Politics

ZAGREB, November 29, 2019 - Former Yugoslav and Croatian intelligence official Zdravko Mustač, who was sentenced by a German court with another Croatian intelligence official, Josip Perković, for involvement in the murder of dissident Stjepan Đureković, was extradited to Croatia on Thursday afternoon. Mustač arrived in Zagreb aboard a regular flight from Munich around 12:45 and around 14:15 he was admitted to the diagnostics centre of Zagreb's Remetinec Prison. After a medical check-up, he will be transferred to a penitentiary where he will serve the rest of his 40-year prison term. In late October, Croatia's Supreme Court rejected Mustač's last…

ZAGREB, November 29, 2019 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday that Croatia and Hungary were friendly countries that were interested in strengthening cooperation and developing cross-border projects. After meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Osijek, Plenković told reporters that the opening of the newly-built student dormitory of the Hungarian Educational and Cultural Centre in Osijek, whose construction was financed by the Croatian government with 10 million kuna, was a symbol of respect for the Hungarian minority in Croatia. We are glad the Hungarian government cares about Croats living in Hungary, supporting similar projects and centres…

ZAGREB, November 9, 2019 - Wearing balaclavas to hide one's identity at sport events will in future be treated as a misdemeanour, according to a bill on the prevention of rioting at sports events that the government sent to parliament for consideration on Thursday. Fines for wearing apparel to hide one's identity have drawn public interest and it is important to note that spectators will not be punished for wearing fan memorabilia like shawls and hats but only for wearing specific items intended to hide one's identity. Balaclavas make it difficult for the police to identify perpetrators and unlawful conduct…

ZAGREB, November 28, 2019 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban formally opened the newly-built student dormitory of the Hungarian Educational and Cultural Centre in the eastern Croatian city of Osijek on Thursday. The dormitory will house 52 students. Its construction was financed by the Croatian Ministry of Science and Education with about 10 million kuna (1.35 million euro) and the cornerstone was laid in October 2018 by the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, Gordan Jandroković, and his Hungarian counterpart Laszlo Kover. Plenković said that Croatia and Hungary were friends and neighbours and that the Hungarians…

ZAGREB, November 28, 2019 - The leaders of four pensioners parties on Thursday signed an agreement of cooperation which, as they said, is the first step toward uniting into a single party in an effort to avoid votes being dispersed and ensure a stronger impact on improving pensioners' rights. The Croatian Pensioners' Party (HSU), Pensioners Together Block (BUZ), Pensioners of Slavonia and Baranja (USB) and the Democratic Pensioners' Party (DSU) agreed on mutual support in all activities aimed at improving the status of pensioners. HSU leader Silvano Hrelja said that the pensioner community was too fragmented and that that needed…

ZAGREB, November 28, 2019 - An illegal migrant was shot and wounded while resisting a police officer in the wider Mrkopalj area of western Croatia on Wednesday, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County police said in a statement on Thursday. The man suffered a gunshot wound to the right shoulder and was admitted to the KBC hospital in the northern Adriatic city of Rijeka on Wednesday evening. His condition is stable and his life is not in danger, the hospital said. The incident occurred after police encountered a group of migrants in the wider Mrkopalj area. One of the migrants resisted arrest and…

ZAGREB, November 28, 2019 - Nine Croatian MEPs supported the new European Commission headed by Ursula von der Leyen, while two independent MEPs, Mislav Kolakušić and Vilibor Sinčić, voted against. Of 707 lawmakers attending the plenary, the Commission won the support of 462, while 157 voted against and 89 abstained. MEP Ruža Tomašić from the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR) is not satisfied with most of von der Leyen's programme. "She got my vote simply for pragmatic reasons. Namely, I intend to work intensively with the commissioner for agriculture who is also in my parliamentary group, in an effort…

ZAGREB, November 28, 2019 - During its chairmanship of the European Union in the first half of 2020, Croatia will advocate for the continuation of southeast European aspirants' journey to the European Union, as Zagreb finds this important for the transformation, peace and stability in the region, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in parliament on Wednesday. Plenković presented to Croatian lawmakers a report on the 17-18 October European Council meeting during which European leaders in Brussels discussed a new institutional framework of the European Union, enlargement process, Brexit, a new seven-year budget of the European Union, climate change and the…

ZAGREB, November 27, 2019 - Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović said on Wednesday in Mostar, which she visited during her campaign, that care for Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) would continue to be an important plank of her state policy. In that southern city in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Croatian president promised that she would continue to advocate the achievement of full equality of the Croatian people, including their possibility to elect their own political representatives without being outvoted. "The thing that is and will remain to be my state policy is care for Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The…

ZAGREB, November 27, 2019 - Croatian MEP Tonino Picula has been appointed EP rapporteur for Western Balkans ahead of a summit in Zagreb in May 2020. His role will be to prepare recommendations to the Parliament, Council and Commission regarding the opening of accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania as well as providing new impetus to the enlargement process, Picula's office reported on Wednesday. One of the main topics and challenges that Picula will be involved with in the report is reaching a consensus in the Council regarding the enlargement process to countries in the Western Balkans, his office…