Politics

ZAGREB, March 23, 2020 - Several European Union member states have responded to Croatia's appeal for emergency relief aid after the Zagreb area was struck by a strong earthquake on Sunday, and the Copernicus emergency management service is helping map the affected areas, the European Commission said on Monday. Croatia has activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and the Commission has already helped by sending tents, beds, mattresses, heaters and sleeping bags from Slovenia, Hungary, Austria and Italy, Commission spokesman Eric Mamer told a video press conference. In addition, the EU's Copernicus satellite programme, which provides information based on satellite…

ZAGREB, March 22, 2020 - Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković on Sunday said that given the damage to Parliament House in the wake of the earthquake that hit Zagreb this morning, sessions cannot be held there until further notice. Parliament House in Zagreb's Upper Town has suffered significant damage in the earthquake and the electricity, water and gas have been turned off. "The damage is quite extensive. Walls and stairways have cracked on the upper floor and one section of the roof has been destroyed. The courtyard part of Parliament House has incurred more damage than the front," Jandroković told reporters.…

ZAGREB, March 22, 2020 - The head of the national civil protection authority, Interior Minister Davor Božinović, said on Sunday that coronavirus was a bigger challenge than the earthquakes which rocked Zagreb this morning. "On behalf of the Croatian Civil Protection Authority, I guarantee that we will continue to communicate as we have until now, both on the coronavirus crisis, which is ongoing and which, according to our estimates, is the bigger challenge, and this crisis now with the earthquake," Božinović said. The national civil protection authority will continue to rely on the positions and suggestions of professionals. "What is…

ZAGREB, March 22, 2020 - The European Commission said on Sunday that it was following the developments in Croatia after Zagreb was hit by a few strong quakes and was ready to provide assistance to the country. The Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarčić said today that the Emergency Response Coordination Centre was in contact with Croatia's authorities. The three strong quakes rocked Zagreb and the wider area in the morning. The first tremor with 5.3 magnitude was the strongest. There were two subsequent tremors with magnitudes 5.0 and 3.7. According to first reports, a child in Zagreb was severely injured,…

ZAGREB, March 21, 2020 - Croatian President and Armed Forces Supreme Commander Zoran Milanović on Saturday toured a medical camp outside Zagreb's Dubrava Hospital, saying that at present there is no need for a lockdown or for declaring a state of emergency during which he and the prime minister would be making decisions together. As for the possibility of transferring some of the parliament's powers onto the government, which was discussed at a meeting of the ruling coalition and the parliamentary Opposition earlier this week, Milanović said that he had not seen that proposal and did not perceive it as…

ZAGREB, March 21, 2020 - The opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) requested on Saturday that MPs and other state officials, except Health Minister Vili Beroš, work for a minimum wage for the next three months in solidarity with the many citizens being affected by the coronavirus crisis. The amount saved should go to businesses so they can keep jobs and pay a minimum wage to those most vulnerable. "We need every kuna for the socially vulnerable, the sick, the functioning of healthcare and the payment of pensions, for helping the shaken economy," SDP president Davor Bernardić said. He proposed that part…

ZAGREB, March 20, 2020 - The leader of the Homeland Movement party, Miroslav Škoro, released his declaration of assets on the party's website on Friday, but did not state its value, saying that his property was not for sale and that estimating its market value was the job for an appraiser. Škoro said that as a businessman, artist and founder of a political movement he was not legally or in any other way obliged to release his declaration of assets, but that he was doing so to set an example to all those who want to transparently serve the people.…

ZAGREB, March 20, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Thursday addressed the public concerning the coronavirus epidemic, calling for the nation's unity, behaving responsibly and listening to health workers' recommendations, and he also announced more measures to help the economy, notably the private sector. The fight against coronavirus is the biggest crisis since the Homeland War and the biggest challenge for us all, he said. This fight, just as in the Homeland War, "demands our unity, responsibility and self-possession, because only in that way will we overcome this setback together." "In this fight, the health and lives of our…

ZAGREB, March 20, 2020 - Croatian troops on Thursday began erecting a tent for a medical camp outside the Dubrava hospital in Zagreb with a capacity of 270 beds to accommodate infected patients and it is expected to be erected by Saturday. The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, Admiral Robert Hranj, inspected the works, the Defence Ministry said in a press release. Major General Mladen Fuzul explained the purpose of the expedition camp. The camp will serve for accommodation and currently it will be able to accommodate 200 people. The camp can be self-sufficient but, in agreement with…

ZAGREB, March 20, 2020 - Croatian member of the European Parliament Željana Zovko has asked the European Commission to use funding from the EU Solidarity Fund to provide assistance to Western Balkan countries in the fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic. The European People's Party (EPP) group said in a statement that Zovko, a member of the HDZ party and deputy EPP coordinator on the Foreign Affairs Committee, on Thursday welcomed the EC's proposal for changing existing rules on the use of the EU Solidarity Fund but also asked that it be expanded to include the Western Balkans because of…