Politics

ZAGREB, 17 March 2022 - "Ukraine is investigating the incident with the unmanned aerial vehicle that crashed in Zagreb last week and it certainly did not launch it towards Croatia", Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Thursday. "I am in daily contact with my Croatian colleague, we are talking about that. We are investigating the incident and I assure you we are not the ones who launched that drone towards Croatia. Croatia is our friend and we would never do that", Reznkov said. He was taking part via video link in a meeting of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, the Security…

ZAGREB, 17 March 2022 - The government's proposal to cut VAT on food and gas is welcome but late and insufficient, the parliamentary opposition said on Thursday, while the ruling HDZ said the cut was timely and that it would help citizens weather the price rises. "The government's proposal is going in the right direction, but the fact is that it's late and it's not enough," Social Democratic Party president Peđa Grbin said ahead of a debate on amendments to the VAT Act whereby the government wishes to buffer the energy price hikes and protect living standards and the economy.…

ZAGREB, 17 March 2022 - In two to three weeks Croatian and Spanish scientists will start to examine materials necessary for building an EU power plant where electricity will be produced by fusion. The Croatian and Spanish science ministers, Radovan Fuchs and Diana Morant, respectively, signed in Madrid on Wednesday an agreement green-lighting the DONES (Demo Oriented Neutron Source) project. The EU wants to build the first demo power plant where electricity will be produced by the fusion of two lighter hydrogen atoms into a heavier one that releases huge amounts of energy. Currently, materials used to build power plants are…

ZAGREB, 17 March 2022 - Wrapping up his visit to Spain on Wednesday evening, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković announced the further strengthening of bilateral relations in economy, science, culture in the Mediterranean as well as cooperation in international issues such as the Ukraine conflict. "Spain has extended strong political support for Croatia's entry to Schengen, the euro area and the OECD. We appreciate the cooperation in the Mediterranean", Plenković said after meeting with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. Plenković was the first Croatian prime minister who visited Spain since 1996. "I took the opportunity for talks on Southeast Europe as well, on the need…

March the 17th, 2022 - The Croatian financial system is well protected from the increasingly likely scenario of total Russian bankruptcy following harsh global sanctions placed on them after their unjustified shock invasion of neighbouring Ukraine. As Poslovni Dnevnik/Tomislav Pili writes, Russian bankruptcy, which is increasingly likely to occur soon, will not be felt by the Croatian financial system, and global finances should not be shaken by such a scenario either, according to Croatian analysts. After announcing on Monday that the Russian Ministry of Finance will pay out interest to foreign investors in rubles instead of dollars, the story coming…

16 March 2022 - Last week, Chile swore in Gabriel Boric, a former student activist and member of the Croatian diaspora, into the nation’s presidency. At 36, Boric is the youngest Chilean to hold this office, taking on the role as Chile undergoes an essential social and political transition. This is most apparent given that the outgoing president is billionaire Sebastian Pinera. Small Town Croatian-Chilean to the Presidency Born in Punta Arenas, a city near the southern tip of the American continent, Boric was born to Luis Boric Scarpa, a second-generation Croatian-Chilean engineer with origins on the Adriatic Island of Ugljan.…

ZAGREB, 16 March 2022 - A temporary injunction prohibiting the use and departure of three yachts from Croatian ports has been issued on suspicion that they are connected with persons on the sanctions list released after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Croatia's Sea Transport and Infrastructure Ministry stated on Wednesday. The yachts are moored in the marina of Betina, the ACI marina in Skradin, and the port of Rijeka. The injunction is in compliance with the restrictions adopted by the European Union in response to the Russian military aggression against Ukraine and extended to include certain individuals. Politics: For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 16 March 2022 - Caritas Croatia has raised HRK 2.5 million for the Ukraine war victims and is currently collecting material relief, the charity said on Wednesday. There have been about 44,000 calls to a donation line and Caritas will forward all the money raised to Ukraine. People may bring their material relief donations to Caritas warehouses or parishes. All the necessary information is available on the charity's website. Caritas also said that it was participating in providing for and ensuring psychosocial assistance to Ukraine refugees in cooperation with local Croatian Red Cross and Civil Protection branches.   Politics: For more, check…

ZAGREB, 16 March 2022- Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković on Wednesday presented a new land consolidation bill aimed at facilitating the integration of small and irregular parcels into bigger and more regular ones as prerequisites for increasing production, cultivating land, and upgrading local infrastructure. The money set aside to apply the law will help to consolidate 18,000 hectares, but there is interest in consolidating more, the minister said in parliament. Twenty-three local units interested in the consolidation of 46,600 hectares replied to the ministry's call for applications last October, she told independent MP Marijana Petir, who asked if consolidation funds could be increased given the…

ZAGREB, 16 March 2022 - The Solidarna Foundation on Wednesday reported that it has set up a fund to help refugees fleeing Ukraine in the wake of the Russian invasion of that country, particularly women and children who have found refuge in Croatia. The foundation will follow the crisis and use the fund to respond to the needs of refugees and their families in Croatia. It will conduct activities in coordination with civil society groups and public bodies to provide short-term assistance and support as well as long-term support for the refugees. "That includes an open channel for emergency support to…