ZAGREB, October 31, 2020 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Saturday extended his condolences to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis following a devastating earthquake which rocked their countries on Friday, the government said in a press release.

In his notes, Plenkovic said he "received the news of the devastating earthquake with great sadness," extending his condolences to the high officials and the two peoples.

He said that Croatia was willing to offer Turkey and Greece all the necessary help based on its experience with the Zagreb earthquake in March.

"In these challenging times, in line with the proven friendship and cooperation between our two countries, you can count on Croatia's strong support," Plenkovic said in his note to Erdogan.

"We know very well how important support is in these horrible circumstances, and in Croatia you have a true friend," he wrote to Mitsotakis.

The number of fatalities of the quake which struck near Izmir in western Turkey has risen to 27, the Turkish state news agency said today.

ZAGREB, October 31, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Saturday that in the first 100 days of its term the government had done what it had promised to do, including the adoption of a law on reconstruction following the March 22 earthquake, and that it was turned to the future and the fourth decade of Croatia's democracy.

Plenkovic said this in response to questions from reporters covering his visit to Zagreb's central Mirogoj cemetery, where he laid wreaths on the occasion of All Saints' Day.

Asked about the government's first 100 days in office, Plenkovic recalled the fast formation of the parliamentary majority following his HDZ party's victory in the July 5 election, the inauguration of the parliament, the adoption of a law on the post-earthquake reconstruction of Zagreb and parts of Krapina-Zagorje and Zagreb counties, and the government's strong messages of reconciliation and co-existence.

He said his government was working to calm down what remained turbulent in the Croatian nation with regard to the past but that also wanted to turn to the future and the fourth decade of the country's democracy.

The PM stressed that he would fight against radicalisation and violent extremism in society and continue with the fight against corruption.

Plenkovic said that the National Security Council would hold a session but not next week due to "lack of room to meet".

None of us ever talked about curfew

Plenkovic said that no government member had ever spoken about the introduction of a curfew, noting that the current epidemiological measures against coronavirus were proportional to the dynamic of the spreading of the disease.

He recalled that one of the coalition partners (Reformists leader Radimir Cacic) had aspoken about that possibility at a coalition meeting due to similar measures that were being introduced by other countries.

The PM said that the key to fighting the epidemic is individual responsibility.

He would not comment on President Zoran Milanovic's view that whoever proposed imposing a curfew should be "put away", saying: "I don't have time for him."

Asked why he did not go to Mirogoj yesterday with Milanovic, who had invited him to do so together as such had been the practice in the past several years, Plenkovic said that the government had a usual working day on Friday and that they had planned the visit to Mirogoj for today.

Asked if the government could guarantee timely medical care to all patients not suffering from coronavirus and about the situation at Zagreb's KB Dubrava hospital, Plenkovic said that "generally, the government can certainly do that (guarantee timely medical care)" and that back in the spring the government had decided that KB Dubrava would be the hospital to help out the city's Dr Fran Mihaljevic hospital for infectious diseases in caring for coronavirus patients.

"Since during the first wave of the epidemic we had very good results, KB Dubrava did not have to admit a large number of patients. Now the situation is different and they are providing very good care for all patients," he said, noting that despite the great strain on it, the health system was capable of performing its other tasks as well.

Plenkovic dismissed claims that the government and the coronavirus crisis management team were waiting for All Saints' Day to pass in order to introduce stricter epidemiological measures.

Answering a reporter's question, he said that Vukovar Remembrance Day, November 18, would be marked in that eastern city in a dignified way, as always, and expressed satisfaction that the city's reconstructed Water Tower was inaugurated on Friday, for which the government gave more than HRK 20 million.

Plenkovic also said that Croatia was ready to help Turkey and Greece in removing the consequences of Friday's disastrous earthquake.

Accompanied by Culture and Media Minister Nina Obuljen Korzinek and War Veterans Minister Tomo Medved, Plenkovic laid wreaths at Mirogoj's Wall of Pain monument, the Central Cross in the section for fallen Homeland War soldiers, the grave of Croatia's first president Franjo Tudjman, the cemetery's Central Cross and the common grave of unidentified Homeland War victims.

Wreaths were also laid by a parliamentary delegation, led by Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic.

