Politics

ZAGREB, June 1, 2019 - Osijek-Baranja County observed its day on Saturday, with President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović saying at a County Assembly session in Osijek that an even and polycentric development of Croatia was crucial for the demographic revival of the Slavonia region and all of Croatia, and that in the autumn her task force would present measures for fiscal and functional decentralisation and well as a more even regional development. The president said Osijek-Baranja County had made noticeable progress in its development and that the government's Slavonia-Baranja-Srijem project was having a good and have an even better impact. She said…

ZAGREB, June 1, 2019 - About 30 people have been injured in a fire which broke out on Saturday morning in the migrant reception centre for illegal migrants in Velika Kladuša, north-western Bosnia and Herzegovina, Una-Sana Canton police spokesman Ale Siljdedić said. The fire broke out in a former factory which was repurposed last year for the temporary accommodation of migrants. "It's too early to say what caused the fire," Siljdedić said, adding that at least 29 people who were in the centre were taken to hospitals in Velika Kladuša and Bihać. Witnesses said they saw migrants jumping out of…

In conversation with Dnevnik Nova TV, Croatian Finance Minister Zdravko Marić revealed just how much taxpayers in Croatia had to pay out in guarantees for the country's ailing shipbuilding industry and the negative effects of the introduction of the euro as the country's official currency, a move which could happen in five years. Will citizens and entrepreneurs feel economic growth? For example, will the non-taxable portion of salaries (take home pay) increase? Entrepreneurs and citizens contribute the most to this economic growth. They create it on the one hand, and when it happens, as a result, we need to strive in…

ZAGREB, June 1, 2019 - Croatia aims to become an energy hub and a link between Central Europe and the Mediterranean, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović said on Friday at the "Energy Security for the Future" forum in Monaco, to which she was invited by Albert II, Prince of Monaco, the president's office said in press release. This is the fourth edition of the energy forum at which the strategic vision of Europe's energy security is being discussed. In addition to Croatia's president, other speakers were the head of the European Liberals (ALDE), Guy Vehofstadt, former Italian prime minister and European…

ZAGREB, May 31, 2019 - Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) parliamentary deputy Davor Ivo Stier said on Friday that the party experienced a failure in the recent elections for the European Parliament because it had become distant from the right electorate, and he expressed readiness to work on reuniting the HDZ and its voters also as party president. Recalling that the HDZ won four seats in the EP vote, while the goal had been to secure five seats, Stier told the press in the national parliament that voters had sent a clear message that the party had become distant from the…

ZAGREB, May 31, 2019 - The chairwoman of the Conflict of Interest Commission, Nataša Novaković, said on Friday that Prime Minister Andrej Plenković's request that she be exempted from that case made the commission's work harder and added that if the prime minister considers that she may be biased, he had a lot more time to have made that request before yesterday afternoon. Novaković did not wish to respond to reporters when asked if these developments were putting pressure on the commission and whether the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and prime minister were "waging a war" against her seeing that…

ZAGREB, May 31, 2019 - Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on Thursday held a meeting with Albert II, Prince of Monaco, expressing hope that the two countries' shared interest in the fields of tourism, high technology and green industries would result in successful cooperation and conveying Croatia's interest in the transfer of know-how and best practices in water purification, a statement from the Croatian president's office said. Grabar-Kitarović met with Prince Albert II on the margins of the "Energy Security for the Future" forum, and the two officials discussed ways of strengthening and expanding cooperation in areas of mutual interest. President…

ZAGREB, May 31, 2019 - Fifty Syrian refugees have arrived in Croatia from Turkey as part of the European refugee relocation programme, the Ministry of the Interior said in a statement on Thursday, explaining that this was the sixth group of refugees to be relocated to Croatia so far on the basis of quotas set by the government. The last group of refugees arrived in Croatia on May 29-30. So far, 202 Syrian refugees have been relocated to Croatia from Turkey. Another 51 Syrian refugees are expected to arrive in July and August, when Croatia will have met quotas defined…

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marta Duic writes on the 30th of May, 2019, for the very first time since the founding of the EWA (European Water Association) back in the 1980's, a Croatian representative, Mara Pavelić, has been appointed as a member of the association's steering board. Pavelić has been a representative of the Republic of Croatia at the EWA since 2015 when she was appointed as President of the Croatian Water Protection Society, and next year, she will represent the countries of South East Europe in order to achieve a better standard of living for the inhabitants of those countries, in…

ZAGREB, May 30, 2019 - Istrian Democratic Party (IDS) leader Boris Miletić said in Pula on Thursday that the result of the May 26 election for the European Parliament had shown once again that Istria was open, tolerant and progressive, that radicalism did not enjoy support in Istria and that Istrians looked to the right only when crossing the street. Addressing a news conference, Miletić thanked all citizens who went to the polls on Sunday, notably those who supported the Amsterdam Coalition and the IDS, as well as all partners. He stressed that the Amsterdam Coalition slate had won close…