Politics
Wednesday, 4 September 2019
Slovenia Says Accepting Border Arbitration Would Facilitate Croatia's Schengen Entry
ZAGREB, September 4, 2019 - The Slovenian government would find it "much easier" to support Croatia's Schengen Area entry if Zagreb accepted the border arbitration ruling, President Borut Pahor said in Šibenik on Wednesday. Speaking after meeting with Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, Pahor said he did not wish to prejudge the Slovenian government's decision on Croatia's Schengen entry, "but I think it would probably be easier if Croatia met its obligation from the arbitration ruling." Once the European Commission finds that Croatia meets all the Schengen criteria, its entry to the area must…
Wednesday, 4 September 2019
Dutch FM Confident in Croatia's Ability to Preside over EU
ZAGREB, September 4, 2019 - Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok said in Zagreb on Wednesday that presiding over the European Union was a demanding and responsible job which Croatia will be able to do well. Croatia assumes the six-month rotating presidency over the Union on 1 January 2020. Blok said he was glad that he had come to Zagreb in this important period ahead of Croatia's first presidency of the EU. The Netherlands presided over the EU in the first half of 2016. We are aware of how demanding and responsible this is and we wish our Croatian colleagues a…
Wednesday, 4 September 2019
Croatia Expects an Orderly Brexit Despite "Chaotic Situation" in Britain
ZAGREB, September 4, 2019 - Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Minister Gordan Grlić Radman has said that despite "a chaotic situation" in Great Britain, he expects an orderly deal-based Brexit to happen. "This chaotic situation in Great Britain is definitely not good, I am very sorry about that," the Croatian minister said on Wednesday ahead of an inner cabinet in Zagreb. "I, nevertheless, expect an orderly Brexit that will not burden us," he said. Grlić Radman stopped short of answering whether Croatia is bracing itself for a hard Brexit. "We are conducting preparations for our (EU) presidency," the minister told…
Wednesday, 4 September 2019
Croatia Set to Introduce National Pension Allowance
ZAGREB, September 4, 2019 - A task force led by the Labour and Pension System Ministry is conducting an analysis aimed at preparing the ground for introducing a national pension allowance, the Večernji List (VL) daily reported on Wednesday. The task force has recently sent invitations to social workers, academicians and pension associations to join it in efforts to prepare a framework for the application of the national pension allowance. Labour and Pension Minister Josip Aldrović was quoted by the daily newspaper as saying that the task force is expected to outline qualifying criteria for eligibility. Some experts advise that…
Wednesday, 4 September 2019
Istria County Assembly Chairman Honoured for Promoting Croatia-Italy Ties
ZAGREB, September 4, 2019 - The chairman of the Istria County Assembly, Valter Drandić, has been awarded a medal for promoting friendship and cooperation between Croatia and Italy. Drandić was presented with the Ordine della Stella d'Italia (Order of the Star of Italy), with the title of Ufficiale (Officer), by the Rijeka-based Italian Consul-General Paolo Palmintieri at a ceremony in the Istria County capital of Pazin on Tuesday. The Order is conferred by the President of Italy. Drandić said that this honour was a recognition of his work on connecting people in the two countries. He added that although some…
Wednesday, 4 September 2019
Foreign Minister Outlines Priorities of Croatia's EU Presidency
ZAGREB, September 4, 2019 - Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman spoke in Bled, Slovenia on Tuesday about Croatia's preparations for chairing the EU in the first half of 2020, saying Zagreb would push for the European path of Western Balkan countries. Addressing a Bled Strategic Forum panel on the challenges facing the new European Commission, he also said Croatia strongly advocated opening EU entry talks with North Macedonia and Albania. Taking over the EU presidency is a big challenge for Croatia, which went from suffering in the war and the military aggression to later development which prove that it…
Wednesday, 4 September 2019
Plenković Wants to Hear from SDSS about Possible Departure from Coalition
ZAGREB, September 4, 2019 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Tuesday, regarding the possible departure of the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) from the ruling coalition, that he would first like to hear that party's opinion. Asked by reporters during a visit to Virovitica whether he had met with the head of the HVIDR disabled war veterans association, Josip Đakić, given that the HVIDR was insisting that the SDSS leave the coalition, Plenković said that they would discuss the matter, but that first he wanted to hear the opinion of the SDSS. Plenković said it was inappropriate for the…
Tuesday, 3 September 2019
Croatia and Slovenia Advocate Further EU Enlargement
ZAGREB, September 3, 2019 - Croatia's Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman on Tuesday said in Bled, Slovenia that Croatia and Slovenia advocate the EU's further enlargement to the Western Balkans and underscored that he hopes for a positive response from the European Commission on Croatia's accession to the Schengen Area. Grlić Radman was attending the Beld Strategic Forum and said that Croatia and Slovenia support EU enlargement to countries in the Western Balkans. "We want peace and stability in that part of Europe and those countries have the right to a European future," Grlić Radman said.…
Tuesday, 3 September 2019
Memo Between Zagreb and Eagle Hills Made Available to Public
ZAGREB, September 3, 2019 - The City of Zagreb on Tuesday released a Memorandum of Understanding concluded with the Eagle Hills Properties company regarding the "City within the City" project which Mayor Milan Bandić described as a response to recent pressure, announcing that a public debate on amendments to the General Urban Plan (GUP) would be held at the end of October. The memorandum was officially made public on the City of Zagreb's website ahead of a meeting of the City Assembly on Wednesday which is expected to discuss this issue. Mayor Bandić signed the non-binding memorandum on 12 March…
Tuesday, 3 September 2019
Minorities' Inclusion in Parliamentary Majority Necessary for Sound Politics
ZAGREB, September 3, 2019 - Prime Minister and Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) leader Andrej Plenković has reiterated that for a sound political culture and tolerant climate, it is necessary to have representatives of ethnic minorities included in the parliamentary majority. In his address to the press in Monday, Plenković recalled that the present-day Croatia in 2019 is a country that "has accomplished all its national tasks: democracy, freedom, independence, peaceful reintegration, membership of the European Union and NATO. All that is relevant is solved by us as a state." "As far as the need for the inclusion of representatives of…
Tuesday, 3 September 2019
Croatia-China Relations Reach Enviable Level
ZAGREB, September 3, 2019 - The relations between Croatia and China, based on mutual trust and respect, have been steadily developed for the past 27 years to reach an enviable level following the Croatian Prime Minister's visit to China in late 2018 and the Chinese premier's visit to Croatia in 2019, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković said in Zagreb on Monday. Addressing the ceremony of opening of an exhibition on China's development in the past 40 years in the Croatian capital, Jandroković said that the bilateral relations had been continuously developed since 1992 when the two countries established their diplomatic relations.…
