Politics

ZAGREB, December 13, 2019 - The leaders of the opposition parties which support presidential candidate Zoran Milanović said on Friday the December 22 presidential election would be a watershed as citizens would choose between a normal and civic Croatia and a far-right and populist Croatia. Speaking at a press conference, Social Democratic Party president Davor Bernardić said voters would be choosing between a normal and an abnormal Croatia. He called out those in power for failing to resolve citizens' key problems. "The standard is falling, the costs of living are rising, salaries are not rising, pensions are paltry, waiting lists…

ZAGREB, December 13, 2019 - The heads of state or government of the EU member-states, who convened in Brussels on Thursday for a summit meeting, asked the Croatian presidency of the EU to start defining the European Council's position on a Conference on the Future of Europe and called on the Council President to take over negotiations on the Union's budget. "The European Council considered the idea of a Conference on the Future of Europe starting in 2020 and ending in 2022. It asks the Croatian Council Presidency to work towards defining a Council position on the content, scope, composition…

ZAGREB, December 13, 2019 - Croatia wants to intensify communication on European topics so that citizens are acquainted with them, and Europe is a plus for Croatia, not a minus, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Friday. He was speaking to Croatian reporters in Brussels at the beginning of the second day of an EU summit. Commenting on European Council conclusions which task Croatia with preparing the Council's position on the Conference on the Future of Europe, Plenković said the upcoming conference was not a one-off event but an inclusive process in which the Commission, the Council, the European and…

Contrary to recent reports that the Bosnian government would be sending two Nigerian students, Abia Uchenna Alexandro and Eboh Kenneth Chinedu, back to their homeland directly from Bosnia, a senior Nigerian government official has confirmed in a press release today that the students will fly back to Nigeria from Zagreb, Croatia instead. Accusations Against Croatian Police According to the students’ uncorroborated account, they were approached by Croatian police in Zagreb on the evening of November 17, not allowed to return to their hostel to retrieve their passports and were taken instead to the nearby police station. From there, they were…

ZAGREB, December 13, 2019 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković met with French President Emmanuel Macron on the margins of the European Union's summit meeting in Brussels on Thursday evening for the talks on the bilateral relations and on the policy for further enlargement of the European Union. The Plenković-Macron talks focused also on the prospects of two aspirants – North Macedonia and Albania – of being admitted to the European Union. This past October, France, together with the Netherlands and Denmark, vetoed the opening of the accession talks with Skopje and Tirana, insisting on the overhaul of the negotiating…

ZAGREB, December 12, 2019 - Croatian nationals living in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be able to cast their ballots at the 22 December presidential election at 44 polling stations in Bosnia, the Croatian embassy in Sarajevo said on Thursday. The polling stations will be set up on the compounds of the embassy and consulates. The highest number of polling stations, 19, will be set up on the compounds of the consulate-general in Mostar. As many as 10 polling stations will be opened in Vitez, central Bosnia, where the Croatian consulate will again serve as a polling place. In the capital…

ZAGREB, December 12, 2019 - Presidential candidate Dario Juričan on Thursday staged a mock show called "An operation to save Croatia" during which he changed the name of Zagreb's King Zvonimir Street to Dr. Ivo Sanader Street, while the Victims of Fascism Square was renamed the Square of USKOK Victims, and the Square of Croatian Great Men the Square of Croatian Tycoons. Juričan, who during his presidential campaign has been introducing himself as Milan Bandić, briefly put up signs with the new street names, promising that once he came to power, he would "release the former prime minister and HDZ…

ZAGREB, December 12, 2019 - A group of civil society organisations on Thursday appealed to Prime Minister Andrej Plenković for transparency during Croatia's EU presidency in 2020 so as to contribute to legislative and lobbyist transparency in the Council of the EU. They say European laws directly impact all Croatian citizens, that 42% of legislative acts adopted by the incumbent Croatian parliament were adopted for alignment with EU laws, that Croatia's positions at Council of the EU meetings are not debated publicly, and that the Croatian parliament and its European affairs committee do not participate in the preparation of those…

ZAGREB, December 12 2019 - Commenting on presidential candidate Zoran Milanović's criticism that she was cowardly evading debates of presidential candidates, President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, who is running for a second term in office, said on Wednesday that she was in favour of debating election platforms but that Milanović had none. "Debates? Show the minimum respect to our people, tell them what you are offering, how you see the future of this nation and this state, and formulate it into a decent document so that we can compare our platforms," Grabar-Kitarović wrote on Twitter. "Tell people which areas you would work…

ZAGREB, December 12, 2019 - The opinion of the advocate general of the European Union's top court that this judicial institution has no jurisdiction over the Slovenia-Croatia border dispute is a step toward agreement between the two countries on the issue dating back to the time of Yugoslavia's break-up, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Wednesday. Court of Justice of the European Union Advocate General Priit Pikamae said on Wednesday the Court did not have jurisdiction in Slovenia's case against Croatia, accepting arguments submitted by Croatia which argued that the case was not about EU law but international law. Slovenia…