Politics

ZAGREB, 29 June 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Wednesday dismissed the media speculation about an early parliamentary election. "I don't understand how some people still haven't figured out my way of thinking. If political stability is my main anchor, if we have a stable parliamentary majority, if we have achieved everything we have set out to do, if we are facing so many challenges, why would I go to elections?  (...) We have been given trust to run this country responsibly," Plenković said in an interview with Croatian Radio. He noted that his government has secured growth, accession to the…

ZAGREB, 29 June 2022 - By fulfilling the conditions for entry into the US Visa Waiver Program, Croatia has become a model for its functioning in the future, Croatia's Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović said in Washington after meeting with US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. "Acceding to the Visa Waiver Program was a challenging process for us, during which we concluded 14 international legal acts on cooperation and exchange of information. We have technically implemented all of them through databases and thus largely increased the capacity of our security services in detecting and reducing risk and ensuring…

June the 29th, 2022 - Croatian youth unemployment is very low at this moment in time, not because of record economic growth or even because of the summer in which many people gain seasonal employment throughout the tourist season, but because of Croatia's ongoing demographic issues. As Poslovni Dnevnik/Josipa Ban writes, it has never been easy for young people on the labour market, and the global coronavirus pandemic has only worsened their position. This is highlighted by recent Eurostat statistics, because the Croatian youth unemployment rate (of those aged 15 to 29) increased from 15.8 percent during the pre-pandemic year…

ZAGREB, 28 June 2022 - Justice and Administration Minister Ivan Malenica on Tuesday unveiled a project aimed at improving the quality of the judicial system through its further modernisation. The project will include an upgrade of the criminal records system, an upgrade of the court register, and the modernisation and digitisation of judicial bodies by launching e-courtrooms, getting new equipment and further developing the probation system, Malenica said. The value of the project is HRK 48.7 million (€6.5m) and it is co-financed by the European Social Fund. Malenica said that the e-Courtroom pilot programme would make it possible for court hearings to…

ZAGREB, 28 June 2022 - European Commission Vice President Dubravka Šuica on Tuesday presented Prime Minister Andrej Plenković with a decision on the payment of the first installment of €700 million as part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, the largest grant Croatia has received from the Commission. These are funds for reforms from the national recovery plan undertaken by 31 December 2021, including active employment measures, a program to decarbonize the energy sector, activities in the field of physical planning, labor market, and social welfare reforms, Plenković explained after meeting with Šuica. "We have been given clear criteria defined for undertaking reforms, all…

ZAGREB, 28 June 2022 - Croatian Interior Minister Davor Božinović met in Washington on Monday with high officials of the US departments of defense and justice ahead of a meeting with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday. Božinović began his United States tour by meeting with Assistant Defense Secretary Celeste Wallander at the Pentagon. They confirmed the two sides' readiness to cooperate further and continue with all the necessary allied measures against the Russian aggression on Ukraine. They expressed the wish to continue the transatlantic cooperation and the need for strong engagement in the stabilization of Western Balkan countries, notably…

ZAGREB, 27 June 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković received representatives of five national sports federations in Government House on Monday, and among other things they discussed the importance of investing in the development of sports and sports facilities, the government said in a press release. Attending the meeting along with Plenković were Finance Minister Zdravko Marić and Tourism and Sports Minister Nikolina Brnjac. "Prime Minister Plenković underscored the numerous top results of Croatian athletes, who have for years been one of the most important promoters of Croatia in the world, and their successes also contribute to strengthening national identity and…

ZAGREB, 27 June 2022 - Croatian President Zoran Milanović will attend the NATO summit in Madrid from 28 to 30 June and is expected to meet bilaterally with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, his office said on Monday. The summit is being held in the midst of a major security crisis in the Euro-Atlantic area caused by Russia's aggression against Ukraine, and therefore a discussion on strengthening aid to Ukraine is also expected. A topic of the NATO summit will also be Finland's and Sweden's accession to the military alliance. Earlier, the Croatian president said that the entry of the…

ZAGREB, 27 June 2022 - The European Union is trying to slash its gas imports from Russia, and therefore the topic of building the 1,900-kilometre Eastern Mediterranean (EastMed) natural gas pipeline to connect the gas reserves off Israel and Cyprus via Greece and Italy to other EU members is again on the agenda. Geologist Avraam Zelilidis, a professor at the University of Patras and one of the advocates of this project, has recently told Hina that this project could save the Greeks since the continuation of fuel price hikes might push many citizens into extreme poverty. For the sake of comparison, Greek companies are the…

ZAGREB, 27 June 2022 - Ivica Puljak, who was short 1.3 percentage points for the victory in the first round of the election, and Zoran Đogaš, the candidate supported by the HDZ party will vie in Split's mayoral runoff, according DIP's first results of the snap elections held on Sunday. The first results released by the State Electoral Commission (DIP) on Sunday evening after all of the 163  polling stations were closed in this second biggest Croatian city, show that Puljak of the Centar party  won 48.73% of the vote (22,561 ballots), while Đogaš came as second with 25.67% of the…