Politics

ZAGREB, October 18, 2019 - For the second time this year, the parliamentary opposition on Friday failed to secure a no-confidence vote in Health Minister Milan Kujundžić, with 48 votes in favour instead of the required 76 and no abstentions. "A decision to give the health minister a vote of no confidence hasn't been made," Speaker Gordan Jandroković said. The no-confidence vote was tabled at the request of 32 opposition MPs at the initiative of the Bridge party. Seventy-nine (79) lawmakers from the ruling coalition voted against this motion of the opposition. Although it seemed the vote could be a…

ZAGREB, October 18, 2019 - Croatia regrets that EU leaders failed to agree on opening accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania, which deserve it, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Friday. "Croatia regrets that because we believed that this was the right time to open negotiations, given that both countries, in the European Commission's estimate, have achieved a sufficient degree of progress. Several countries didn't share that position. One should continue to insist on those two dossiers and we must send a message to our friends in North Macedonia and Albania that they should continue with reforms and that…

ZAGREB, October 18, 2019 - The conditions for granting special rights to the Serb minority and for use of the Cyrillic alphabet in Vukovar have not been met, Mayor Ivan Penava said in the Vukovar Town Council on Friday while presenting proposed conclusions on the degree of understanding and dialogue between the town's Croat and Serb communities. The proposal sparked an emotionally-charged debate which at one point escalated to the brink of an incident. The conclusions were eventually voted in by a majority of councillors. The conclusions say that the two communities have reached a degree of understanding, solidarity, tolerance…

ZAGREB, October 18, 2019 - European heads of state and government and senior EU officials, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen, outgoing Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk, are expected to attend an election convention of the European People's Party (EPP) in Zagreb on November 20-21, Jutarnji List daily wrote on Friday. Over 2,000 delegates from more than 40 countries in which the EPP has members are expected to attend the convention at the Arena Zagreb to choose new leadership: a president, a secretary-general, 10 vice-presidents and a treasurer. The…

ZAGREB, October 18, 2019 - The Serb National Council (SNV) on Thursday announced the start of a campaign aimed at removing the stigma from the Cyrillic and send the message that using this script privately or publicly does not endanger anyone in Croatia, notably the Croatian majority. Speaking at a press conference announcing the "Let's understand each other better" campaign, SNV president Boris Milošević said it would promote dignity, freedom, equality and non-discrimination. The Cyrillic is an important part of the Serb cultural identity and language diversity is one of the foundations of the European Union, so every member state…

ZAGREB, October 18, 2019 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in Brussels on Thursday "the rules can't be changed while the game is on," commenting on demands to change the methodology of EU accession negotiations before approving their start with North Macedonia and Albania. "The new, revised enlargement methodology suggested primarily by France will bring the negotiations being conducted by Serbia and Montenegro into a different position and also perhaps those conducted by North Macedonia and Albania, and we can only imagine what will happen with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. This should be discussed, but changing rules along…

ZAGREB, October 17, 2019 - The Croatian government on Thursday decided on the one-off payment of humanitarian assistance to Iran, Yemen and Mozambique in the aggregate amount of 100,000 dollars. Thus, Zagreb is going to send 50,000 dollars to Yemen through the UN Fund for Children and the relief assistance is going to be used to alleviate the impact of the armed conflict on children in that southwestern Asian country. The sum of 25,000 dollars will be sent through the World Health Organization to Iran after this country was hit by floods in March and April this year. Zagreb is…

ZAGREB, October 17, 2019 - The parliament on Wednesday afternoon started debating a motion to give Health Minister Milan Kujundžić a vote of no confidence, tabled by the MOST party with the support of 32 members of parliament, with opposition MPs criticising the minister for not launching a reform of the healthcare sector and for trying to influence the judiciary. Explaining the motion, MOST MP Ines Strenja said that the minister had failed to adopt a health insurance law on time and ensure its implementation. She also accused the minister of failing to consolidate primary healthcare and of failing to…

ZAGREB, October 17, 2019 - Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović has said that illegal migrants attempt to enter Croatia on a daily basis but that Croatian police protect the border and are prepared for all eventualities. Božinović made the statement on Wednesday during a visit to the eastern town of Vukovar, where he attended an event commemorating 97 police officers killed or gone missing in the defence of that town in 1991, when reporters asked him if there was a danger that the 1,500 migrants staying at the Vučjak camp in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina, close to the border…

As Novac/Marina Klepo writes on the 16th of October, 2019, after Malta, Croatia has the highest rate of emigration in the whole of the European Union. 21.9 percent of the population to be more specific, which means that more than a fifth of the population born on Croatian territory live abroad. This is followed by Portugal and Lithuania, countries in which 20 percent of the population born there have left. The latest World Bank report on "Migration and the brain drain in Europe and Central Asia" showcases this worrying data as it analyses the latest migration trends and offers countries…