ZAGREB, October 30, 2020 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Friday condemned in the strongest terms Thursday's knife attack inside a church in the southern French city of Nice and expressed full support to France in its fight against terrorism.

"Croatia condemns the Nice attack in the strongest terms, and sees that as an attack against our values," the Croatian premier writes this message in the French language on his Twitter account.

He writes that Croatia expresses solidarity with France and the French in this distressing period.

Plenkovic says he supports President Emmanuel Macron and the French government in their struggle against terrorism.

During the deadly attack, a lone attacker armed with a knife entered the Notre Dame Basilica in Nice at around 9am Thursday and shouted  "Allahu  Akbar", according to news reports. A man and a woman died at the scene, while another woman died from her injuries. The attacker was injured after being shot by police and taken to hospital.

A few hours later, a man was shot dead near the southern French city of Avignon, after reportedly threatening police with a handgun, and according to news reports, a guard outside the French consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, was attacked and wounded.

Those attacks ensued in the wake of the killing of school teacher Samuel Paty by an 18-year-old Islamist.

ZAGREB, October 29, 2020 - PM Andrej Plenkovic has said that Croatia is entering the most difficult stage in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic but that even though forecasts are a thankless task, judging by the current trends, the country seems to be slowlymoving away from the exponential growth of new infections.

"It is essential that our citizens understand that we are possibly entering the most difficult stage of the fight against the pandemic," Plenkovic told a press conference after a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

Plenkovic said that the number of new cases in the past few weeks had been increasing rapidly, that it was still growing significantly but that in the past few days the increase was a little slower than in the past few weeks.

"It seems that, judging by the current trends, we are slowly moving away from the exponential curve. The coming days and weeks will show whether that trend will continue. Unlike Germany, Italy and Austria, where that growth is much faster, our numbers are growing, but at a slower rate," he said.

He added that the latest anti-epidemic measures were proportional to developments regarding the epidemic and that the government wanted all citizens to be aware of the need to adhere to those measures.

"If they do, I believe that these indicators... will lead to a gradual decrease in the number of new cases and curb the epidemic in the next few critical weeks," underscored Plenkovic.

 A total of 2,776 new cases of coronavirus infection have been confirmed in Croatia in the last 24 hours, the largest number in a single day since the outbreak of the epidemic, and 18 people have died, the national coronavirus response team reported on Thursday.

ZAGREB, October 29, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Thursday that his government was doing its utmost to ensure funds in the revised 2020 budget for the disbursement of Christmas bonuses.

"Considering Christmas bonuses, so far in my premiership, we have never omitted to pay Christmas bonuses, and you know that we increased their amount," Plenkovic told a news conference, reassuring the general public that efforts were being made to find enough funds for this purpose in 2020, too.

Plenkovic commented on the situation in the KB Dubrava hospital, following a letter by a physician at the hospital who alerted attention to some problems in the hospital's functioning. The Dubrava Hospital has been designated as the main facility for the treatment of COVID patients in Zagreb and Plenkovic said that the newly appointed steering board would analyse the situation and take necessary actions.

"I think that we should thank all healthcare workers in KB Dubrava and in all other hospitals throughout Croatia for their unselfish commitment to doing their job."

As for a reporter's remark that Health Minister Vili Beros also spoke about "dualism" that is, opposing groups in the KB Dubrava, the premier replied that it could be said that situation like that existed in any institution and in any sector.

Authorities have control over the developments surrounding coronavirus

Plenkovic said that issues related to the coronavirus epidemic were not going out of control.

The country's healthcare system has about 15,000 beds, 150 beds in intensive care wards, as well as 900 ventilators, and today there were about 80 patients placed on them, he explained.

"Healthcare capacities are not at risk. We are on full alert and we are taking cautious measures," he added.

ZAGREB, October 29, 2020 - There are indications that the epidemiological measures in place have started to work, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said at a cabinet meeting on Thursday, appealing to citizens to adhere to the measures to help contain the spread of the coronavirus epidemic and avoid tougher restrictions.

"Although the numbers are continuing to grow as expected, there are indications that the measures we have adopted are starting to work. If this continues, we can expect the epidemic to reach its peak in two or three weeks," the prime minister said.

