Politics

As Novi list/Drazen Ciglenecki writes on the 25th of October, 2019, SDP's presidential candidate Zoran Milanović wants to talk to Croats who have emigrated to Ireland's second largest city in recent years, claiming that he is ''not going there to get votes''. The Croatian presidential election campaign has, rather unsurprisingly, sunk into near-total monotony. There is nothing going on with it, there are no confrontations between candidates, which is of major interest to citizens and the media everywhere, so it is not surprising that the public has lost interest in this election race almost entirely. The current campaign is still monitored…

ZAGREB, October 25, 2019 - Finance Minister Zdravko Marić and Croatian National Bank (HNB) Governor Boris Vujčić said that the progress made by Croatia in the latest Doing Business report was good news and that it should be taken as an encouragement for further reform. Croatia has continued to improve its business regulations and is catching up with global regulatory best practices, the World Bank said on Thursday. Croatia placed 51st among 190 countries in the ease of doing business ranking, moving up from 58th spot last year. Marić told reporters that the report provided a good picture and a…

ZAGREB, October 25, 2019 - Croatian Defence Minister Damir Krstičević met his US counterpart Mark Esper in Brussels on Thursday ahead of a meeting of NATO defence ministers, and this was their first meeting. The two officials confirmed the high level of relations between Croatia and the United States, which is a key ally in defence and security, and underlined the commitment to continuing the successful defence cooperation, the Croatian Defence Ministry said in a press release. Krstičević said Croatia was a responsible partner and committed ally, and Esper commended its contribution to NATO's peace support missions, activities and operations.…

ZAGREB, October 25, 2019 - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković called on his counterparts from Council of Europe member states on Thursday to act together in order to avoid new divisions and preserve the European project, announcing that Croatia would promote the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development during its presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2020. Through continuous and constructive dialogue, mutual understanding and common action we can avoid divisions and preserve unity, he said in Strasbourg in a debate called "Our Common European Home: the next 70 years". Earlier divisions brought…

ZAGREB, October 24, 2019 - Bavaria's Minister of the Interior Joachim Herrman on Thursday thanked the Croatian police for protecting the European border but expressed concern over the growing number of illegal migrants along the Western Balkan route saying that the situation in the autumn of 2015 must not be repeated in Bavaria or Germany. "I thank our Croatian colleagues for protecting the European border (...) and congratulate Croatia on the European Commission's green light regarding the fulfilment of technical conditions to access the Schengen Area," Herrman said after a meeting with the Croatian Minister of the Interior, Davor Božinović.…

ZAGREB, October 24, 2019 - Opposition parties in the Croatian Parliament on Thursday welcomed the request by the European Commission that in the process of accession to the Schengen free-travel area Croatia should strengthen its Commission on Prevention of Conflict of Interest, especially the penalty mechanisms, while some of the ruling parties said that improvements were necessary to enhance the Commission's operational role. Peđa Grbin of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) recalled that the adoption of the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act had been one of the conditions for the conclusion of accession negotiations with the European Union. "Had we…

ZAGREB, October 24, 2019 - The Croatian government on Thursday sent into parliamentary procedure several amendments to the Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Act and the Protection from Domestic Violence Act which would impose more stringent penalisation with the aim of preventing and countering violence, particularly family violence. "The important aim of this set of draft amendments is also to make criminal procedure swifter," Justice Minister Dražen Bošnjaković said at the government's meeting. Amendments of the Penal Code thus envisage that assaults against social workers or teachers would be treated as an assault against official persons. The changes also introduce…

ZAGREB, October 24, 2019 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday that he did not think that the ongoing strike of primary and secondary school teachers was a good thing and added that it was creating a bad atmosphere among parents. "Talks were conducted and we are open for further talks," said Plenković at the start of a cabinet meeting in Zagreb. Considering the fact that the industrial action is in the form of a rotating strike taking place in different counties every working day, Plenković said that this also created "an unnecessary atmosphere of pressure on counties." He…

October the 24th, 2019 - Who would ever have thought that possessing a Croatian passport would be a desire placed high on the list of a British citizen? A look at how the shock referendum result of 2016 changed minds and hearts. Brexit is slowly becoming one of those words that drains the life and joy out of you when you say it. This process has now been going on for more than three years with yet another potential extension until the end of January 2020 on the horizon (we'll hopefully know more tomorrow about that). After Donald Tusk warned…

ZAGREB, October 24, 2019 - Croatian Deputy Parliament Speaker Željko Reiner attended in Tokyo on Wednesday a ceremony organised by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in honour of Emperor Naruhito's enthronement, parliament said in a press release. Emperor Naruhito officially proclaimed his enthronement on Tuesday in front of guests from more than 180 countries. Reiner briefly met Abe and invited him to visit Croatia. He also held talks with Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi on Croatia's presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2020 and the future of the EU. They also talked about Japan-EU…