Politics

ZAGREB, 13 Jan 2022 - The government on Thursday endorsed the reorganization of the Interior Ministry based on which the number of leadership positions in the General Police Directorate, police departments, and stations will be cut by 638 and the number of divisions by 115. At today's meeting, the government amended a decree on the internal structure of the Interior Ministry in order to reorganize the police in a functional way. Security challenges are increasingly complex and demanding due to new types of crime, which require the police to constantly adapt, Minister Davor Božinović said. Murders and robberies down, organized crime up According to preliminary indicators…

ZAGREB, 13 Jan 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said at a government session on Thursday that the entire Europe had been affected by an increase in energy prices. The average rise in electricity prices until November 2021 in the EU was 27% and the price of natural gas for households grew by 40%, he said. Croatia has been an exception and that fact should be respected. It is primarily owing to measures that have been taken to cap fuel prices as well as the mechanisms at the government's disposal, thanks to which the price hikes have not been felt…

ZAGREB, 13 Jan 2022 - Health Minister Vili Beroš told the cabinet on Thursday that in the past 24 hours, 46.28% of those tested proved positive to the novel coronavirus and that areas with low levels of immunisation showed a higher number of hospitalised COVID patients.  The number of hospitalised patients has increased along the entire coast and KBC Split is experiencing the biggest pressure. The Križine hospital has opened yet another COVID ward and 18 nurses from other institutions have been assigned to the hospital, said Beroš. The situation in the Zadar General Hospital has also deteriorated. The highest number…

ZAGREB, 13 Jan 2022 - The Pensioners' Trade Union (SUH) said on Thursday that it was against making the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for citizens above the age of 65. The SUH union issued a press release on this topic today after Health Minister Vili Beroš said two days ago that the authorities were considering the possibility of introducing mandatory vaccination against coronavirus for senior citizens since the COVID mortality rate is higher in older age cohorts. The average age of the deceased whose death is connected with the coronavirus infection is 76.2 in Croatia, and therefore the minister believes that mandatory…

ZAGREB, 13 Jan 2022 - In 2021 the government allocated HRK 14.3 million for relief from the consequences of natural disasters, with HRK 640,000 of the amount going to 14 municipalities and cities in Zagreb County. Natural disasters were proclaimed in April and July in Zagreb Cunty when frost and sleet caused huge damage to agricultural crops, county authorities recalled. Government aid for 14 counties Last year natural disasters in Croatia ranged from sleet, icy rain, frost, drought, and hurricane winds. The government allocated support for as many as 154 cities and municipalities in 14 counties. The highest amounts were allocated to…

ZAGREB, 12 January, 2022 - PM Andrej Plenković has said Milorad Pupovac was at a celebration of Bosnian Serb entity day as head of the Serb National Council and that parties that have criticised him for that should have done the same in the case of President Zoran Milanović's "love" for Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik. A number of Croatian political parties have condemned Pupovac's attendance at the ceremony in Banja Luka. Asked about that topic in Novska again on Wednesday, Plenković said that the Serb National Council (SNV), an umbrella association of ethnic Serbs in Croatia, had provided an explanation. "He went there in his capacity as SNV…

ZAGREB, 12 January, 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Wednesday would not comment on the revelation by the Index news website that several Croatian National Bank (HNB) officials had traded in securities of banks that are subject to oversight by the central bank, saying that the matter was complex and that he would comment once he had full information. Speaking to reporters during a visit to the eastern town of Novska, Plenković said he had spoken with HNB Governor Boris Vujčić on Tuesday, unaware that the central bank governor would appear in the prime-time evening news programme on HTV…

ZAGREB, 11 January, 2022 - It's imperative to mend relations with Croats and Croatia because the current tension is harming both peoples and countries but Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina hold more management positions than guaranteed by the constitution, the head of the SDA party, Bakir Izetbegović, said in Mostar on Tuesday. The leader of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), the biggest Bosniak party in Bosnia and Herzegovina, spoke with the party leadership in Herzegovina after meeting with Croatia's Prime Minister Andrej Plenković in Dubrovnik on Monday, when they discussed the situation in BiH and the election reform in that country…

ZAGREB, 11 January, 2022 - Defence Minister Mario Banožić said on Monday that the decision on the procurement of fighting vehicles would be made by the end on January and that Croatia was in talks with the United States, which was offering Bradley fighting vehicles. The minister also confirmed that the first two of four Black Hawk helicopters would arrive in Croatia in the first quarter of this year. "We are in intensive talks with our ally, the US, which is our most important ally and has strongly supported the Croatian Armed Forces all these years, and I'm sure it…

ZAGREB, 11 January, 2022 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković is to hold a working meeting in Dubrovnik on Monday evening with Bakir Izetbegović, president of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Party of Democratic Action, about the situation in BiH and its election reform. Plenković told the press in Dubrovnik the meeting was "a continuation of the dialogue." The two officials last met in Sarajevo last month, when Plenković was on an official visit to BiH. He said tonight's meeting would address BiH, "the agreements between the political parties, first and foremost the institutions, the key actors, on electoral legislation reform, preparations for…