Politics
Saturday, 19 February 2022
USKOK Launches Investigation Against Several Government Officials
February 19, 2022 - Crisis in the Croatian government, as the USKOK launches investigation against several of its officials. Construction Minister Darko Horvat was arrested this morning for alleged abuse of authority, and an emergency meeting is underway. USKOK suspects that Horvat gave 2.6 million kuna in illegal incentives. In addition to Minister Darko Horvat, as Telegram has learned, investigators have also focused on former Minister Tomislav Tolušić. Along with them, according to the information available so far, this latest procedure also applies to Horvat's former assistant Ana Mandac. Jutarnji List finds out that Deputy Prime Minister Boris Milošević and Minister of Labor and Social Welfare Josip Aladrović are also under…
Friday, 18 February 2022
Milanović: Croatia Embarrassed Itself in Brussels Over Reconstruction Money
ZAGREB, 18 Feb 2022 - Croatia embarrassed itself by not spending any of the post-earthquake reconstruction money, so Brussels charitably extended the deadline, but is denying charity to Croats in Bosnia, President Zoran Milanović has said, blaming that on the incompetence of the foreign minister and the premier. It's not a "total embarrassment," just an "embarrassment, he said on Friday, commenting on the European Commission's decision to extend the deadline until June 2023, to spend the money from the European Solidarity Fund for the post-earthquake reconstruction of Zagreb. The president said reconstruction took time and that he accepted that not all…
Friday, 18 February 2022
Contract Signed for Lekenik-Sisak Section of A11 Motorway
ZAGREB, 18 Feb 2022 - A contract for the construction of the last section of the A11 motorway, from Lekenik to Sisak, valued at HRK 281 million without VAT, was signed on Friday by the Hrvatske Autoceste (HAC) motorway management company and representatives of the Colas Hrvatska and Geotehnika consortium. The contract was signed by HAC management board president Boris Huzjan, Geotehnika director Igor Horvat, the president of the management board of Colas Hrvatska Siniša Košćak and a member of the board Goran Tuđan, in the presence of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, Deputy Prime Minister Tomo Medved, Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Oleg Butković, Minister of Construction,…
Friday, 18 February 2022
Plenković: It Would Be Better if BiH Polls Were Postponed Than Held Under Present Law
ZAGREB, 18 Feb 2022 - It would be better if elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina were postponed than held under the present election law because nothing good will come of it and the country will continue to function poorly, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in Brussels on Friday. "Parliamentary elections should not be held in October this year as scheduled without changing the election law," Plenković said. Croatia's position on the matter is contrary to the document prepared by the European External Action Service for a discussion on Bosnia and Herzegovina due to be held at a meeting of EU…
Friday, 18 February 2022
Prime Minister: Measures Will Protect Citizens and Economy From Energy Price Rises
ZAGREB, 18 Feb 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Friday that the package of measures for cushioning the electricity and gas price rises, worth HRK 4.8 billion, was a wise state intervention that would, as of 1 April, protect citizens and a large part of the economy from rising energy prices. "This way, we are showing the government's readiness to make a wise intervention that benefits citizens in key moments," Plenković said, talking about the package of measures at a government session. The measures apply to all citizens, a large part of the economy, especially micro and macro businesses, and…
Friday, 18 February 2022
State Secretary Comments on Air Quality Situation in Slavonski Brod
ZAGREB, 18 Feb 2022 - Discussing changes to the Air Protection Act on Friday, Croatian parliamentarians pointed to the long-standing problem of air pollution in Slavonski Brod, which State Secretary Mile Horvat described as "a complex case." Horvat said that the authorities of that eastern city on the Sava River, across the city of Brod in neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina, had sent the Economy and Sustainable Development Ministry an action plan for the improvement of air quality six times and that the ministry returned the report six times because the measures envisaged were not good. He noted that ministry officials in January…
Friday, 18 February 2022
Croatian President Opposed to NATO's Enlargement to Ukraine
ZAGREB, 18 Feb 2022 - President Zoran Milanović on Friday said that NATO should not expand to include Ukraine. "While I'm the president, I will be opposed to NATO expanding anywhere," Milanović told reporters on Friday. The statement, which is contrary to NATO's "open door policy", comes at a time when tensions between Russia, which has been amassing troops on the border with Ukraine, and Western countries, which are warning against a possible invasion of that country, are coming to the boil. To withdraw its troops, Russia is asking, among other things, for guarantees that NATO will not expand to include Ukraine. "I…
Friday, 18 February 2022
Members of Parliament Support Building Charging Stations for Vehicles Running on Electricity, Hydrogen, Gas
ZAGREB, 18 Feb 2022 - Croatian parliamentarians on Thursday supported amendments to a law on the establishment of infrastructure for alternative fuels, underlining the importance of building as many charging stations for alternative fuels as possible. A state secretary at the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Ministry, Josip Bilaver, said that the amendments were aimed at developing infrastructure for alternative fuels (electricity, hydrogen, biofuels, natural gas) as a precondition for their use in transport. This would help develop a sustainable market and transport system based on alternative fuels as well as their minimum impact on the environment and society, he said. He noted…
Thursday, 17 February 2022
Plenković Calls On Croat And Bosniak Leaders To Agree On A Fair Election Law
ZAGREB, 17 Feb 2022- Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković called on Bosnia and Herzegovina's Croat and Bosniak leaders on Thursday to make the extra effort to agree on a fair election law in that country. "I once again call on the leaders of the Bosniak and Croat political parties, especially before a meeting of the Croat National Assembly in Mostar on Saturday, to try and resolve this problem in a fair and constructive way, and Croatia, as a friendly country, will help Bosnia and Herzegovina on its European path," Plenković said in Brussels. Ahead of an informal EU summit on the Ukraine crisis…
Thursday, 17 February 2022
Croatian FM Thanks Bavarians For Earthquake Relief
ZAGREB, 17 Feb 2022 - Croatia's Minister for Foreign and European Affairs, Gordan Grlić Radman, on Thursday thanked the Bavarian State Minister for Federal Affairs and Media, Florian Herrmann, for the assistance this German province had extended to the earthquake-hit Sisak-Moslavina County. "We consider this gesture a sign of great friendship and solidarity between Croatia and Bavaria," Grlić Radman said after their meeting in Munich. Last year, Bavaria sent to Croatia over 70 tonnes of construction material, dozens of container homes, packages for children and other aid to help it deal with the aftermath of strong earthquakes that struck Sisak-Moslavina County, central Croatia…
Thursday, 17 February 2022
Minister Says Croatia's Agricultural Output On Rise For Five Years
ZAGREB, 17 Feb 2022 - Croatia's agricultural production has not contracted, as data for the first 11 months of 2021 show that both exports and imports increased considerably, with exports increasing faster, Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković said in parliament on Thursday. "According to estimates by the national statistical office, Croatia's agricultural output grew at a rate of 8.1% in 2021," said the minister, stressing that the production had been growing for the five past years. She addressed parliament during the presentation of the government's agriculture strategy up to 2030. In response to harsh criticism from opposition lawmakers about a deficit in the…
