Politics

ZAGREB, 6 May (2022) - Addressing a traditional conference of regional central bank governors in the northern Adriatic town of Rovinj on Friday, Croatian National Bank (HNB) Governor Boris Vujčić said that all central banks have revised down their growth projections for this year and that inflation has not yet reached its peak. Last month, the HNB revised its growth projections for this year, forecasting real GDP growth of 3.2%, down from its previous projection of 4.1%, on the assumption that the war in Ukraine does not last long and energy prices gradually return to normal. The HNB estimates that inflation would…

ZAGREB, 6 May (2022) - Croatia is advocating an exemption that would enable it to continue importing a petroleum derivative for the production of diesel at the oil refinery in Rijeka beyond 2022, the Večernji List daily of Friday reports.  In discussions among members of the Council of the EU, which is expected to adopt a proposal by the European Commission to impose a ban on Russian oil imports in six months' time and a ban on the import of Russian oil products by the end of the year, Croatia advocates an exemption that would enable it to continue importing beyond…

ZAGREB, 6 May (2022) - Večernji List reporter Hassan Haidar Diab in early April received threats from Russian diplomats over his article about Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and has been under police protection since. In an interview with Hina, Diab described the circumstances in which he received threats from two of a total of 18 Russian diplomats expelled from Croatia in late April, three weeks after his story about the role and mode of operation of Kadyrov and the Chechen death squads in the Ukraine war was published. He says that after the publication of his text he was contacted by the Russian Embassy in…

ZAGREB, 6 May (2022) - The Health Ministry said on Thursday that it requested the four Zagreb hospitals where 39-year-old Mirela Čavajda had asked for a pregnancy termination after her unborn baby was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour, to send it information about the case. Čavajda contacted four Zagreb hospitals, of which the KB Sveti Duh Hospital and the Sisters of Charity Hospital refused to perform the procedure, while the KB Merkur Hospital and the Hospital for Women's Diseases, popularly known as Petrova, have still not sent her any answer. "The Health Ministry has requested the medical institutions contacted by the patient,…

06 May 2022 - Europe Day 2022 celebrates unity in Europe and the official date, the 9th of May, marks the anniversary of the historic Schuman declaration. The 9th of May is Europe Day, and it commemorates the first move towards the creation of what has today become the European Union. This celebration recalls the importance of the role played by Robert Schuman in the start of the Coal and Steel Community and the integration process that this has triggered.  In his historic speech, made on 9 May 1950, Robert Schuman proposed the establishment of a new form of cooperation between…

May the 6th, 2022 - Croatian euro printing is set to begin on an enormous scale come this July, as Croatia makes the very last preparations to send the kuna to the history books and finally join the Eurozone next year. As Poslovni Dnevnik/Jadranka Dozan writes, the National Council for the Introduction of the Euro has once again confirmed that all of the current preparatory steps are in line with the plan to switch to the bloc's single currency on the first day of 2023. Recently, the Croatian National Bank (CNB) finally presented the design of the national side of the one…

ZAGREB, 5 May 2022 - The right-wing opposition said on Thursday that Croatia was not ready to introduce the euro and that it would lower living standards, while Finance Minister Zdravko Marić talked about the benefits and said much had been done to reduce the negative effects as much as possible. A number of regulations reduce the negative effects of introducing the euro on citizens and employers, from stimulating healthy competitiveness to including civil society associations, Marić said in a debate on the final proposal to adopt the euro as legal tender in Croatia. The benefits are significantly bigger than the damage, he…

ZAGREB, 5 May 2022 - The City of Pula on Thursday marked its day and the 77th liberation anniversary with a City Council session attended by President Zoran Milanović. Congratulating the people of Pula on their day, he recalled the time when "Croatian Partisans added Istria to Croatia" and Istria, notably Pula, was not populated only by Croats. Tens of thousands of people left Istria, he said. "In order to be able to morally ask some things from others, we must admit what happened in Istria. I see this level of maturity and honesty in Istria. I'm glad to look at this multiculturalism…

ZAGREB, 5 May 2022 - The Central State Office for Reconstruction and Housing has agreed on the construction of 216 substitute family houses at 43 locations in the earthquake-struck Banovina region, the Office said in a statement on Thursday. The office said that 59 contracts, worth a total of HRK 180 million (€24m), were signed for this purpose with 11 contractors. Also agreed was the removal of 150 damaged family houses, which would cost HRK 14.12 million (€1.88m) and would be carried out by 12 companies. The office has so far repaired 2,354 family houses and 910 houses are being…

ZAGREB, 5 May 2022 - Female lawmakers from the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Social Democrats, Green-Left Boc, Centre, GLAS, Croatian Peasants' Party (HSS) and Workers' Front announced on Thursday they would once again send a motion to Parliament for abortion to be made available in all hospitals in Croatia. "The case where a child was diagnosed with a malignant tumour in the 26th week of pregnancy and could die, and if it doesn't, it will live like a vegetable has shaken us all but unfortunately, this is just the consequence of a problem that Croatia has been faced with for…