Politics

21 February, 2022 - SDSS president Milorad Pupovac said on Monday that Deputy Prime Minister Boris Milošević had tendered his resignation and that he felt an early election did not suit anyone, including the state, as it would mean another standstill in post-earthquake reconstruction and economic recovery. "We need a functional and serious government. That means doing all that is necessary for the government to move without deadweight," the Independent Democratic Serb Party leader said on N1 television. He said the ruling coalition would judge and evaluate the situation and the possibilities of effective government activity. Asked about the deadline by which a more definitive agreement was expected as to…

ZAGREB, 20 Feb 2022 - The Social Democratic Party (SDP) president, Peđa Grbin, said on Sunday that 50,000 kuna (€6,700), which is equivalent to the sum he has received as a member of parliament through Living Away From Home Allowance (LAFHA) since 2016, would be donated to the charitable cause. During his interview with the HTV national television, Grbin admitted that it was not fair to keep that money and that it was wrong of him to accept that allowance after he married his wife in 2016 and started living together both in Pula and Zagreb. The case of LAFHA for…

ZAGREB, 20 Feb 2022 - Leaders in Europe should stop blaming Brussels for everything as they also participate in policymaking of the European Union (EU), Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said in Munich on Sunday. Addressing the "Fostering European Cohesion" panel discussion within the three-day conference, Minister Grlić Radman held a keynote speech instead of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, who cancelled his attendance after his father passed away on Saturday evening. "If we want to preserve our Union, based on the values, the elected office-holders should cease bearing a grudge against Brussels for everything. Brussels only…

ZAGREB, 20 Feb 2022 - Croatia has advised its citizens staying in east Ukrine to leave that area, Foreign and European Affairs Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said in Munich on Sunday. The recommendation has been adopted during an intensive communication session with Croatia's Ambassador in Kyev and following the experience of other countries, said the minister. A week ago, Grlić Radman said that there were 25 Croatians in the east of that country. Most of them are believed to have departed from the area in the meantime. The Croatian minister said in Munich today that the situation in Ukrine was…

ZAGREB, 20 Feb 2022 - A few whistleblowers have established a new association called Pomak ("Headway" in an unofficial translation), on Sunday they presented their association and said that the aim of the NGO would be to strengthen the status of whistleblowers and protect public property. The Pomak association will provide legal and psychological support to those who can face job loss and persecution after they decide to expose wrongdoings, it was said at the news conference in Zagreb. The association's leader, Adrijana Cvrtila, thanked media and journalists for the support. She recalled obstacles she had been faced with after she exposed…

ZAGREB, 20 Feb 2022 - Political analyst Žarko Puhovski said on Saturday that Minister Darko Horvat's arrest will not undermine the government if the matter remains within the limits of that minister, and Davor Gjenero believes that speculations of snap elections are dangerous amid unpredictable global developments. Construction and State Assets Minister Darko Horvat was arrested on Saturday on the abuse of power charges, and upon his apprehension the minister dismissed the charges. The Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK) on Saturday evening stated that based on a police report, it launched an investigation of two persons on suspicion of…

ZAGREB, 20 Feb 2022 - Some of the political parties representing Bosniaks, and those describing themselves as civic political parties on Saturday, criticised the conclusions adopted by Bosnia and Herzegovina's Croat umbrella association (HNS BiH), while Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik welcomed the document. During the extraordinary convention in Mostar, it was said that the Croats will launch the issue of restructuring BiH if them being outvoted at elections isn't brought to an end. HNS BiH concluded that there are currently no legal or constitutional conditions to call an election. Should the election be called in any case based on an unconstitutional…

February the 20th, 2022 - The Darko Horvat scandal which has dominated the press over the last few days has been too much even by Croatian standards according to some. One Index journalist, Goran Vojkovic, believes it's time for PM Andrej Plenkovic to step down. As Index/Goran Vojkovic writes, the State Attorney's Office Act states that ''any form of influence is prohibited, especially any form of coercion against state attorneys and deputy state attorneys, the abuse of public authority and personal influence, and the use of media and public appearances in criminal cases prosecuted ex officio and in cases where…

February the 20th, 2022 - The European Commission (EC) very recently granted the Republic of Croatia an EU fund use delay. The cash in question is from what's known as the Solidarity Fund. While 2020 was a horrendous year for the vast majority of the globe, if not all of it, thanks to the emergence of the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 and its journey around the world in the form of a pandemic, Croatia also suffered two devastating earthquakes. One struck the City of Zagreb in March, and another struck Sisak-Moslavina County in Central Croatia at the very end of December…

ZAGREB, 20 February, 2022 - A Zagreb County Court investigating judge on Saturday evening remanded Darko Horvat, who was relieved of duty as construction minister, in one month's custody on suspicion that, at the urging of four other suspects, he illegally disbursed millions in grants in 2018. Horvat, who was arrested this morning, was remanded in custody so that he cannot tamper with witnesses, but not due to the risk of repeating the crime since he was relieved of duty at his own request by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. The USKOK anti-corruption office, at whose request Horvat was remanded in custody,…