Politics

ZAGREB, June 29, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Monday he was not worried about media reports that the Constitutional Court would launch the procedure to assess the constitutionality of decisions by the coronavirus response team, adding that he was confident everything had been done in accordance with the law and in the public interest. "I'm not worried at all. I'm sure when the Constitutional Court takes everything into consideration when it looks at the arguments and the government's opinion, ... (it will see) that everything we did was in accordance with the constitution and the law and…

ZAGREB, June 29, 2020 - Environment and Energy Minister Tomislav Coric said on Monday that the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party had declined donations from companies that had received state aid for job retention, calling on the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) to do the same given that it had already received such donations. "The HDZ has so far received about HRK 1.75 million (€233,000) in donations, which is considerably more than our political opponents. This itself speaks of the HDZ's popularity and the inclination to donate funds," Coric, a member of the HDZ's main committee, said in response to…

ZAGREB, June 29, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Sunday he regretted that during its election campaign the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) was trying to undermine the credibility of the national coronavirus response team and the professionals involved in the team. "It's not good when politicians, quack doctors and specialists from other scientific disciplines start dispensing their advice rather than listen to those who helped us overcome the first wave of the coronavirus outbreak in February, March, and April," Plenkovic said in response to questions from the press after meeting members and sympathisers of his HDZ party in…

ZAGREB, June 28, 2020 - Homeland Movement leader Miroslav Skoro on Sunday strongly distanced himself from "those who committed any criminal offence yet are in politics," saying that if Davorka Smokovic, a candidate on one of their lists, won a seat in parliament, she would cede it to the party. The media have reported that the Homeland Movement's slate for Constituency No. 8 includes Smokovic, a former Pazin municipal prosecutor who was recently convicted of corruption. In a press release, Skoro admitted to his part of the blame, saying the Homeland Movement could not control the "deep state" and vet people…

ZAGREB, June 28, 2020 - Although over 2,000 people in Croatia are self-isolating, the head of the national civil protection authority said on Saturday that all voters would be enabled to vote in the July 5 parliamentary election. "That's a query we will forward to the State Electoral Commission, which is in constant contact with the Croatian Institute of Public Health, which will provide a framework for how to organise the election and do everything so that it is a controlled situation," Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said on Nova TV. Commenting on the coronavirus hotspot in Djakovo, he said epidemiologists…

With the Croatian elections rapidly approaching, just how well are the parties doing? As HDZ finds a stronghold in Slavonia, Restart does well in Zagreb and Miroslav Skoro and the Homeland Movement (Domovinski pokret), a somewhat newer face on the political scene, has found his support in the north of Croatia. As Mislav Bago/Dnevnik writes on the 26th of June, 2020, there are a mere ten days left until the polls open. Dnevnik Nova TV has published the latest info from Crobarometer's survey, which reflects the mood of voters according to the offered lists in the run up to the…

June 28, 2020 - The full results of one of the biggest polls conducted in Croatia before the parliamentary elections, which are to be held on July 5th, have just been published.  The poll was organized by the Croatian Radiotelevision, and performed by the Promocija plus agency, between 14th and 22nd of June, with the sample size of 6000 total participants. The statistical error for each constituency (there are 10 geographical constituencies in Croatia, the 11th constituency is for the votes by the Croatian diaspora and the 12th is for minorities living in Croatia) is not more than +/- 4%. …

ZAGREB, June 27, 2020 - The Bridge party said on Saturday the government, having organised an early parliamentary election, should instruct citizens on how it would be held and under which coronavirus protection measures. Marija Selak Raspudic told reporters the election was seven days away and that citizens still did not know how to vote safely given "the epidemiological situation and the fact that Croatia, primarily because of the prime minister, has become anything but a safe country." She said it was necessary to make sure that polling committee members and observers would come to the polling stations, otherwise, the election risked being…

ZAGREB, June 27, 2020 - Social Democratic Party (SDP) secretary-general Niksa Vukas said on Saturday that Public Health Institute director Krunoslav Capak (HDZ), a member of the national COVID-19 crisis management team, should deal with his profession, not politics. Vukas was responding to Capak's statement earlier today that by deciding to self-isolate, the SDP's Rajko Ostojic was insulting epidemiologists. He told reporters the crisis management team was not doing its job but campaigning for the HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union). "Three months ago, every contact went into self-isolation, now a person who has been in contact with an infected person and self-isolates of their own accord is…

ZAGREB, June 27, 2020 - Homeland Movement leader Miroslav Skoro said on Friday that the HDZ had moved away from the right-wing policy pursued by its former leader and Croatian president, the late Franjo Tudjman, and that its current leader Andrej Plenkovic was immune to any criticism. Addressing a news conference in Dugo Selo outside Zagreb, he said that he did not want to patronise anyone, including the HDZ leader who was refusing to self-isolate following contacts with infected persons at the recent Adria Tour tennis tournament in Zadar, and who called such demands 'political folklore'. Skoro said that he…