Politics

ZAGREB, 14 October, 2021 - The Croatian government passed a decree on Thursday limiting the retail price of petrol to HRK 11.10 (€1.48) per litre and the price of diesel to HRK 11.00 (€1.46) per litre for the next 30 days. Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said that the aim of this move was to protect consumers. "Considering the present economic situation, the unpredictability of petroleum prices on the global market and the impact of fuel prices on total economic activity and citizens' living standards, and in order to ensure further economic recovery, the government has decided to make use of the option…

ZAGREB, 14 Oct 2021 - Health Minister Vili Beroš said in Parliament on Thursday that HRK 2.31 billion had been paid from contributions for compulsory health insurance for COVID-19 testing and treatment in the period from the start of the coronavirus pandemic to the end of August 2021. HRK 2.31 billion was paid by the Croatian Health Insurance Institute, Beroš said while presenting a quarterly report on measures taken to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Commenting on concern about the nation's state of health, the minister said that contacts between citizens and their general practitioners had dropped by only 1.9% and that the number…

ZAGREB, 14 Oct 2021 - The parliamentary Opposition on Thursday reiterated that Croatia does not have a clear strategy to fight the coronavirus pandemic, expressing dissatisfaction with the way the crisis is being managed and calling for changing it. "The attitude to COVID-19 has to change drastically. If the current situation continues, we will all end up on sedatives," said Marijan Pavliček of the Croatian Sovereignists ahead of a debate on the government's report on the impact of epidemiological measures taken in the period from June to the end of August. Pavliček believes that over the past year and a half Croatians…

ZAGREB, 14 October, 2021 - Interior Minister Davor Božinović said on Wednesday that Europe was not prepared for a new migrant wave, rejecting allegations that Croatian police were doing dirty work for the European Union. "Many studies by Croatian and international institutions warn of the possible arrival of a large number of migrants as a result of the situation in Afghanistan. Europe must prepare itself for that. However, frankly speaking, the European Union is not fully prepared," Božinović said at a meeting of the Croatian Parliament Committee on Human Rights and Rights of Ethnic Minorities. The Committee met to discuss pushbacks…

ZAGREB, 14 October, 2021 - The opposition in parliament expressed its satisfaction on Wednesday with the Supreme Court's verdict in the retrial of the Fimi Media corruption under which the Croatian Democratic Union was fined HRK 3.5 million. Urša Raukar (ZLB) claimed that the verdict clearly identified the HDZ as the most responsible for corruption in Croatia. That is a great news, added Katarina Peović (RF), at the end of a parliamentary debate on the President's recommendation for Judge Radovan Dobronić to be appointed Supreme Court President. "The Supreme Court did not rule that the HDZ is a corrupt party, nor criminal…

ZAGREB, 14 October, 2021 - Prime Minister and Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) leader Andrej Plenković, commenting on the ruling in the Fimi Media case, rejected the responsibility of the party's present leadership "for the actions of some other people between 2004 and 2009." "When it comes to what went on then, as far as the incumbent leadership and policies we are leading are concerned, and I in particular, as the president of the party since 2016, have nothing to do with that nor will we take any responsibility for the actions of individuals," Plenković said commenting on the Supreme Court ruling…

ZAGREB, 14 October, 2021 - Prime Minister and Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) leader Andrej Plenković said on Wednesday that the HDZ respected the rule of law and would comply with the Supreme Court's ruling under which this ruling party was fined HRK 3.5 million in the Fimi Media corruption case. Earlier on Wednesday, the Supreme Court partly upheld the verdict following the retrial in the Fimi Media corruption case, under which the HDZ was fined HRK 3.5 million, while the former PM and HDZ chief Ivo Sanader had his prison sentence cut from eight to seven years. Sanader and his co-defendants were charged…

ZAGREB, 14 October, 2021 - The Supreme Court on Wednesday partly upheld the verdict following the retrial in the Fimi Media corruption case, under which the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party was fined HRK 3.5 million while the former PM and HDZ chief Ivo Sanader had his prison sentence cut from eight to seven years. Sanader and his co-defendants were charged with siphoning around HRK 70 million (€9.3 million) from state-owned companies and institutions through the Fimi Media marketing agency into the HDZ's slush funds from 2004 to 2009. Sanader's prison sentence of eight years, delivered by Zagreb County Court on 13 November 2020, was…

ZAGREB, 13 October, 2921 - MP Miro Bulj (Bridge) on Wednesday called on the Croatian government to adopt measures that would offset the rise in energy prices and proposed that the the state-run power company HEP be instructed not to turn off electricity to poor citizens during the winter. The measures must be prompt, said Bulj, who warned that a litre of oil was "a hundred percent more expensive" than last year and that its price was closer to HRK 20 than 15. The MP noted that Croatian citizens paid the highest prices in Europe for a litre of petrol..…

ZAGREB, 13 October, 2021 - Economy Minister Tomislav Ćorić said on Tuesday the government was aware of the energy price crunch's negative impact on living standards and that, if necessary, it would act on excise tax or VAT. Asked by the press when the state would intervene in fuel prices by cutting the excise tax, Ćorić said, "Soon". "We are aware of the consequences which the increase in fuel prices is having on the widest circle of consumers in Croatia, all drivers and their families. That's why we'll estimate the fiscal effects and act on either the excise tax or VAT," he…