Politics

July 5, 2021 - Gay rights in Croatia still have challenges ahead, but even if all problems are resolved, Pride should remain a commemorative event. A look at the history of gay culture in Croatia and the current climate in this Zagreb Gay Pride 2021 Analysis by TCN reporter Ivor Kruljac. Zagreb Pride is the oldest pride in Croatia. First held in 2002, it attracts more and more people every year, from LGBTQ members, straight people that support gay rights to NGOs, human rights activists, and even politicians from the left and liberal specter. Over the years, the event grew…

ZAGREB, 4 July, 2021 - Social Democratic Party president Peđa Grbin said in Varaždin on Sunday the changes the SDP was effecting in the city after winning local elections would set the course which the party would stand for in Croatia. The chair of the SDP's Varaždin County branch, Barbara Antolić Vupora, told the press that new Mayor Neven Bosilj and his deputy Miroslav Marković were fighting "a corrupt, clientelist octopus," offering a management model in the service of citizens. "Very concrete things have been done," Grbin said, adding that the number of people on supervisory boards and their fees had been reduced, "thus…

July the 4th, 2021 - Labour Minister Josip Aladrovic has stated that it is time to separate those who are responsible and those who aren't when it comes to handing out government economic support to businesses, echoing comments about the link between being vaccinated and receiving government support made by the Prime Minister recently. As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the announced possible denial of job preservation/economic aid to companies where workers haven't been vaccinated has provoked many reactions, Labour Minister Josip Aladrovic was among those who offered their view on it. ''As far as harmonisation with the law is concerned, we…

ZAGREB, 3 July 2021 - The Serb National Council (SNV) unveiled in Donja Suvaja on Saturday a monument to the victims of a crime committed by the Ustasha on 1 July 1941, with SNV president Milorad Pupovac saying "the crime in Donja Suvaja, Osredci and Bubanj was one big evil." "On 1 July 1941, the Ustasha, led by Maks Luburić, savagely tortured and killed women, children and older inhabitants in Donja Suvaja. We are erecting this monument on the 80th anniversary, in memory of their lives and horrific moment od death, but with faith in the idea of man's victory over hate," it says…

ZAGREB, 2 July 2021 - Croatia must not give in to political pressure aimed at changing the policy of preventing illegal migration, Croatian MEP Karlo Ressler said on Friday, adding that Social Democratic Party (SDP) MEPs had been known to be "fall" for "campaigns lambasting" Croatia. "From the very start of this European Parliament, we have been exposed to political pressure because of our protection of the external border and because of our ambition to become a member of the Schengen Area," Ressler told a virtual press conference called "Asylum, migration and the Schengen Area's functioning" that was organised by the EP's office in Croatia.…

ZAGREB, 2 July 2021 - The Slovenian Council of the EU presidency absolutely supports the Schengen entry of Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania, and is willing to put that on the agenda as soon as the member states reach agreement on it, Slovenian Interior Minister Aleš Hojs said on Friday. Frankly, we are most interested in Croatia's entry, for understandable reasons, because they are our neighbours and that would ease many of the problems we have on the border, for both Croatia and Slovenia, Hojs told a group of Brussels correspondents invited to Slovenia on the occasion of its Council of the EU…

ZAGREB, 2 July 2021 - The HSLS party on Friday condemned a statement by Bridge MP Nikola Grmoja who expressed disgruntlement over the promotion of sexual minority rights and linked the LGBT community to paedophilia. "Tolerance and intolerance are two opposites that best symbolise two Europes today, a democratic one with liberal principles of freedom, equality and tolerance as part of their state policies, and an undemocratic one led by Orban's policies of intolerance and discrimination," HSLS leader Dario Hrebak said in a press release. He said that in that kind of Europe there are two mutually opposite Croatias, one that belongs…

ZAGREB, 2 July 2021 - The Social Democratic Party called on Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Thursday not to make vaccination a requirement for job-keeping payments, while the Bridge party said business owners were being blackmailed into vaccination. "In Croatia, mandatory vaccination is possible, but the obligation is first established under the law on the protection of the population and then regulated and worked out under Immunisation Rules and the Mandatory Vaccination Programme. The obligation of vaccination can't be imposed in another way, notably not by linking support for entrepreneurs with vaccination," SDP president Peđa Grbin posted on Facebook. He said the government's COVID-19…

ZAGREB, 1 July 2021 - Amendments to the Criminal Code envisage ex officio prosecution of sexual harassment for all categories of victims and introduce a new offense, the misuse of a sexually-explicit video, Justice Minister Ivan Malenica said in parliament on Thursday, presenting the amendments. Besides strengthening protection mechanisms for victims of domestic and sexual violence and harassment, the amendments envisage punishment for revenge pornography. All those who share with others intimate videos made consensually for personal use without the consent of the person filmed, thus violating their right to privacy, would now be penalized. Deepfake pornography, i.e. the use of modern technology to manipulate explicit…

ZAGREB, 1 July 2021 - The Green Action NGO on Thursday called on the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development to adopt ambitious measures as part of the new waste management bill and set the right example in combating plastic pollution. "Croatia can be a leader among EU member states in abandoning single-use plastics and the waste culture. Now we finally have a chance to start promoting a reuse system as a solution to single-use plastic pollution," Green Action's Ana-Marija Mileusnić said as part of the "Plastic-Free July" campaign. She said that the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development was…