Politics

ZAGREB, 9 April 2022 - Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said in Krakow on Saturday that the city had responded in a good and organised way to the arrival of refugees from Ukraine fleeing the Russian invasion, who have increased the city's population by some 20%. "Krakow has been faced with refugees not since yesterday but since 2015. At the time, Europe took in around one million migrants, including illegal migrants. Today there are 2.5 million refugees in Poland alone, and they have been promptly integrated," Grlić Radman told reporters after meeting with the mayor of Krakow, who, he said, "was also…

ZAGREB, 9 April 2022 - Croatia's President and Armed Forces Supreme Commander Zoran Milanović on Saturday attended the military exercise "Shield 22", taking place on the "Croatian Army 119th Brigade" training ground at Cape Kamenjak in Premantura near Pula, the Office of the President said in a statement. Participating in the combat shooting exercise were members of Croatian and US armed forces. The purpose of the exercise was the demonstrate the capabilities of air defence units in detecting, tracking and shooting down targets in airspace. The exercise is taking place from 4 to 13 April. It has been held regularly for 27…

ZAGREB, 9 April 2022 - Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović said on Friday those those responsible for serious violations of human rights, such as the attack in Kramatorsk, which could constitute a war crime under international humanitarian law, must be held to account. According to Ukrainian authorities, at least 50 people, including children, were killed on Friday while waiting at the railway station in Kramatorsk for evacuation to safer parts of Ukraine. "Those responsible for serious violations of human rights, such as the attack in Kramatorsk, must be held accountable. "Such attacks may also constitute war crimes under international…

ZAGREB, 9 April 2022 - The Croatian Defence Force (HOS) 9th Battalion on Saturday marked its 31st anniversary at a church and the Lora arena in the coastal city of Split, commemorating its 46 members killed in the 1991-95 Homeland War. Addressing a packed Lora arena, the president of the "HOS 9th Battalion" association, and the battalion's wartime commander, Marko Skejo, said, among other things, that members of the battalion had given a major contribution to Croatia's independence, ending his speech by shouting "For the homeland ready", to which the audience did the same. One of the battalion's wartime commanders, Mile…

ZAGREB, 8 April (2022) - Bosnia and Herzegovina can be a civic state only after joining the EU, Croatian President Zoran Milanović said in Mostar, BiH on Friday, adding that Croats in BiH will never become a minority. "We want the whole Bosnia and Herzegovina in the European Union. Only then can it become a civic state. Until then it is regulated by (the) Dayton (peace agreement) and it was created in the blood of Croatian soldiers," he said at a ceremony marking 30 years of the establishment of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO). Milanović said such statements from him were…

ZAGREB, 8 April (2022) - Construction Minister Ivan Paladina said on Friday that after stepping into office he had informed his colleagues at the Ministry that he would no longer be involved in the Kupari tourism project, adding that the two complaints sent to the Conflict of Interest Commission were unfounded. The Conflict of Interest Commission has confirmed receipt of two complaints over whether the newly-appointed minister should have stated the value of securities, rather than receivables, in his declaration of assets. Addressing the press after a cabinet meeting, Paladina said he had declared his assets to the Conflict of Interest…

ZAGREB, 8 April (2022) - Croatia has joined the initiative of 38 countries to have the International Criminal Court open an investigation into war crimes committed in Ukraine, the government said on Friday. The initiative requests that ICC prosecutors investigate war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide believed to have been committed in Ukraine since 21 November 2013. Although Ukraine is not party to the Rome Statute whereby the ICC was established, it has accepted its jurisdiction over crimes against its citizens of which it accuses Russian officials and officials of the separatist regions in east Ukraine. Besides Croatia, the initiative has been supported by 38…

AGREB, 8 April (2022) - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Friday condemned the shelling of the railway station in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, earlier in the day when dozens of civilians were killed and over 100 were wounded. Thousands of people - most of them women and children and the elderly - were at the railway station in Kramatorsk when it was hit by rockets, the city's mayor Oleksander Honcharenko was quoted by foreign media as saying. The station, located in eastern Ukraine, was being used to evacuate civilians from the eastern Donbas region. PM Plenković said the shelling of the train…

ZAGREB, 8 April (2022) - As a sign of solidarity, Croatia will send slightly over HRK 1.5 million (€200,000) worth of emergency aid to Ukraine at Ukraine's request, the government decided on Friday. The aid comes from the available reserves and funds of the Economy and Sustainable Development Ministry, that is, the Commodity Reserves Directorate, the Culture and Media Ministry, and the Ministry of the Interior, that is, the Civil Protection Directorate. In light of constant danger to the moveable and immoveable cultural heritage of the city of Lviv, Ukrainian museum workers have asked for help in the form of equipment to…

ZAGREB, 8 April (2022) - Split Mayor Ivica Puljak and his deputies Bojan Ivošević and Antonio Kuzmanić formally tendered their resignations on Friday, thus leaving their offices. Puljak, Ivošević and Kuzmanić resigned after local prosecutorial authorities indicted Ivošević for threatening an editor at the Split-based Slobodna Dalmacija daily, Nikolina Lulić. Puljak had come under harsh criticism from other politicians and media for not distancing himself from Ivošević even after he was indicted. Instead, he took many by surprise by opting to stand by his first deputy and go with him and his second deputy, Antonio Kuzmanić, to a snap election. "To…