domestic violence complaints and the number of reports of violence against children required urgent and effective measures to protect children. The ombudswoman calls for coordinated action and consolidation of institutions that work on protection against violence as well as hiring more professionals. Analysing last year, Pirnat Dragičević says that some…
Saturday, 11 April 2020
Zagreb City Fund for Disaster Relief Spent on Ceremonies, Says Daily?
ZAGREB, April 11, 2020 - Auditors have found a deficit of close to HRK 630 million in the budget of the city of Zagreb, which is managed by Mayor Milan Bandić and his services, Večernji List daily reports on Saturday, noting that the fund for disaster relief was spent on various ceremonies. The fund for disaster relief is used for outlays related to removing the consequences of natural disasters, epidemics, environmental accidents or extraordinary events and the city spent it on "activities of various associations, religious communities' capital projects and various commemorative events," the daily says. This is how HRK…
Saturday, 11 April 2020
Plenković: No Need to Declare State of Emergency
ZAGREB, April 11, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Friday there was no need to declare a state of emergency and that he would continue to support citizens, workers and the economy as well as downsize budget expenditures. Speaking for Večernji List TV, he said there was no need to declare a state of emergency because both the government and parliament functioned. "They are doing what democratic institutions should." Plenković said although restrictions had been imposed, there was no curfew or the army in the streets as in some other countries. He added that what the government was…
Friday, 10 April 2020
HND, SNH Propose Urgent Measures for Saving Journalism
ZAGREB, April 10, 2020 - The Croatian Journalists' Association (HND) and the Trade Union of Croatian Journalists (SNH) on Friday proposed urgent measures for saving journalism, saying the government did not recognise problems in the media in the third package of COVID-19 measures and that journalism was completely ignored. "The erosion of media equals the erosion of democracy; the media sector is in existential danger. Since the beginning of the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, more than 85% of journalists and other part timers or freelancers in media have lost some or all of their business engagements, and full-time…
Friday, 10 April 2020
e-Citizens Platform Registers 80,000 New Users
ZAGREB, April 10, 2020 - The e-Građani (e-Citizens) system is being used by a growing number of users due to the coronavirus epidemic and currently it has 934,762 users, with their number having increased by more than 80,000 in the period from April 1 to 8, the Public Administration Ministry said on Friday. More than 860,000 passes have been issued via the platform's e-Propusnica (e-Pass) service, the ministry said, noting that the platform now provided 72 services. Two new services have been developed - one that enables citizens with blocked bank accounts to access information on due payments and one…
Friday, 10 April 2020
EU Culture Ministers Talk Measures Designed to Alleviate Impact of Coronavirus Crisis
ZAGREB, April 10, 2020 - EU culture ministers have held an informal video conference on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the cultural and creative sector and exchanged experience on the steps undertaken by their governments to fight the pandemic as well as proposals for action at the EU level. The video conference, held at the proposal of Croatian Culture Minister Nina Obuljen Koržinek, was attended by EC Vice-President for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova, Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Commissioner Mariya Gabriel and Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton. Obuljen Koržinek said the debate showed that all member-countries…
