Politics

ZAGREB, September 12, 2019 - President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on Wednesday sent a letter to Independent Democratic Serb Party president Milorad Pupovac, telling him that she closely follows his public statements in which he criticises Croatia "in an entirely inappropriate, unacceptable and malicious manner." The president says she is determined in her intention that Croatian citizens should build a country of peace, understanding and prosperity, and that she regrets that Pupovac has not carefully read her letter to him from 2016, which she encloses with the latest one. "I consider that my obligation also because of the 10,000 members of the…

ZAGREB, September 12, 2019 - The government will send into public procedure law amendments introducing stricter penalties for domestic violence and violence against women, including the qualification of sexual intercourse without consent as rape, which will be punishable with three to ten years' imprisonment, Justice Minister Dražen Bošnjaković said on Wednesday. He was speaking to the press after representatives of organisations and institutions protecting domestic violence victims met with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. Bošnjaković said the amendments would be put up for public consultation soon and then to government and parliament. "They are envisaged to enter into force on January…

ZAGREB, September 11, 2019 - Council of the EU Secretary-General Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen said on Wednesday he strongly believed in the success of Croatia's chairmanship of the Council in the first half of 2020. He was in Zagreb for talks with the country's leadership about preparations for Croatia's EU presidency. This was an opportunity for me to explain what our cooperation will look like during the presidency and to find out the priorities of Croatia's presidency, he told reporters after talks in the government, including with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. Tranholm-Mikkelsen also congratulated Dubravka Šuica on her nomination as the European…

ZAGREB, September 11, 2019 - The trial of former prime minister's chief of staff Tomislav Saucha and his secretary Sandra Zeljko begins at Zagreb's County Court on Thursday, in a case dubbed "travel expenses" in which the USKOK anti-corruption office accuses them of falsifying travel requests and pocketing HRK 1 million in the process. USKOK contends that Saucha, as former PM Zoran Milanović's chief of staff, falsified travel requests together with Zeljko, his then secretary, and that she continued to do so after Saucha no longer held that job. An investigation was initially launched only into Saucha, who was an…

ZAGREB, September 11, 2019 - The head of the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS), Milorad Pupovac, said on Wednesday that the party had not yet decided whether to leave or stay in the ruling coalition. He also explained his statement in which he likened present-day Croatia to the WWII-era Nazi-allied Independent State of Croatia (NDH), which was condemned by the government and coalition partners, the president and large sections of the public. "The SDSS Presidency is meeting today to discuss what we have discussed with our coalition partners, including the prime minister. It is up to the Presidency to decide…

ZAGREB, September 11, 2019 - Croatia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, Davor Božinović, met with Israel’s Minister for Regional Cooperation Tzachi Hanegbi during his visit to Tel Aviv. Božinović said he is pleased that with this meeting Croatia and Israel have further deepened their mutual understanding and that both Israel and Croatia are trying to play a constructive role in their respective regions. "I am certain that these talks and contacts that we have with Israel will produce a higher level of our bilateral relations to the benefit of the citizens of the two countries," Božinović said. Hanegbi…

ZAGREB, September 11, 2019 - Croatia's candidate for a commissioner in the new European Commission, Dubravka Šuica, who was proposed by EC President-elect Ursula von der Leyen to be the Commission's Vice President for Democracy and Demography, said on Tuesday that this nomination was great recognition of the Croatian politics. Von der Leyen earlier in the day unveiled her team and after that the future Croatian commissioner tweeted that she was honoured to take part in the first gender-balanced European Commission. "It is a great honour for me that we (Croatia) are given a post of the Vice President. Croatia…

ZAGREB, September 10, 2019 - Parliament Speaker and secretary-general of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) Gordan Jandroković on Tuesday hinted that there might be a solution to the "tension" between the Conflict of Interest Commission and the government or the HDZ regarding travel allowance documents for a trip to the European People's Party conference in Helsinki. "We will discuss that and I think that that would be rational," Jandroković told reporters when asked wouldn't the simplest thing be to just present the requested documents. He underscored that it would be worthwhile if the commission did not in cases like this…

ZAGREB, September 10, 2019 - European Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday said that Vice-president-designate for Democracy and Demography, Croatian Dubravka Šuica, would be responsible for organising a conference on the future of Europe which should present what sort of European Union its citizens desire. The conference will start in 2020 and will continue for two years. It has been designed to be a forum to connect European citizens, civil society organisations and European institutions with the aim of encouraging Europeans to say what sort of Union they want and how to manage it. Šuica who has been…

ZAGREB, September 10, 2019 - Opening a conference at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, Croatia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović said that terrorism was one of the greatest security threats and that there were not many indications that the situation would change any time soon. All the more so because terrorist groups and their ideologists have demonstrated an exceptional ability in embracing new trends on social networks and technology, he added. "Empowered by the internet and social media, terrorist groups have managed to attract new followers and encourage individual…