Politics

ZAGREB, 15 Sept, 2021 - The Tourism and Sports Ministry has approved HRK 15.55 million in aid to help 307 travel agencies across Croatia hit by the coronavirus crisis to normalise their current operations. The grants range from HRK 6,460 to HRK 566,600 and the ministry has noted that the recipients will have to spend the funds for the purpose intended and submit a final report on the funds spent by 31 January 2022. (€1 = HRK 7.474887) For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 15 Sept, 2021 - Answering Homeland Movement MP Stipe Mlinarić's question when he would seek war reparations from Serbia, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said during Question Time on Wednesday that the government was "working on this matter" and that the truth about the Homeland War was indisputable. "The issue of war reparations and possible lawsuits against Serbia has been raised to the bilateral level, ministries and experts are involved in the process, we have not forgotten about it," he said, adding, "It is important that the truth about the Homeland War is beyond dispute in Croatia and internationally." Plenković noted that people gone…

ZAGREB, 14 Sept, 2021 - The Croatian Parliament's Information and Media Committee on Tuesday endorsed the Copyright and Related Rights Bill and the Electronic Media Bill after debating copyright protection and user comments. Culture and Media Minister Nina Obuljen Koržinek said the biggest contribution of the Copyright Bill was that it eliminated legal uncertainties concerning exceptions and restrictions. It ensures a broader approach to protected content as well as equitable compensation for stakeholders in the digital environment. The bill regulates in more detail the rights of news publishers and defines the copyright generated within the collective protection system. The bill also regulates content aggregators…

ZAGREB, 14 Sept, 2021 - Croatian Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković has held an online meeting with Chinese Ambassador Xu Erwen to discuss ways of speeding up the procedure to obtain veterinary certificates and possibilities for pork exports to China, the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. The agricultural cooperation with China has intensified since 2006, and thanks to the China+17 initiative and the efforts by the Agriculture Ministry, the protocol on veterinary and public health requirements for dairy products intended for export from Croatia to China was signed in 2019, removing the obstacles to the sale of Croatian dairy…

ZAGREB, 14 Sept, 2021 - A majority of members of the European Parliament on Tuesday endorsed a draft resolution seeking the recognition of same-sex marriages and registered partnerships in all member states. The draft was endorsed by 387 MEPs, 161 voted against and 123 abstained. The resolution says same-sex spouses and partners should be treated equally as heterosexual ones, and that marriages and partnerships concluded in one EU member state should be recognised in all. Of the Croatian MEPs, the draft was endorsed by Biljana Borzan, Predrag Matić and Tonino Picula of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Valter Flego of the Istrian…

ZAGREB, 14 Sept, 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Tuesday called on all citizens to register online for the population census which began yesterday and will be conducted in two phases. In the first phase, lasting until 26 September, citizens can take part in the census online, which the prime minister did, registering his family "simply and quickly," he wrote on Twitter. "Let's use the possibility to register online. Let's do our civic duty and let's all take part in the 2021 Census," he tweeted. By 3 pm today, over 177,000 citizens have taken part in the census online, the Croatian Bureau…

ZAGREB, 14 Sept, 2021 - Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) whip Branko Bačić said on Tuesday that the call by Serbia's President Aleksandar Vučić to "Serbs in all Serb lands" to hang out their Serb flags on 15 September, wherever they may be, is inappropriate, unacceptable and a provocation. "I consider that to be a provocation and inappropriate, all the more so, because it is in violation of the law," Bačić told reporters in the Croatian Parliament, citing the Public Law and Order Act which says that displaying other countries' flags is not allowed. I expect the Serb community to respect the law "I expect…

ZAGREB, 14 Sept, 2021 - Most of the incumbent mayors in Croatia are either engineers or economists while seven cities have a mayor with a PhD, shows a survey of the education qualifications of mayors in Croatia published on the grandonačelnik.hr website. Of a total of 128 mayors, 94 have graduated from university, 20 have secondary-school qualifications while 14 have two-year post-secondary school qualifications. Compared to ten years ago, when only one mayor had a PhD, today there are seven, and one mayor is preparing his thesis, the survey shows. Traditionally mayors with higher education are most frequently either economists or lawyers whereas now…

ZAGREB, 14 Sept, 2021 - Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević said on Tuesday that the city administration had appointed a new supervisory board of the city-owned ZET public transportation company, which will advertise vacancies for the new management in the coming days. he new members of the ZET Supervisory Board are Marko Slavulj, Marko Borski and Sanja Stojić. Tomašević said that ZET cost the city HRK 1.1 billion annually and that the city's contribution was HRK 790 million. He added that an additional HRK 80 million should be secured through a budget revision. The number of passengers in public transport has been falling and…

ZAGREB, 14 Sept, 2021 - "NDH", a series of the Croatian Radio Television (HRT) about the Ustasha-ruled Independent State of Croatia, will start on Monday, 20 September and its author, historian Hrvoje Klasić, says it should have been aired much sooner, while the HRT rejects claims about deliberately not broadcasting the series. "I only know that this series should have been finished much sooner. But it hasn't been. And that was not because of us as the crew, and it should have aired sooner. Again, not because of us, but because of the HRT," Klasić told Hina. On the other…