Politics

ZAGREB, March 16, 2020 - The current leader of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Andrej Plenković, was on Sunday re-elected president of this ruling party, according to first incomplete results. Plenković mustered 80% of the vote and his counter-candidate Miro Kovac won 20%. Tomo Medved, the war veterans' affairs minister in the Plenković cabinet, was elected deputy president, with 73% of the vote. His rival, Ivan Penava, the mayor of the City of Vukovar, won 27% of the vote. The four candidates from Plenković's team for the four vice-presidents -- Oleg Butković, Ivan Anušić, Branko Bačić and Zdravka Bušić --…

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 15th of March, 2020, the Croatian Government will introduce ''price control measures'' for certain items. They claim that the objective of this decision is to prevent the negative effects of changes in individual product prices in the circumstances of the current coronavirus epidemic. On Saturday evening, the Croatian Government, during a telephone session, adopted a decision on exceptional price control measures for certain products, including basic foodstuffs, hygiene products, protective clothing, medical supplies, linen and similar items. The list includes flour, milk, powdered milk, eggs, sugar, salt, rice, pasta, fresh meat, fish, fruits and vegetables,…

ZAGREB, March 14, 2020 - The opposition Živi Zid party, prompted by the coronavirus epidemic, on Saturday urged the government to temporarily suspend Croatia's bid to join the euro zone in order to preserve the country's monetary independence. "Economic activity has already fallen in all sectors, particularly in tourism, and this will affect the entire country which is highly dependent on tourism," the party's leader Ivan Vilibor Sinčić told reporters outside the government offices. Sinčić said he expected the crisis to develop into a recession in the autumn. He said that the measures proposed by Finance Minister Zdravko Marić concerning…

ZAGREB, March 14, 2020 - The ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party will hold an internal election on Sunday as planned, despite risks posed by the coronavirus epidemic. "We will hold the election tomorrow. We have consulted the competent authorities and we can conduct the election. The risk is not greater than when going to the shops or using public transport," the party's secretary-general, Gordan Jandroković, told reporters on Saturday. He pointed out that everything would be done to reduce the risk of infection to a minimum, adding that all the participants would be required to observe strict rules. More…

ZAGREB, March 14, 2020 - Predrag Štromar has been nominated for the new president of the Croatian People's Party (HNS), the HNS, a junior partner in the ruling coalition, said on Saturday. On Friday, the HNS Presidency unanimously decided on candidates for the leading positions in the party. "As of today, I'm officially embarking on the HNS presidential campaign with a clear message - I'll roll up my sleeves and restore people's trust in politics and the HNS," Štromar said after a Presidency session. He added that, with his team, he would offer real solutions to people's real problems. Incumbent…

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 14th of March, 2020, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic recently held a Croatian Government meeting on the activities being undertaken to combat the current coronavirus epidemic in Croatia. "In principle, I think there's satisfaction with the way Croatia is trying to solve these problems," Plenkovic said after the meeting, N1 reports. He added that the opposition's proposals and comments were largely in the wake of what the Croatian Government was already doing. ''Each of the ministers talks to the groups for which he is responsible, from trade, transport, tourism. Next week, we will come out…

ZAGREB, March 13, 2020 - President Zoran Milanović said on Friday he was refraining from commenting on coronavirus because he felt that his interventions would cause confusion and he was confident the government had not made one mistake about it so far. Speaking to reporters, the president said he still felt it was his duty to say something. He said he was talking with the prime minister and the head of the national civil protection authority and that he was being briefed about everything. He said coronavirus was also a political issue and one on which even experts did not…

ZAGREB, March 13, 2020 - Strategic buffer stocks in Croatia total HRK 537 million and are enough to supply the entire population for 30 days and if Croatia were quarantined, the necessary range of buffer stocks would be activated, the Economy Ministry said on Friday. Strategic buffer stocks ensure the most basic needs during and after the initial impact based on the type of natural or other disaster and they comprise food and non-food products. Food products are wheat, corn, rice, pasta, meat, canned meat and fish, bottled drinking water, whole day food rations, salt, sugar, oil, cheese, powdered milk,…

ZAGREB, March 13, 2020 - The European Union must show its citizens that it has answers to their concerns, Croatian Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović said ahead of a regular meeting of EU ministers of the interior in Brussels on Friday. The meeting is expected to discuss assistance to Greece in coping with the migrant wave from Turkey and ways of strengthening cooperation in civil protection to stop the spreading of the novel coronavirus. "This is a regular meeting in extraordinary circumstances. As the county chairing the Council of the EU, we have to demonstrate leadership because citizens across…

ZAGREB, March 13, 2020 - European Council President Charles Michel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković decided on Thursday to cancel or postpone less important and less urgent meetings at the Council of the EU and to hold conference calls in some cases. Michel, von der Leyen and Plenković, as the prime minister of the country chairing the Council of the EU, agreed that the EU's ability to make decisions must be retained but that institutions' work must be adjusted to the current situation to minimise the risk of the spreading of the coronavirus.…