Politics

ZAGREB, September 25, 2019 - In her address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović highlighted global problems such as the pollution of oceans and seas, including the Adriatic Sea, which she described as a crucial asset and one of the greatest treasures for Croatia which earns 20% of its GDP off tourism. The Croatian coast, which is annually visited by some 18 million tourists, is polluted by, among other things, plastic waste from Croatia's southern neighbours. "Croatian coastal areas, one of the world’s cleanest and most wondrous, are at times severely…

ZAGREB, September 24, 2019 - Croatia has made huge progress in the homeland security system, but needs to develop it further and remove its shortcomings, the Homeland Security Coordinating Committee said at a meeting in Zagreb on Tuesday. "We have achieved huge progress, but the system must develop in conceptual, legal, organisational, operational, educational and technological terms," said the Committee chair, Defence Minister Damir Krstičević. "It is only through the homeland security system that we can cope with all threats and risks to contemporary society," Krstičević said, calling on all stakeholders to continue addressing the system's shortcomings and weaknesses to…

ZAGREB, September 24, 2019 - The Croatian President's Office on Tuesday denied media reports that President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović had held a bilateral meeting with Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić on the margins of the UN General Assembly session in New York, saying that "a courtesy encounter and greeting in the corridor" could not be called a bilateral meeting. According to a statement by the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dačić had several brief meetings with senior officials from the region and the world ahead of the 74th UN General Assembly session in New York, including one with Croatian President Kolinda…

ZAGREB, September 24, 2019 - The European Commission indirectly confirmed on Tuesday that a report on Croatia's meeting criteria for accession to the Schengen area of passport-free travel had not been completed yet but noted that work on the report was progressing well. The Commission's joint work on successfully completing, as soon as possible, the evaluation for Schengen Area membership, is progressing well. It is the EC's position that Croatia should join the Schengen Area as a full member as soon as it meets the necessary criteria and as soon as possible, the EC said. EC officials would not say…

ZAGREB, September 24, 2019 - Presidential candidate Miroslav Škoro, who visited Vukovar on Monday, was asked by reporters to say if he supported a possible new protest in Vukovar over the failure of state institutions to prosecute war crimes, to which he said that he supported everything Vukovar residents supported. Škoro was in Vukovar for a screening of a documentary by Jakov Sedlar on suicide among Croatian war veterans. He noted that high suicide rates among war veterans were to a great extent due to failed policies over the past 20 years. Reporters also wanted to know what he thought…

ZAGREB, September 24, 2019 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Monday that it was very important that the pension reform would be carried on, with only two important nuances being different - the statutory retirement age and penalisation for early retirement per year of service, namely the restoration of the statutory retirement age from 67 to 65 and reduction of penalisation for early retirement from 0.3% to 0.2%. After opening the Croatian Post's New Sorting Centre in Velika Gorica on Monday evening, the prime minister answered a number of questions from the press, including one on changes to the…

ZAGREB, September 24, 2019 - An exchange of territory between Serbia and Kosovo would open up Pandora's box in Southeast Europe, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović told UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York on Monday. The Croatian president was in New York for the 74th UN General Assembly which she will address on Tuesday. On Monday, the Croatian president met with UN Secretary-General Guterres and discussed with him the situation in Southeast Europe, notably Bosnia and Herzegovina, relations between Belgrade and Kosovo, and what Croatia "as the leader in the region will do to help further stabilise the situation and…

ZAGREB, September 23, 2019 - Ten overhauled Croatian Air Force Mi-171Sh helicopters were presented at a barracks near Zagreb on Monday, the Defence Ministry said in a press release. A 207 million kuna overhaul contract was signed in 2017 with the Aviation Technical Centre, whose foreign partner was the Russian Helicopters company, which provided technical support. The helicopters are used for humanitarian aid to civilian institutions in search and rescue operations, emergency medical flights, the transport of organs for transplantation and putting out fires. Since August, two aircraft have been participating in NATO's peace-keeping operation in Kosovo. Russian Ambassador Anvar…

ZAGREB, September 23, 2019 - An appeals chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has delivered a final ruling banning the extradition of former football executive Zdravko Mamić to Croatia because legal conditions for such a move have not been met, the Sarajevo-based court said on Monday. The appeals chamber thus upheld a previous ruling of August 29. Croatian authorities on June 11 requested Mamić's transfer so that he could continue standing trial before the Osijek County Court on charges of conspiracy and breach of trust. In its latest ruling, the Bosnian court determined that conditions for the handover…

ZAGREB, September 22, 2019 - The World Peace Gong, a symbol of lasting peace in the world, was unveiled in the eastern Croatian Danube river town of Vukovar on Saturday, the 50th such monument in the world. The monument was installed outside the town library. The project was supported by the local government, the World Peace Committee, the Republic of Indonesia and the sculptor and painter Ante Sardelić Kraljević, who made nine sculptures placed near the Gong which are dedicated to all people killed in Vukovar during 1991-1995 Homeland War. The Gong was unveiled by the President of the World…