Politics

ZAGREB, December 3, 2019 - The agreement reached with the teachers unions is a good compromise that will ensure a cessation of the strike as of Tuesday morning, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said after a meeting with union representatives on Monday. "Schools will resume classes as of Tuesday. A compromise has been reached in the interests of children, pupils, parents, teachers and normal functioning of the education system," the prime minister told a press conference. The government and the unions have agreed an increase of the job complexity index of 3% as of December 1 this year, an additional 1%…

ZAGREB, December 3, 2019 - Croatian police have been commended in the EU for protecting the EU's external border, Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović said on Monday in Brussels, where he was attending a meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council. "EU ministers of the interior know best how to assess the role of the Croatian police, who at the moment are irreplaceable in the EU," Božinović said, adding that he had a lot of meetings with his colleagues. "There is a consensus on the issue of protection of the external border. Everything that needs to be done…

ZAGREB, December 3, 2019 - Prime Minister and HDZ party leader Andrej Plenković said on Monday that he believed President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović was joking when she said that if Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić, who has been indicted for corruption in several cases, was convicted, she would visit him in prison and take him cakes. "I believe she was joking," Plenković told reporters after a session of the HDZ Presidency and National Council when asked to comment on Grabar-Kitarović's statement to Media Servis. Earlier in the day, responding to criticism over her singing at Bandić's birthday party, Grabar-Kitarović said that everyone…

ZAGREB, December 2, 2019 - After 36 days of strike in primary and secondary schools, the unions and the government on Monday agreed on an increase of the job complexity indices for teachers, ending the longest strike in the Croatian education sector. Prime Minister Andrej Plenković told the press after negotiations with the unions that an agreement had been reached that would ensure the cessation of the strike and resumption of classes throughout the country as of Tuesday. The government has offered the unions an increase of the job complexity indices of 3% as of December 1, an additional 1%…

ZAGREB, December 2, 2019 - Member of parliament Nikola Grmoja of the opposition MOST party said on Monday that the current chaos in the country, caused by the strike of primary and secondary school teachers, was due to the conduct of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, who started negotiating with the striking teachers' unions only on Sunday, the 35th day of the strike. "This is the longest strike ever, it has lasted for 36 days and the chaos in the country is due to Prime Minister Plenković who has removed the education minister from the negotiations, assuming responsibility. The minister is…

ZAGREB, December 2, 2019 - The customs officers' union on Monday held a meeting in the Ministry of Labour regarding working conditions and adjusting the wage indices in customs services, with customs officers claiming that their wage indices are 20% lower compared to other employees in the Ministry of Finance. "Customs officers are working in poor conditions. Legal provisions and the collective agreement are not adhered to. We are rarely given new uniforms and we have to buy our own toilet paper and soap. Overtime work is not paid and regular health check-ups are not conducted," union leader Rino Štorić…

The first hearing for the trial of Croatian Filip Drača, a 24-year-old who vandalized the Franjo Tuđman statue in Zagreb with sickle and hammer graffiti earlier this year, was held on Thursday, November 28, 2019. A criminal complaint has been filed against him for property damage, and the State Attorney's Office is seeking a sentence of 10 months and 3 years' probation. Croatian Inquiry After Filip Drača sprayed a sickle and a hammer on the Franjo Tuđman statue on January 5, 2019; a public inquiry was launched to bring this perpetrator to justice as soon as possible, as reported by Anja…

ZAGREB, December 2, 2019 - After Croatia was almost given an ultimatum by the U.S. and NATO in Brussels at the end of October, like some other NATO member states, to come up with a plan in six weeks on how to set aside 2% of GDP for defence, Defence Minister Damir Krstičević has told Večernji List daily of Monday that an action plan has been drawn up. "Croatia will be in the green," he was quoted as saying. Krstičević and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković are going to London for a NATO summit on December 3-4 and on that occasion…

ZAGREB, December 2, 2019 - Presidential candidate Miroslav Škoro said in Zaprešić on Sunday he was for banning work on Sundays, that the ruling HDZ party was betrayed by those running it, and that he would return Croatia to the people and political parties to their members. Škoro said irresponsible conduct had led to the ongoing teachers' strike and that the strike was the result of inaction. On the other hand, when this strike ends, customs officials have announced another and police officers are waiting in line, he added. We are governed by people who see it differently than those…

ZAGREB, December 2, 2019 - The Croatian government on Sunday evening stated that the negotiations with the striking unions of education-sector employees would continue on Monday, which was why Prime Minister Andrej Plenković cancelled his attendance at a UN summit meeting in Madrid. One of the leaders of the striking unions, Branimir Mihalinec, said after a six -hour-long round of the negotiations on Sunday that the talks would go on Monday, as well as the 36-day-long industrial action. "We have concluded that we still need some time for talks and we will continue negotiating tomorrow. We expect the conclusion (of…