Politics

ZAGREB, July 5, 2019 - Croatian minority leaders in Serbia on Friday welcomed the appointment of Croatia's Foreign and European Affairs Minister, Marija Pejčinović Burić, as Secretary-General of the Council of Europe and the message of congratulation by Serbia's Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić on that occasion, however, they expressed disappointment that the highest Serbian officials did not say anything about this achievement by Croatia's diplomacy. Dačić said at the 2019 Western Balkans-EU summit on Thursday that Serbia was looking forward to Croatia's chairmanship of the European Union in the first half of 2020 and he congratulated Pejčinović Burić on her…

Croatia will officially adopt the euro as its currency within the next few years, abandoning the Croatian kuna entirely. As we recently reported, Croatia has been given one year exactly to meet all of the rather stringent requirements for Eurozone entry, and the final decision lies with the current member countries of the Eurozone and the European Central Bank. The move has been met with significant opposition from the general public, but the Croatian Government is continuing to press forward. While some desire a referendum on the matter, the government has stated several times that agreeing to the introduction of…

ZAGREB, July 5, 2019 - Serbia is looking forward to Croatia's presidency of the European Union in the first half of 2020 and expects a lot from it, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić said at the Western Balkans summit in the Polish city of Poznan on Thursday. "Serbia is looking forward to and expects a lot from Croatia's presidency of the EU. We are all family here and it is in our interest to help one another. That is why I think Croatia's presidency should be in accordance with the interests of the entire region," Dačić was quoted by Serbian…

ZAGREB, July 4, 2019 - President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović said on Thursday on the green border in Rakovica, 120 kilometres southwest of Zagreb, that she expected the European Union to realise that the Union was defended on the Croatian border and that she expected a positive opinion on Croatia fulfilling Schengen criteria. The president held a working meeting in Slunj with the Armed Forces Chief-of-Staff Mirko Šundov and local government and police officials to discuss the situation and problems of illegal migration, after which she inspected the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina with Interior Minister Davor Božinović. "Croatia, as the EU's…

ZAGREB, July 4, 2019 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Defence Minister Damir Krstičević on Thursday visited the 4th contingent of Croatian troops deployed as part of NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence mission in Poland. The participation of the Croatian troops in this mission is helping them increase their skills in exercises with troops from other participating countries, Plenković said during the visit to the Bermowo Piskie base, about 70 kilometres from the Russian and Lithuanian border. The 79 Croatian troops, under the command of Major Predrag Srđenović, are attached to a battle group comprising US, British, Romanian and Polish…

ZAGREB, July 4, 2019 - The Croatian parliament on Thursday added to its agenda an opposition motion for a vote of no confidence in Public Administration Minister Lovro Kuščević. The motion was signed by 43 deputies, Speaker Gordan Jandroković said. The opposition has called for a vote of no confidence in Kuščević "because during his term as the mayor of Nerežišća municipality, and later as minister he has shown that he does not care about public interest and because he has put his private, property-related interests before public interest, abusing his powers to make personal gain worth millions of kuna."…

ZAGREB, July 4, 2019 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Thursday arrived in Warsaw where he was welcomed by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, after which they started talks. After the talks, Plenković will travel to the northeast of Poland, where he will visit members of the 4th Croatian Army contingent (HRVCON) stationed at Bemowo Piskie who are serving in NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence mission there. Plenković will be accompanied by Defence Minister Damir Krstičević, the Croatian Army Deputy Commander, Brigadier General Boris Šerić, and the State Secretary at the Foreign and European Affairs Ministry, Andreja Metelko-Zgombić. The Croatian PM will…

ZAGREB, July 4, 2019 - The Croatian government on Thursday established an interdepartmental commission for the procurement of multi-purpose combat aircraft in line with the conclusion of the Council for Defence and the Parliament's Committee on Defence that Croatia needs to maintain the ability to protect its airspace with its own combat aircraft. "This is a strategic project of great value and it must be transparent and legal. I'm therefore glad that both the Council and the Committee have unanimously supported the government's decision to launch the procurement process," Defence Minister Damir Krstičević said. He noted that the procurement process…

ZAGREB, July 4, 2019 - Prime Minister and HDZ leader Andrej Plenković said after a party meeting on Wednesday evening that Public Administration Minister Lovro Kuščević was doing his job, that media attacks against him referred to the period before Kuščević was appointed minister and that he would most probably hold talks on Kuščević with all partners in the ruling coalition next week. Kuščević has come under severe criticism from the media after it emerged that he was involved in a string of property-related scandals during his term as mayor of Nerežišća on the southern island of Brač. The deputy…

Much has been made, both in a negative and in a positive sense, of Croatia's intent to join the Eurozone and introduce the euro as its official currency. While the move has remained unpopular in the eyes of many residents of Croatia, a proportion of whom desire a referendum on the matter, the Croatian Government insists that it's a done deal and was part of the package Croatia has to agree to in order to join the European Union back in 2013. Rumour has it that Croatia will not join the Eurozone for a good five years yet, but even…