Politics

ZAGREB, September 26, 2019 - In the first eight months of 2019, Croatian border police arrested and processed 11,813 migrants who attempted to illegally enter the country, which is 3,609 more persons than in 2018 and as many as 8,019 more persons than in the same period of 2018, the Jutarnji List daily of Thursday reports. The daily quotes official figures from the Ministry of the Interior which show that police stopped 49 people on a daily basis while they were trying to illegally cross the border into the country. However, the total number of illegal migrants processed by Croatian…

ZAGREB, September 26, 2019 - By putting forward a bill on the processing of biometric data to strengthen security in Croatia and the Schengen area, the Croatian government wants to secure conditions for interoperability, namely for the linking and processing of a person's physical traits which enables their uniform identification between the information systems of Croatia and other EU countries. "Currently the most topical EU initiative in the field of security is the strengthening of data exchange by linking information systems and databases containing biometric data," Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović said while explaining provisions of the bill that…

ZAGREB, September 26, 2019 - The Croatian interdepartmental commission for the procurement of multi-purpose combat aircraft said on Wednesday that it had received five letters of expression of interest to provide the country with new fighter jets and eight letters of expression of interest for second-hand jets. In early August, the interdepartmental commission, set up by the government on 4 July, sent requests to 26 potential bidders concerning the procurement of multi-purpose combat aircraft, the government's press office recalls. Since then the commission has considered the proposals made by those bidders who expressed interest in this project. During the selection…

ZAGREB, September 26, 2019 - The Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Željko Komšić, expects relations between his country and Croatia to start improving after presidential elections in Croatia set for the end of the year, and he conveyed that assessment to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Komšić's office said in a statement on Wednesday. Komšić and Guterres met in New York on the margins of the current session of the UN General Assembly and on that occasion, the chairman of Bosnia and Herzegovina's tripartite presidency informed the high UN official of the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and…

ZAGREB, September 26, 2019 - Slovenian Foreign Minister Miro Cerar said during the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday that Slovenia was in favour of expansion of the Schengen area of passport-free travel but only if Croatia respected the rule of law, Slovenian media reported. In a comment on Croatian media reports that the European Commission would next month confirm that Croatia had met technical conditions for accession to the Schengen area, which outgoing EC President Jean-Claude Juncker had allegedly promised Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, Cerar told reporters in New York that Slovenia supported the expansion of…

ZAGREB, September 25, 2019 - A round table was held in the Croatian Parliament on Wednesday to mark 70 years since the adoption of the Geneva conventions relating to the protection of victims of armed conflicts, highlighting the importance of protecting and respecting international humanitarian law and the role of national parliaments in their promotion. The chair of the Committee on International Cooperation, Romana Jerković, warned that violations of international humanitarian law continued to present a major problem in the world and that it was necessary to raise awareness of this matter. Lawmakers should ensure respect for international humanitarian law…

ZAGREB, September 25, 2019 - The chairman of the Work and Solidarity Party's parliamentary group, led by Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić, Robert Jankovics, told reporters on Wednesday that he had left the group, but would continue to support the parliamentary majority. Jankovics, who represents the Hungarian minority in the Croatian parliament, said that from now on he would work solely through the group of lawmakers representing ethnic minorities. "The differences among members of the group have become too great for me and they are no longer just conceptual but substantial as well," Jankovics said without revealing the reasons for his…

ZAGREB, September 25, 2019 - Minister of the Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure Oleg Butković said on Wednesday it was not realistic at the moment that the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) would leave the ruling coalition as the situation was calming down. "I believe that at the moment it is not realistic that the SDSS will leave the coalition. Meetings are being held with veterans, talks are being held and I think that the situation is calming down," Butković told reporters ahead of an inner cabinet meeting when asked if the government would fall if the SDSS were to…

The tiny Croatian island of Zlarin, barely ever heard of outside of Croatia, is praised at no less than the United Nations (UN) General Assembly by the Croatian President. As Morski writes on the 25th of September, 2019, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović delivered an eloquent but stark warning in English on Tuesday at the UN General Assembly about the harmful pollution of the oceans and seas, including the Adriatic aea, which is a key resource for Croatia, helping tourism stand for about 20 percent of the country's GDP. Few people expected ''centre stage'' to have been taken by one little…

ZAGREB, September 25, 2019 - The Rediscover project, which aims to showcase tangible and non-tangible Jewish heritage in local government units involved in the project, was presented at a conference in the eastern Croatian city of Osijek on Tuesday. The conference was held as part of the 3rd meeting of the project partners. Osijek deputy mayor Žana Gamoš said that this was a transnational project involving nine participants. The 2 million euro project is led by the Hungarian city of Szeged, and the partner cities are Osijek (Croatia), Galati, Timisoara (Romania), Regensburg (Germany), Murska Sobota (Slovenia), Subotica (Serbia), Banja Luka…