Politics

ZAGREB, 23 March 2022 - Even though the opposition Bridge party still lacks 31 signatures to file a motion for the replacement of three government members, being seven signatures short of the number of signatures required for such a move, Social Democrats are not likely to sign the petition either. Bridge vice-president Nikola Grmoja last week commended Bridge MPs as well as deputies of the Homeland Movement and the Social Democrats as "true opposition groups," attacking the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and We Can! for not wishing to sign his party's motion for the replacement of Deputy PM Boris Milošević,…

ZAGREB, 23 March 2022 - The Croat parliamentary group in the House of Peoples of the Parliament of the BiH Federation entity on Wednesday harshly condemned death threats sent to HDZ BiH officials Dragan Čović and Ivo Tadić, calling for an urgent investigation and punishment of those responsible. The death threats against Čović and Tadić, who is at the helm of the HDZ branch in Zenica-Doboj Canton and is also the whip for the Croat parliamentary group in the House of Peoples of the BiH Federation Parliament, were published on Tuesday in a Facebook post. The Croat caucus underscored that…

ZAGREB, 23 March 2022 - Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds Nataša Tramišak has confirmed for the Jutarnji List daily that she has received threats which she hasn't officially reported yet, saying that the problems started when she did not extend a contract with the Omega Software company. "Unfortunately, I can't say that the rumours of the threats I am receiving as reported by the Nacional weekly aren't true. I have been receiving indirect threats for months now and all because of business decisions I make as Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds. The last one I received said '...…

March the 23rd, 2022 - Croatian MEP Biljana Borzan has asked quite the valid question: Why isn't the Croatian Government doing more to lobby for the Croatian label in Brussels as a new rule on food packaging is set to come into force? As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the European Union (EU) will soon introduce mandatory nutrition labels for food on packaging, and EU member states are currently vigorously lobbying for their national labels to be chosen. Croatia, quite unsurprisingly, isn't doing the same. MEP Biljana Borzan warned that Croatia is simply ignoring the existence of the "Live Healthy" label in…

ZAGREB, 22 March 2022 - President Zoran Milanović said on Tuesday that the weakest and poorest are paying the price of the war in Ukraine while at the same he recalled that there was no support from the world when Croatia experienced its "Calvary." The president and supreme commander of the armed forces participated in a ceremony in the eastern town of Vinkovci marking the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Croatian Army Guards Armoured Mechanised Brigade. Addressing the troops, President Milanović spoke about the war in Ukraine and then recalled the 1991-1995 Homeland War. "The war is raging in Ukraine. One…

ZAGREB, 22 March 2022 - China has been involved in activities and initiatives to help stop the war in Ukraine and prevent a huge humanitarian crisis, Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković said on Tuesday after his video-conference with Li Zhanshu, Chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee. According to a press release issued by the Croatian parliament, China supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine and Li informed the Sabor Speaker about his country's activities aimed at stopping the conflicts and halting the humanitarian crisis. Jandroković was quoted as saying that Croatia unequivocally supports the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine and…

March the 22nd, 2022 - Former Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic has claimed that she and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is currently waging an unjustified and utterly bizarre war on neighbouring Ukraine, would ''talk for hours''. As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the former Norwegian Prime Minister will leave his position in the Defense Alliance next autumn after serving a period of eight years and become the governor of the Norwegian Central Bank, and it is speculated that he will be succeeded by a woman from an Eastern European country. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic didn't want to comment on a possible new position in…

21 March 2022 - Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Oleg Butković presented 45 contracts for port construction and reconstruction in Zadar, Šibenik-Knin, Split-Dalmatia and Dubrovnik-Neretva counties at a ceremony in Zadar's Gaženica Port on Monday. The contracts, worth HRK 47.7 million (€6.36m) in total, will finance the construction and reconstruction of ports open to public transport, the modernisation and construction of fishing infrastructure, and the repair and reconstruction of the maritime domain in general use. "This is the continuation of the large investment cycle for ports and seafronts. We are a country that lives off the sea and is…

March the 21st, 2022 - Croatian Finance Minister Zdravko Maric has expressed his satisfaction with Croatia's credit rating, as confirmed by the S&P rating agency recently, claiming that Croatia now looks good in the eyes of international financial circles. As Gordana Grgas/Novac/Jutarnji writes, after the respected Standard & Poor's rating agency reaffirmed the Republic of Croatia's credit rating and its stable outlook on Friday, but also lowered its forecast for economic growth this year from 5 to 2.5 percent, and gave a higher estimate for inflation than the previous one, of about 6 percent, Minister Zdravko Maric appeared to be satisfied…

ZAGREB, 20 March 2022 - Construction and Zoning Minister Ivan Paladina and War Veterans' Minister Tomo Medved, who heads the national crisis management team for post-quake reconstruction, visited Petrinja on Sunday and on that occasion they said that the reconstruction process was at a turning point. They held a working meeting with local authorities. The lion's share of the administrative procedure, as a precondition for the start of building work on damaged structures, has been finished. Now, the process of the post-quake reconstruction has reached a turning point. During their stay in Petrinja, the ministers also met local activists who told…