Politics

As Index/Gordan Duhacek writes on the 16th of August, 2019, a Croatian diplomat from the embassy in Berlin, Elizabeta Mađarević, has been spreading racist, xenophobic and homophobic views on Facebook, and criticises the German chancellor for having a "lack of her own culture". Croatia begins holding the EU Presidency as of January the 1st, 2020, which Prime Minister Andrej Plenković of course describes as a great honour and a pinnacle of the Croatian state's foreign policy. Plenković speaks about this on almost every occasion possible. The significant of Croatia's EU presidency is also frequently emphasised the new foreign and European…

ZAGREB, August 16, 2019 - In his comments on some of lawmakers changing the party allegiance, Prime Minister and Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) leader Andrej Plenković said on Friday that one should care about who is put on election slates of parties. During his visit to the island of Hvar, Plenković was asked by the press about the recent cases examples of former Social Democrats – Milanka Opačić and Siniša Varga ؘ– who joined the Labour and Solidarity Party of Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić. In this context he called for being more careful about the choice of slate candidates. As…

ZAGREB, August 16, 2019 - Croatian police officers were commended for organising and implementing the Land Border Surveillance Officer Frontex training programme taking place in Sankt Augustin, Germany, on August 11-18 and involving EU member-countries currently faced with the problem of migrant crisis, the Croatian Police Directorate said on Friday. The programme is designed to prepare police forces of EU member-countries for participation in international operations which are aimed at strengthening internal border control within the Schengen area and the protection of the EU's external borders. This is the third time the Croatian Police Academy, a partner to the European…

ZAGREB, August 16, 2019 - Presidential candidate Miroslav Škoro on Thursday commented for the N1 broadcaster a ruling of the High Magistrates' Court upholding a sentencing verdict of a lower court for the chanting of the 'For the homeland ready' salute as part of the song 'Bojna Čavoglave', saying that court rulings should be complied with and implemented but that Croatia had erred with regard to some issues and was a little late with some decisions. The High Magistrates' Court on Wednesday published its ruling upholding a decision by a lower court that Mario Roso, a singer from Makarska, had…

ZAGREB, August 16, 2019 - A former prime minister Zoran Milanović, who is the Social Democratic Party's presidential candidate, on Thursday welcomed a ruling of the High Magistrates' Court in connection with the salute "For the homeland ready", explaining that he does not expect the ruling to become a standard as Croatia does not have the stare decisis doctrine. "We do not have the precedent system. It is possible for every panel of judges, that is independent, to make different decisions," Milanović said during his visit to the town of Nova Gradiška. "' 'For the homeland ready' is the Ustasha…

ZAGREB, August 15, 2019 - The Archbishop of Zagreb, Cardinal Josip Bozanić, on Thursday served Mass in the Marian shrine of Marija Bistrica on the occasion of the Feast of the Assumption, saying that the feast was a holiday of Christian joy, hope and future and that the Croatian Christian identity was deeply marked by Marian devotion. The archbishop conducted the religious service, the central event celebrating the Feast of the Assumption, in front of several thousand believers who came to Marija Bistrica for the occasion. "By (coming here) we live and confirm the centuries-old tradition of Croatian believers. This…

ZAGREB, August 15, 2019 - Prime Minister and Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) leader Andrej Plenković said on Thursday that President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović might have announced her decision to run for a second term somewhere else and not in the Hrvatski Tjednik (HT) newspaper, and reiterated that the HDZ would support her candidature. When it comes to the choice of the weekly newspaper in which that interview (with the announcement) was given, I think that it might have been given also somewhere else. However, the president must move forward and must be prepared for the campaigning and care about her programme…

ZAGREB, August 15, 2019 - A total of 228,000 nationals of the Western Balkan countries Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, North Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo, emigrated legally to the European Union in 2018, according to Eurostat figures, carried by the Montenegrin daily "Vijesti" on Thursday. Last year, 62,000 Albanians moved to the EU, which is 2.2% of the country's overall population, followed by 2.1% of North Macedonians (24,300), and 2% of Kosovars (34,500 Kosovars; 53,500 nationals of Bosnia and Herzegovina left their country for the EU, a share of 1.5%, while Serbia lost 51,000 citizens to emigration (1.3%) and Montenegro…

ZAGREB, August 15, 2019 - The Croatian nominee for one of European commissioners will be nominated at the first government session after the summer recess, on August 22, the Jutarnji List daily reported on Thursday. The name of the Croatian European commissioner is being kept secret, with Dubravka Šuica, an experienced member of the European Parliament from the HDZ party, being considered as the likeliest nominee. The final decision is to be made by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, however, the possibility of some other candidate being nominated is not ruled out either and depends on the department the prime minister…

ZAGREB, August 15, 2019 - Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Minister Gordan Grlić Radman and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono met in Zagreb on Wednesday evening for the talks on boosting bilateral relations, which also includes the improvement of the economic cooperation. Taro Kono is the first Japanese foreign minister to visit Croatia after 24 years when his father Yohei Kono also visited Zagreb as the Japanese foreign minister. Grlić Radman' s predecessor Marija Pejčinović Burić paid an official visit to that Asian country this past March. The main topic of today's meeting was the bilateral relations. We agreed that…