Politics

ZAGREB, January 29, 2020 - Croatian Air Force Commander General Michael Križanec said on Tuesday that the Air Force had contacted the US Army and the Bell company and was given instructions on how to preserve evidence from the Kiowa Warrior helicopter that crashed into the sea off Šibenik during a training exercise on Monday, killing two pilots on board. Speaking at a news conference at the Zemunik air base, Križanec said that the instructions were about how to preserve certain evidence, how to handle it and where to send it. He added that it was up to the investigating…

ZAGREB, January 29, 2020 - Citizens of the European Union's member-states must be at the centre of discussions which will be taken during the Conference on the Future of Europe, the Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Ministry's State Secretary, Andreja Metelko Zgombić, said in Brussels on Tuesday. This official of Croatia, which is the country-in-chair of the European Union in the first half of 2020, today chaired a meeting of the General Affairs Council that focused on exchanging the views on the proposed Conference on the Future of Europe due to start in 2020 and end in 2022. At its…

When the European Commission presented the EU Green Deal on January the 14th this year, doubts immediately arose as to whether such large financial resources could be mobilised to achieve the world's first climate-neutral bloc. As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 28th of January, 2020, in order for this to happen, Croatia will need to secure not only substantial investment from the EU, but also from national public sectors and the private sector. From that day onwards, all EU programmes as well as operational programmes adopted at a member state level need to be aligned precisely with the objectives of…

ZAGREB, January 28, 2020 - The body of a second pilot of the Croatian Air Force helicopter that crashed into the sea off the city of Šibenik on Monday was found on Tuesday morning, the Defence Ministry said in a statement. The wreckage of the Kiowa OH-58 D helicopter and the body of the pilot Tomislav Baturina were discovered at 8.10 am on Tuesday by Croatian Navy divers using a Remus underwater vehicle. The helicopter, with two pilots on board, crashed during a training flight in the channel between the island of Zlarin and the mainland town of Zablaće around…

ZAGREB, January 28, 2020 - European Commission Vice-President for Demography and Democracy Dubravka Šuica expressed hope on Tuesday that the three main institutions of the European Union would soon adopt a joint declaration defining details of the Conference on the Future of Europe. The joint declaration is expected to cover the concept, structure, scope and timetable of the conference which is due to open on Europe Day, May 9. The European Parliament and Commission have already made public their views on the conference, while the General Affairs Council is scheduled to discuss the matter on Tuesday. The General Affairs Council…

ZAGREB, January 28, 2020 - During the first 39 months of the term of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković's government, 14 cabinet ministers have been replaced with most of them having to step down due to scandals related to their personal property and assets. In addition to Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, the only ministers from the original cabinet, which came into power on 19 October 2016, include Finance Minister Zdravko Marić, Veterans' Affairs Minister Tomo Medved, Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Oleg Butković, Minister of Culture Nina Obuljen Koržinek, Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli and Environment and Energy Minister Tomislav…

The Social Welfare Center in Zagreb again rejected the foster care application submitted by Ivo Šegota and Mladen Kožić, who are life partners in Croatia. By doing so, they have completely disregarded the Croatian Administrative Court's December 2019 binding judgment, which allowed the couple to become foster parents after a long two-year court battle. UPDATE: Mladen Kožić and Ivo Šegota give interviews to RTL Direkt and HRT on January 28, 2020. More information here. Couple Had Started Preparing Home for Children “We're shocked. After the December verdict, we had started planning how we would prepare our home for children, and I…

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic has dismissed Health Minister Kujundzic (HDZ) after numerous scandalous stories about him broke loose in the media, which detailed everything from incorrectly declared houses to properties that hadn't been declared at all and alleged dodgy dealings. As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 28th of January, 2020, Milan Kujundzic has been dismissed from his position as minister of health and this news was confirmed by a Croatian Government spokesman. Andrej Plenkovic is expected to make a statement after the 2020 Green New Deal for Croatia conference. "The position of minister isn't worth the burden, the simplest thing…

ZAGREB, January 28, 2020 - Croatian Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović in Brussels on Monday dismissed accusations levelled against Croatian border police over their treatment of migrants, saying there was no evidence to support the claims made by members of the European Parliament. Božinović and Justice Minister Dražen Bošnjaković outlined the priorities of the Croatian EU presidency in their respective departments before the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. Most of the remarks made by Committee members concerned the treatment of migrants by the Croatian border police. Several of them showed photographs of adults and…

ZAGREB, January 28, 2020 - A candidate for the president of the ruling HDZ party, Miro Kovač, said on Monday that the HDZ was turning into a party "without any flavour or smell", adding that he would change that and make the party victorious again. In an interview with RTL television, Kovač said that the HDZ was in a difficult position after the defeat in the recent presidential election and that he would change that once he was elected its leader. He said that he was "very relaxed" regarding his possible election as HDZ president and the election of Ivan…