Politics

ZAGREB, July 1, 2019 - EU leaders, who gathered at an emergency summit in Brussels on Sunday evening to elect new heads of European institutions, spent most of the night in bilateral talks, with no compromise in sight early on Monday morning. Talks dragged late into the night after it emerged that Dutch Socialist Frans Timmermans did not have the support of the European People's Party (EPP) to become European Commission President. "The proposal that circulated in the media in the morning has no support from heads of state or government and the EPP presidency. The consensus on this is very…

ZAGREB, July 1, 2019 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in Brussels on Sunday that he would meet his coalition partners to discuss a demand by the Croatian People's Party (HNS) for the dismissal of Administration Minister Lovro Kuščević. "I will meet the coalition partners whenever necessary. I guess the public and voters know me so well by know that they are aware that if there's anything I can't stand, it's ultimatums," Plenković said in response to questions from the press. The deputy leader of the HNS, a junior partner in the ruling coalition, and Deputy Prime Minister, Predrag Štromar,…

ZAGREB, June 30, 2019 - Croatian People's Party (HNS) vice-president and Deputy Prime Minister Predrag Štromar said on Sunday that the HNS wanted to a meeting with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković at which it would propose the replacement of Public Administration Minister Lovro Kuščević who the party considers used political influence for personal gain. "We concluded yesterday that we should invite Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and the HDZ to a meeting at which we will propose that Minister Lovro Kuščević be replaced. We are not insisting on his criminal liability, that is up to the relevant institutions to determine, but…

ZAGREB, June 30, 2019 - Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović said on Saturday that it was up to the relevant state institutions to establish if Public Administration Lovro Kuščević's business affairs had been legal and that any public office, notably those held by politicians, implied a sense of moral obligation. As for whether information in Minister Kuščević's declaration of assets is correct and whether his business affairs were legal, that should be determined by the relevant state institutions, Grabar-Kitarović told reporters, adding that she could not speak about the case but that any public office, especially those held by politicians, implied…

ZAGREB, June 30, 2019 - Following the announcement by the Croatian People's Party (HNS), a junior partner in the ruling coalition, that it would formally demand the resignation of Public Administration Minister Lovro Kuščević, the government said on Saturday that the matter would be discussed at a regular coalition meeting. "We will discuss this at a regular coalition meeting this week or the next. Ultimatums are out of the question. In the end, a decision on each cabinet minister is made by the prime minister," the government press service briefly told Hina. Minister Kuščević has come under severe criticism in…

ZAGREB, June 30, 2019 - The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Zoran Milanović, said in Supetar on the southern island of Brač on Saturday that the presidential race would be long and tough, adding that he expected that, as the candidate of modern and progressive Croatia, he would enter a second round of voting. Speaking to the press, Milanović said he had come to Supetar at the invitation of his friends to attend Town Day festivities. He said he was taking the pulse of the people and listening to what people were saying. Milanović declined to comment…

ZAGREB, June 29, 2019 - The Croatian People's Party (HNS), which is the Croatian Democratic Union's (HDZ) strategic partner in the incumbent coalition government, will ask Prime Minister Andrej Plenković to convene an emergency meeting of the coalition because it insists that Public Administration Minister Lovro Kuščević of the HDZ should step down but it could also propose a bigger reshuffle, the Vecernji List daily of Saturday reported. The bigger reshuffle would include the resignation of Health Minister Milan Kujundžić and of Regional Development and EU Funds Minister Gabrijela Žalac, according to the daily. The daily reports that this was…

ZAGREB, June 29, 2019 - The Croatian Council for Defence on Friday reaffirmed the need to preserve the capability for airspace protection with own multi-purpose combat aircraft, the President's Office said in a statement on Friday evening following two and a half hours of talks at government headquarters. The Council discussed activities in the process of procuring multi-purpose combat aircraft for the Croatian Armed Forces. It proposed that the government set up an interdepartmental commission to implement all activities relating to the procurement of multi-purpose combat aircraft, the statement said. Speaking to reporters before the Council meeting, Defence Minister Damir…

ZAGREB, June 28, 2019 - Israel's Ambassador in Croatia, Ilan Mor, said on Friday he believed the Jewish Community of Zagreb (ŽOZ) would manage to find a solution for the erection of a monument to Holocaust victims, noting that it was important that every country in which Jews had been killed, including Croatia, face its own history without trying to embellish it. The ŽOZ recently condemned the decision by the Zagreb City Assembly to build a monument in tribute to the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust. The World Jewish Congress has joined it in denouncing the decision, saying…

ZAGREB, June 28, 2019 - Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović on Friday dismissed speculation that he would succeed Marija Pejčinović Burić in the post of Foreign and European Affairs Minister, noting that he had not been given any such offer. "I have not received any such offer nor would I opt for (the post)," Božinović told reporters. Asked if a government reshuffle was possible and necessary, he said that he was not aware of any talks on the matter. "In the coming period, the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) will be working to prepare in the best possible way for…