Politics

ZAGREB, July 25, 2019 - The new European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will visit Croatia, "the newest and strongly pro-European member state", on Tuesday, her spokesman Jens Flosdorff told Hina on Thursday. He said that the Commission president was looking forward to cooperating with Croatia, which assumes the rotating six-month presidency of the EU in the first half of 2020. Croatia is one of three countries which the newly-elected head of the EU executive has chosen to visit first. She visited Paris on Tuesday, she is scheduled to visit Warsaw on Thursday and is due in Zagreb next…

ZAGREB, July 25, 2019 - The Social Democratic Party's (SDP) candidate for President of the Republic, Zoran Milanović, told Hina in an interview that he did not enter the presidential race unprepared and without ideas and that he knew what values he would promote, adding that if he had begun his campaign differently he would have been portrayed as "aggressive and violent". "I also know what I will not be doing - much of what we have seen in the last five years. ... I think I know a lot about state affairs. I have a great experience as the…

ZAGREB, July 25, 2019 - The newly-appointed Foreign and European Affairs Minister Gordan Grlić Radman on Wednesday met with foreign diplomats accredited to Croatia to present to them Croatia's foreign policy priorities in the coming period. Grlić Radman underscored that Croatia's presidency of the European Union in the first half of 2020 was one of the top priorities of Croatia's diplomacy in the coming period, along with accession to the Schengen Area, the Eurozone and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the ministry said in a press release. He pointed out that over the past three decades Croatia…

ZAGREB, July 25, 2019 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Wednesday congratulated Boris Johnson on becoming Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, wishing him a lot of success in leading his country in the run-up to the completion of the Brexit process, the prime minister's office said in a press release. Expressing hope that under the leadership of the European Commission an agreement on the UK's exit from the bloc would be reached to the satisfaction of both sides, Plenković said that it was in the interests of citizens to continue building ties between the EU and the UK.…

ZAGREB, July 24, 2019 - Taliban militants have claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a Croatian Army vehicle in Kabul, Afghanistan on Wednesday, injuring two soldiers and killing a third, news agencies said. Josip Briški (27) succumbed to injuries after a suicide bomber attack on a vehicle that was part of a convoy on its way to the airport. Taliban militants said that their fighter died as a "martyr" after he killed and injured a "large number of CIA agents," blowing himself up in a vehicle full of explosives, AFP reported. Reuters underscored that Briški was "the first Croatian…

ZAGREB, July 24, 2019 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Wednesday condemned an attack by a suicide bomber in Kabul in Afghanistan in which three Croatian troops were injured (one died later), saying the government would work on having them return to Croatia as soon as possible. "On the government's behalf, I regret the attack on the vehicle with HV (Croatian Army) members who are part of the Resolute Support mission, the NATO operation aimed at training, advising and supporting Afghan security forces," Plenković said at a cabinet meeting. One solider died from serious head injuries, one suffered a broken…

ZAGREB, July 24, 2019 - It is unlikely that former Dinamo football club boss Zdravko Mamić will be extradited to Croatia from Bosnia and Herzegovina after the country's prosecutors underscored on Tuesday that that would be unlawful. A hearing was held at the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday regarding Mamić's extradition on charges that he and several others had siphoned 200 million kuna from the football club. The court is expected to deliver its decision in the next ten days, Mamić's defence attorney said. Bosnian Justice Minister Josip Grubeša has the final says on Croatia's extradition request.…

ZAGREB, July 24, 2019 - Social Democratic Party (SDP) president Davor Bernardić said on Tuesday it was necessary to put up bilingual signs in Vukovar as constitutional issues regulating the protection of ethnic minorities must be neither contentious nor questionable for the SDP. The constitution must be honoured, he said on RTL television when asked how to resolve the situation in the eastern town after the Constitutional Court ruled that the rights of Serbs in Vukovar must be enhanced and the parliamentary committee on ethnic minorities called on the government to put up bilingual signs on state institution buildings there.…

ZAGREB, July 23, 2019 - Interior Minister Davor Božinović on Tuesday commented on information that after Croatia takes over the chairmanship of the Council of the EU next year, it could start to receive migrants directly from ships in the Mediterranean, saying that there has been no agreement in that regard and that talks are yet to be held on that matter. The Večernji List daily on Tuesday reported that Croatia has not received any migrants from ships in the Mediterranean and that it will most likely have to consider the fact that other member states that chaired the EU,…

ZAGREB, July 23, 2019 - Public Administration Minister Ivan Malenica said on Tuesday the issue of bilingual signs on state institution buildings in Vukovar and the eastern town's government's dissatisfaction about them could be resolved through dialogue and agreement between representatives of ethnic minorities and the majority population. He was asked by reporters if any legal solution was being considered to punish the local government should it fail to comply with a recent Constitutional Court decision under which the rights of the Serb ethnic minority in Vukovar must be enhanced. "All bills should be considered... in agreement and dialogue between…