Politics

ZAGREB, April 24, 2020 - President Zoran Milanović on Friday received a delegation of mountain climbers, potholers and altitude workers from Zagreb and thanked them for their selfless volunteer work in helping Zagreb residents in the aftermath of the March 22 earthquake. "You exposed yourself to a far greater danger than COVID-19. I know how dangerous that is and I thank you for that. Your engagement was extra-institutional. Everything had to be organised quickly and we must be grateful that good and selfless volunteers still exist," Milanovic's office said in a press release. Speaking on behalf of mountain climbers, potholers…

ZAGREB, April 24, 2020 - Members of both the ruling majority and the Opposition said on Friday, in a comment on media speculation that parliamentary elections could be held in the summer, that elections should be held when the epidemiological situation became favourable, to avoid jeopardising public health. Parliament Speaker and HDZ secretary-general Gordan Jandroković told a news conference the Opposition was insisting on the topic of elections in an attempt to depict the HDZ as trying to fish in troubled waters. "Elections will certainly be held by their constitutional deadline but at this moment we are preoccupied with the…

ZAGREB, April 24, 2020 - During a parliamentary debate on the implementation of the constitutional law on ethnic minority rights in 2018 on Friday, SDP lawmaker Gordan Maras and independent MP Mario Vučetić accused MPs Miro Bulj and Hrvoje Zekanović of spreading intolerance and hatred. Vučetić and Maras said that citizens were fed up with attempts by individuals to parasitise on ethnic minorities and on negative context. Those who spread intolerance and hatred do not wish good for Croatia, and stupid nationalists are in favour of a model of governing like that in Serbia, they said in response to previous…

ZAGREB, April 24, 2020 - Croatia is a strong advocate of multilateralism whose importance has been confirmed during the novel coronavirus epidemic, the Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs said on Friday on International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace, marked April 24. The UN General Assembly decided in December 2018 to declare 24 April as the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace. Croatia joined the Alliance for Multilateralism in 2019 which was launched by Germany and France. "There are numerous issues and challenges that countries around the world need to approach jointly, like climate change,…

ZAGREB, April 24, 2020 - A summit meeting of EU member-states and six Western Balkan countries will be held online on May 6, the Croatian government said in a press release on Thursday, after the fourth video conference of the European Council members. In light of epidemiological circumstances, on the initiative of Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, leaders agreed that the EU-Western Balkans summit (Zagreb Summit) will be held via video conference on 6 May, in full configuration of all EU Member States, and the 6 Western Balkan countries, the Croatian Presidency of the Council of the European Union says…

ZAGREB, April 23, 2020) - Croatian President Zoran Milanović on Thursday met with Croatian Journalists' Association (HND) president Hrvoje Zovko and the leader of the Trade Union of Croatian Journalists, Maja Sever, who informed him of their proposals for helping media outlets affected by the coronavirus crisis. "President Milanovic supported the efforts of the HND and the SNH to help journalists and the media. He believes that it is important to protect and promote the autonomy of the media, especially in crisis situations," the Office of the President emphasised. The HND and the SNH propose that the government adopt special…

ZAGREB, April 23, 2020 - Justice Minister Dražen Bošnjaković said on Wednesday that the procedure of the selection of the new Attorney General could be completed in two weeks' time. The minister told the commercial broadcaster NOVA TV last night that the government would now set up a commission tasked with interviewing the six candidates that are running for the position of Attorney General after Dražen Jelenić stepped down on February 19 following revelations of his membership of a Masonic lodge. Applications have been submitted by Deputy Attorney General Zlata Hrvoj-Šipek, Split-Dalmatia County Deputy Prosecutor Nikša Wagner, attorneys at law…

 April 22, 2020 - Former Croatian presidential candidate and acclaimed documentary maker Dario Jurican is back! Bundekfest, Part 1 of his new series 'Let's Steal' is now available with English subtitles thanks to a TCN collaboration. He ran a brilliant campaign to become the President of Croatia, even changing his name to that of the Mayor of Zagreb, Milan Bandic, in the process. Running on a platform of 'Corruption for All', Dario Jurican lit up the campaign, as well as highlighting the realities of how modern Croatia is run.  And now he is back with a new series called Let's…

ZAGREB, April 22, 2020 - The head of the Jewish Community of Zagreb, Ognjen Kraus, said on Wednesday that his attendance at a state-level commemoration for the victims of the Jasenovac concentration camp was an act of readiness to cooperate with the government in dealing with issues that harm Croatia's international reputation. "I came to extend the hand of friendship and good will and to show that I'm prepared for serious talks on the situation in Croatia and the government's attitude to history," Kraus told reporters covering the event commemorating the 75th anniversary of a breakout of inmates from the…

ZAGREB, April 22, 2020 - The state leadership and representatives of ethnic minorities and antifascists on Wednesday laid wreaths and flowers at a monument in Jasenovac, paying tribute to the victims of the concentration camp that operated there in WWII and marking the 75th anniversary of an outbreak of its surviving inmates. Early in the morning of 22 April 1945, the last group of 600 inmates decided to try to break out of the camp, where pro-Nazi Ustasha authorities interned and killed people because of their religion, ethnicity or ideological affiliation. Only 92 inmates survived. The Jasenovac concentration camp existed…