Politics

ZAGREB, March 8, 2020 - President Zoran Milanović on Sunday forwarded his message on the occasion of International Women's Day, calling for persistent work on the enhancement of the status of women. Although we live in the times when women participate in all spheres of the public, business and political life, International Women's Day is an occasion for us to recall that it was not always the case, Milanović writes on his Facebook account. We still have to work on the improvement of the status of women worldwide and also in the Croatian society, he added. We must not stop…

The situation on the Greek-Turkish border, not all that far from Croatian territory, is gradually becoming worse and worse after Turkey opened its border to allow migrants to head towards Greece, and thus towards the EU. Frontex has now stepped up its game and the Croatian Interior Ministry has made itself available. With numerous pieces of footage being released every now and then showing violent clashes between the authorities on the border and migrants seeking to enter the EU, it's difficult to remain neutral. Owing to the escalating situation, Frontex has asked the Croatian Interior Ministry (MUP) to send another…

ZAGREB, March 8, 2020 - Miroslav Škoro, said on Saturday he had been subjected to a media smear campaign in recent days over a parking lot in Zagreb, adding that he was prepared to withdraw from all his business projects but that he would stay in politics to end the current duopoly. "It's not an attack on me, but an attack on a project that will definitely end the duopoly between the HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) and the SDP (Social Democratic Party) which has captured and held Croatia in its grip for the last 20 years," Škoro told reporters after…

ZAGREB, March 8, 2020 - The Croatian Sovereignists party on Saturday presented its platform for parliamentary elections due this autumn, calling for changes to election law, decommunisation and "raising the ethnic minorities to the level of the majority Croatian people." Ladislav Ilčić, a member of the party's council, said that they were offering "a solution to the question of ethnic minorities that terrorise the majority people." "Nationality would be defined by citizenship and not by ethnicity. We would raise all members of the existing ethnic minorities to the level of the majority Croatian people. We will be a country of equal…

ZAGREB, March 7, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković says in an interview with the Večernji List daily that the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) positions itself firmly as a centre-right party that enables the highest number of the citizens to be gathered around the values of patriotism and Christian Democratic values. Plenković said in the interview published on Saturday that the HDZ would first complete the ongoing process of the intra-party elections and that it would embark on preparations for the parliamentary elections so as to clinch one more victory. As for the counter-candidate for the HDZ presidency, Miro Kovac…

ZAGREB, March 7, 2020 - Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Davor Bernardić said on Saturday that he was not discriminating against anyone, least of all women, and that his statement about the party's coordinators for the forthcoming elections was misinterpreted. He was responding to negative comments triggered by his statement in an interview with Hina that there were no women among the SDP coordinators for the forthcoming elections because it was no time for experimentation and this work should be done by "proven operatives on the ground." "These days we can see some trying to accuse me and the SDP…

Every day, we're witnesses to injustice in Croatia, but there are still some people who make positive changes. One of them is Bozidar Novoselec and his team in the Sracinec Municipality. But, what they got in return is a pure reflection of envy, also known locally as "zagorski jal". As Varazdinske vijesti reports on the 6th of March, 2020, a few years ago, municipalities had to pay water management fees at the expense of Croatian Waters (Hrvatske vode). This increased the amount paid by households by about 200 percent, and of course, it happened that some households belonging to socially…

ZAGREB, March 7, 2020 - The European Union supports the agreement on ceasefire in Syria and on the de-escalation of the situation with migrants on the Greek-Turkish border, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković says on his Twitter account after he contacted top EU officials and the Turkish President on the phone on Friday. After the telephone conversations with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel as well as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister of Croatia, the current holder of the EU presidency, tweeted that "we support the agreed ceasefire in Syria and de-escalation of…

March 6, 2020 - Turkey has released a map of route options for migrants hoping to reach France and Germany, and Croatia has been bypassed. Greek media outlets recently reported Turkey's geographical map with "routes" running from Turkey into Western Europe. They claim that it is further evidence that Ankara has officially participated in the developing crisis by encouraging migrants and refugees to enter the EU illegally. The map, along with instructions in Arabic, was published by the official Turkish state television TRT Arabic and posted on their Twitter page and Facebook page on February 28, 2020. Turkey Migrant Map…

ZAGREB, March 6, 2020 - Croatia could instigate the establishment of good relations between Russia and Europe during its presidency of the Council of the European Union, Russian Ambassador Anvar Azimov said in Rijeka on Friday. In our opinion, Russia and Europe are the most natural friends in the world today. I would like it very much if your EU presidency marked the start of the establishment of good relations between Russia and Europe, he said. Croatia has that possibility today and your wise Croatian government can make it happen and become the initiator of such relations, he added. Azimov…