Politics
Tuesday, 7 April 2020
Croatian E-Passes: Once Meant For Doctor's Visits, Now For Feeding Chickens
April 7, 2020 — Need an "e-pass” to get around Croatia’s local travel restrictions? Find a hungry goat. The Croatian government acknowledged citizens' growing frustration over limited movement by loosening requirements for e-passes, the increasingly ubiquitous licenses letting people roam far away from their permanent residence. Over 500,000 passes have been issued so far, with 16,673 requests rejected and hundreds of thousands of large employers' applications still being processed. Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said limits on travel and daily life will dissolve at a pace deemed fit by epidemiologists. Combined with medical personnel and others, close to a quarter of the…
Tuesday, 7 April 2020
Plenković: Relaxing of Measures Should Not Be Sudden
ZAGREB, April 7, 2020 - After conducting on Monday a second video conference with Croatian medical experts from the country and abroad, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said that from the very start Croatia had reacted very well in preventing the coronavirus from spreading and that any relaxation of restrictions should not be sudden. Plenković said that in comparison to other countries, Croatia had reacted very well, with timely and fairly restrictive measures resulting in a slow spreading of the disease and a low fatality rate in the first few weeks of the epidemic. He said that that the experts he…
Tuesday, 7 April 2020
Army Significant Factor in Fight Against Coronavirus
ZAGREB, April 7, 2020 - Croatia reacted on time to the coronavirus pandemic and the Croatian army has been contributing significantly to the fight against that disease, Defence Minister Damir Krstičević said at a video conference of EU defence ministers, calling for the continuation of cooperation during the current crisis. The video conference of EU defence ministers was chaired by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josip Borrell and it was dedicated to the defence sector's contribution in dealing with the pandemic, Croatia's defence ministry said in a press release. The ministers exchanged their experience at the…
Tuesday, 7 April 2020
Plenković Wishes Boris Johnson Speedy Recovery
ZAGREB, April 7, 2020 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković has wished a speedy recovery to his British counterpart Boris Johnson, who was placed in the intensive care unit of a London hospital on Monday evening after contracting the COVID-19 virus. "I wish a quick recovery to my friend @BorisJohnson. We all hope he recovers soon," Plenković wrote on his Twitter account. "We stand together and united in our fight against the #COVID19 and our resolve to protect the health of our citizens," he added. Johnson's health condition deteriorated on Monday afternoon after which he was transferred to the intensive…
Monday, 6 April 2020
Zagreb Mayor Does Not Blame Citizens for Earthquake
ZAGREB, April 6, 2020 - Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić said on Monday that he had never accused Zagreb residents of the March 22 earthquake but that citizens, the city and the state were responsible for the damage caused by the quake to their property as they had not invested in it. Addressing a news conference, Bandić accused reporters of misquoting his statement that "citizens are to blame for the earthquake", saying that nobody was to blame for it but that the failure to invest in one's own property was to blame on both the state and the city as well…
Monday, 6 April 2020
Defence Minister Stresses Importance of Information Sharing Amid Coronavirus Crisis
ZAGREB, April 6, 2020 - Defence Minister Damir Krstičević on Monday stressed the importance of information sharing in safeguarding public health in Croatia and the European Union. "We will share national experiences in providing support to civilian institutions, with emphasis on further strengthening cooperation and solidarity among the EU member states," Krstičević told the press in Zagreb ahead of a video conference of EU defence ministers, the first such conference on efforts aimed at containing the coronavirus pandemic. The emergency meeting will be chaired by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell. Krstičević said that the meeting…
Monday, 6 April 2020
North Korea and Uhljebistan: the Only Coronavirus-Proof States in the World?
April 6, 2020 - What do North Korea and the mighty State of Uhljebistan in Croatia have in common in the Corona Era? (Disclaimer: in these unusual times, it should be pointed out that this is a satirical piece about the mythical - but sadly real - State of Uhljebistan in Croatia. There is no suggestion coronavirus does not have the same effect in North Korea as elsewhere. It should also be noted that Croatia is doing an excellent job battling COVID-19.) I have lost count of the number of times I have heard or read the phrases 'things will…
Monday, 6 April 2020
Croats Repatriated from Austria, Italy
ZAGREB, April 6, 2020 - On Sunday evening, 111 Croatian nationals were repatriated from Tyrol, Austria as well as 22 from Ancona, Italy, the Foreign Ministry said in a press release. The Croats returned from Tyrol, which is quarantined, in six buses and four cars to the Bregana border crossing, where they were checked by epidemiologists and instructed to self-isolate. The Foreign Ministry thanked the Austrian authorities for approving the repatriation and said it would continue to work on the repatriation of Croatian nationals who happened to be abroad during the COVID-19 pandemic. A Jadrolinija catamaran docked in the Zadar…
Sunday, 5 April 2020
SDP Unveils 10-Measure Package to Help Citizens Worst Hit by Coronavirus
ZAGREB, April 5, 2020 - Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Davor Bernardić on Sunday presented a 1.7-billion-kuna rescue package designed by this Opposition party to help those citizens who are hardest hit by the crisis caused by the COVID 19 epidemic. At the start of the news conference in Zagreb, the SDP chief recalled that due to the crisis 400,000 jobs in the country are at risk, and furthermore 20,000 workers have been already fired, while 37,000 persons registered by the Croatian Employment Service (HZZ) receive the monthly dole of HRK 2,600, while more than 100,000 unemployed persons are without…
Sunday, 5 April 2020
148 Croatian Nationals Repatriated by Air from Italy, Portugal, Spain and Sweden
ZAGREB, April 5, 2020 - A total of 148 Croatian nationals were flown back to the homeland from several European countries on Saturday, the Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Ministry said in a press release on late Saturday evening. A total of 155 passengers consisting of the 148 Croatians and a few citizens of Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro, arrived in Zagreb on Saturday evening aboard special Croatia Airlines flights from Portugal, Spain, Italy and Sweden where they were stuck during the outbreak of the coronavirus infection. Upon their arrival at Franjo Tudjman Airport, the passengers were examined by…
Saturday, 4 April 2020
Miroslav Škoro Formally Registers His Party
ZAGREB, April 4, 2020 - Former presidential candidate Miroslav Škoro has formally registered his political party, the Homeland Movement. The Homeland Movement has been notified by the Public Administration Ministry that it has been entered in the Register of Political Parties, Škoro announced in a Facebook post on Friday evening. "Observing the measures to contain the coronavirus, we will organise our activities as much as we can through digital platforms," he wrote. Škoro said that "anyone who puts Croatia's interests above their own" was welcome to join the party. More news about Miroslav Škoro can be found in the Politics…
