Politics

ZAGREB, 21 May, 2022 - President Zoran Milanović reiterated on Friday that Croatia has to block Sweden and Finland's NATO accession until Bosnia and Herzegovina Croats attain equality, pointing out that an above-average number of BiH Croats had died in the Homeland War and that a nation that forgets it was "doomed". Milanović stressed in Zabok that it was in the Croatian national interest for the election law in Bosnia and Herzegovina to be changed in order to avoid Croats to be outvoted in elections by the more numerous Bosniaks, adding that blocking Finland and Sweden's application for NATO membership was the only…

May 21, 2022 - The costs of Croatian hospitals have skyrocketed. Bills are up to five times higher than last year, so an additional 3.5 billion kuna provided to the Croatian healthcare system from the recent rebalance of the state budget won't be enough to cover expenses. Even after the rebalance of the state budget, which will provide the healthcare system with an additional three and a half billion kuna this year, which means that instead of the planned 32 billion it will now have 35 and a half billion kunas, hospital directors still say that this will be a difficult…

ZAGREB, 20 May 2022 - Pre-bankruptcy proceedings have been launched for the Brodosplit shipbuilding company, the Split-based dock confirmed to Hina on Friday. The application for the pre-bankruptcy procedure submitted by Brodosplit itself was received by Split Commercial Court on 27 April. According to Brodosplit's management, the company found itself in trouble financially because it could not withdraw in full two loans from the Russian VTB bank after it came under Western sanctions due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The loans were to be spent for the completion of two vessels and other expenses. Pre-bankruptcy proceedings have also been proposed for…

ZAGREB, 20 May 2022 - Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatian National Council (HNS) leader Dragan Čović said on Friday it would be a "catastrophic mistake" for Croat politicians in BiH to choose between Prime Minister Andrej Plenković or President Zoran Milanović, as both advocates the better status of local Croats. "It would be a catastrophic mistake for representatives of the Croat people in BiH to take that course in pursuing their policy," Čović said. Being the leader of the HDZ BiH party I could also afford that luxury to connect with the interests of the president of the HDZ in Croatia, which…

ZAGREB, 20 May 2022 - The Croatian Red Cross on Friday said that 1,036 wells had been remediated so far in the quake-hit Banovina, and more than 2,500 had submitted a request for their well to be repaired, having been left without potable and technical water. Although a year and a half has passed since the strong earthquakes, the Croatian Red Cross said that the residents of Banovina still faced water shortage problems, especially in rural areas, where people depend on well water. In that area, most wells are in a bad condition due to many years without maintenance and…

ZAGREB, 20 May 2022 - Vinkovci Industrial Zone Zalužje, which has 49 business entities with more than 1,700 employees, should soon be expanded by an additional 111 hectares, which should, according to the city administration, spur strong economic development in that Slavonian city. The project to expand the industrial zone Zalužje with land worth over 184 million (€25 million) will be Vinkovci's largest development project in the coming period, said Vinkovci Mayor Ivan Bosančić on Friday. On Thursday, the government decided to give land to this eastern Croatian city for the expansion of the zone. "The expanded part of Zalužje…

ZAGREB, 20 May 2022 - President Zoran Milanović, who on Friday attended ceremonies celebrating the Day of the City of Zabok, said Croatia should now draw up a final balance on its 10-year-long EU membership and see what benefits it has had. "Now is the right time after our first ten years of the EU membership, marked by our hopes, expectations, anticipations, premonitions, joys, and frustrations, to draw up a final balance sheet and see what has been good and what is not good for us." As for the absorption of EU funds, Milanović said that Croatia was still at the…

ZAGREB, 20 May 2022 - Finance Minister Zdravko Marić said on Friday that in addition to all the measures to buffer the impact of inflation, we must not neglect and need to maintain economic growth and do everything for that growth to be 3% this year and higher if possible. Addressing the 25th Financial Market conference in Pula, Marić said that he cannot comment on the question of possibly freezing prices, recalling the package of measures to ease inflationary pressure on citizens' standards, saying that it would be adapted. The minister added that there is a lot of uncertainty and it is…

ZAGREB, 20 May 2022 - The Conflict of Interest Commission on Friday unanimously determined that Defence Minister Mario Banožić, who had served as the state assets minister, abused the entitlements when he adopted three decisions including one in which he granted himself an official apartment. Banožić was fined HRK 7,000 for the breach. Breaches were identified in three decisions he approved; the decision to grant himself a state-owned apartment of 30 square meters, then a decision on the right to accommodation in an apartment for state officials, and thirdly, granting himself an apartment in Gundulićeva Street in the center of Zagreb. "When office-holders…

ZAGREB, 20 May 2022 - President and Supreme Commander of the Croatian Armed Forces Zoran Milanović said on Friday on the occasion of the 31st anniversary of the establishment of the Special Forces that members of these units are the elite and their reputation has to be spotless. "We need to remember that of the 75 of your friends, combatants, Croatian knights, who were killed, thirty of them were born in Bosnia and Herzegovina and half of the remaining 45 probably had their roots in BiH," Milanović said. "That was a time when Croatia was defended by sons from small communities and towns…