Politics

ZAGREB, May 27, 2019 - The union-led referendum initiative "67 is too much", which has managed to collect over 600,000 signatures for a referendum petition on restoring the statutory pension age of 65, said on Monday that it had spent HRK 867,000 on its campaign and received HRK 1.3 million in donations. Under the law, such initiatives can spend a maximum amount of 8 million kuna, however, unionists and activists have managed to spend much less, according to a report published on the website of the State Electoral Commission (DIP), which is in charge of supervising the financing of referendum…

ZAGREB, May 27, 2019 - Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell, who will pay an official visit to Croatia on Tuesday and Wednesday, told Hina on Monday that he was coming to give an additional boost to the good relations between Spain and Croatia. I believe that institutional contact at different levels should be expanded to enhance coordination and cooperation so as to make the most of the partnership potential, Borrell said. The 72-year-old member of Spain's Socialist government will arrive in Zagreb on Tuesday and will conduct most of his meetings with senior Croatian officials on the following day. Borrell…

If the City Assembly accepts the proposal, a monument to Holocaust victims should be built at Branimirova Street in Zagreb. The memorial, designed by Dalibor Stošić and Krešimir Rogina, would serve to keep the memory of six million Jews killed during the Holocaust with a message that the past must not be repeated, reports Večernji List on May 27, 2019. Zagreb mayor Milan Bandić proposed the decision to be made at the next session of the city assembly that will be held on June 4. The proposal points out that the City of Zagreb will construct the monument to the…

ZAGREB, May 27, 2019 - The ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the strongest opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) have won four seats each out of a total of 12 seats allotted for Croatia in the new European Parliament, according to the reports from the State Election Commission (DIP) after it counted ballots from 99.72% of polling stations when the voting for the EP ended in Croatia on Sunday evening Thus, the HDZ candidates with the five-year MEP term will be Karlo Ressler, Dubravka Šuica, Tomislav Sokol and Željana Zovko, and the SDP will be represented by Biljana Borzan, Tonino…

At 7 pm, polling stations across Croatia closed. At 11.30 pm, the State Electoral Commission announced the results after 93% of precincts have been counted. HDZ (centre-right, EPP) 23.04% - 4 seats SDP (centre-left, PES) 18.46% -4 seats Croatian Soverenists (right-wing) 8.35% - 1 seat Mislav Kolakušić (independent) 7.73% - 1 seat Živi Zid (populists) 5.77% - 1 seat Amsterdam Coalition (left-liberal) 5.48% - 1 seat Turnout: 29.57% Slightly more than 3.8 million Croatian voters in the country and abroad were eligible to vote in elections in which Croatian deputies have been elected to represent Croatia in the European Parliament…

ZAGREB, May 26, 2019 - The number of voters that went to the polls in Sunday's European elections is modest but better than five years ago. The State Election Commission (DIP) said that 9.93 percent of Croatian voters had voted by 1130 hours, which is 2.3 percent more than in 2015. The turnout was the highest in Karlovac County where 11.36 percent of voters cast their ballots, and the lowest in Zadar County, 8.82 percent, which is still better than five years ago. Slightly more than 3.8 million Croatian voters in the country and abroad are eligible to vote in…

ZAGREB, May 26, 2019 - Defence Minister Damir Krstičević said on Sunday, after laying wreaths and lighting candles at Zagreb's Mirogoj cemetery on the occasion of the 28th anniversary of the establishment of the Croatian Armed Forces and Croatian Army Day, that Croatia today remembers the history of its army of which Croatians must be proud as it is the guarantor of peace and stability. Krstičević and his associates laid wreaths and lit candles at the graves of former defence ministers Gojko Šušak and Martin Špegelj, former army chiefs of staff Petar Stipetić and Zvonimir Čermak, former Air Force commander…

ZAGREB, May 26, 2019 - The polls opened at 7 am on Sunday throughout Croatia for voters to cast their ballots for the election of 12 deputies to the European Parliament (EP) who will represent Croatia in that body for the next five years. The State Election Commission called on voters to exercise their right and cast their ballots. There are 3,832,000 eligible voters with residency status in Croatia and another 154,000 who have the right of vote but do not reside in Croatia (the diaspora). Croatia is voting for MEPs through open slates which means that voters cast their…

ZAGREB, May 25, 2019 - More than 10,000 fans of former Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito arrived in his birthplace of Kumrovec on Saturday to mark the Day of Youth and Joy, his official birthday, wearing Titovka caps, scarves, uniforms and T-shirts with his image, although this year there were far fewer flags with insignia of the former federation. Although Josip Broz Tito Alliance president Jovan Vejnović said several buses were stopped at the Slovenian-Croatian border because some of those going to Kumrovec carried those insignia, the president of the SABA antifascist alliance, Franjo Habulin, said he had no information…

ZAGREB, May 25, 2019 - Around 5,000 people rallied in downtown Zagreb on Saturday for the fourth March for Life, and 13 protesters against the march were arrested for trying to block the passage of the marchers by sitting down on the street. The event was held under the slogan "Let us protect the most endangered minority in Croatia - unborn children" in support of the view that life begins with conception. While walking towards St. Mark's Square, where the parliament and government headquarters are located, the marchers encountered groups of protesters against the march, who carried banners with messages…