"The numbers of new infections and deaths are increasing and we are seeing a two-digit number of fatalities every day," he said. He added that countries in a worse situation than Croatia were imposing tighter restrictions and that Croatia had also tightened the measures to restrict public gatherings and reduce the rate of the spread of the infection in the population.

The prime minister said that the number of hospitalisations was also growing and that a sufficient number of beds had been ensured. He stressed the importance of adhering to the measures in place to prevent the further spread of the epidemic and avoid tighter measures.

"It depends on every one of us whether we will save hundreds of lives, hundreds of thousands of jobs, and whether we will manage to keep the economy going. I appeal to all fellow citizens to demonstrate maximum responsibility and solidarity," Plenkovic said.

"The least we can do as a society is to be responsible and to reduce our private and family gatherings, maintain a distance, wear face masks indoors and where we cannot maintain a distance, to regularly air out enclosed spaces and take care of hygiene. These are no big sacrifices, and we are protecting lives and jobs," Plenkovic said, expressing confidence that Croatia can do this.

ZAGREB, October 22, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Thursday that government allocations for workers' wages in the private sector would reach HRK 7.5 billion kuna by the end of this year.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has allocated HRK 6.85  billion to help private-sector companies ensure wages for their workers.

The proof that the government measures have been successful is data from the Croatian Pension Insurance Agency (HZMO) showing that there are currently 3,200 more pension insurees than at the outbreak of the corona crisis in late February, the premier said.

"The measures have been meaningful and efficient," he said, adding that they have helped many companies to survive and retain workers.

The PM said that a revision of the 2020 budget would be drafted next week.

ZAGREB, Oct 21, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Wednesday that a new lockdown could only be expected as the last resort if the situation escalated so much so that there was no other option.

Croatia today registered 1,424 new cases of the coronavirus infection. Asked whether more restrictive measures, such as a curfew, are being considered, he said that there were two methods.

One method is to view the problem rationally, take measures and raise public awareness of the seriousness of a problem, which is what we are doing, Plenkovic said.

Restrictive measures inevitably lead to negative economic effects, but at the same time state and public institutions receive their salaries, pensioners receive their pensions, and the private sector will get €1 billion. We are taking care of the general interest, he said.

A curfew, restrictive measures, a new lockdown, they are the last resort if the situation escalates so much so that there is no other option, Plenkovic said.

I believe in the strength, vigilance, and responsibility of the Croatian people, he added.

He reiterated that the problem of the pandemic should not be underestimated.

If this were nothing, there would not be 40 million infections in the world, there would not be restrictive measures in Slovenia. We have to get serious, the question is whether we will approach the problem seriously or in a way that will lead to confusion, Plenkovic said.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

ZAGREB, October 19, 2020 - The Croatian government remains committed to the strategic goals of the Three Seas Initiative, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said at a virtual summit of this initiative on Monday.

He said that Croatia would contribute up to €20 million to the initiative's investment fund through the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

We hope that our cooperation will free up huge potential for growth, connectivity and prosperity, Plenkovic told the summit formally hosted by Estonia.

The Three Seas Initiative is a joint Croatian-Polish project launched at a meeting in Dubrovnik in the summer of 2016 with the aim of boosting trade, infrastructure, energy and political cooperation in the region stretching between the Adriatic, Baltic and Black Seas.

The initiative brings together 12 EU member states: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Croatia attaches particular importance to it because of the construction of an LNG terminal on the northern Adriatic island of Krk which would be connected by a gas network to the existing terminal in Poland.

The United States and Germany support the initiative.

The continued involvement of the United States in the Three Seas Initiative will be profitable for all participants, Plenkovic said, hoping for a stronger role of the European Commission and Germany in the initiative in the future.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 19th of October, 2020, as the number of newly infected people in Croatia grows and in recent days exceeds the numbers from 800 to 1000 people, rumours of a totally new lockdown are beginning to circulate, which according to many would be absolutely disastrous for the Croatian economy. Croatian PM Plenkovic, however, is steering clear of such moves.

From the appeals of enterprises and entrepreneurs across the country to the sporadic protests of hairdressers and those in the catering and hospitality sector, the messages about the possible consequences of a new lockdown on the economy are frighteningly clear.

''We're going to do everything we can to appeal to reason. So far, we have no plans for a new lockdown, but we must also raise the level of responsibility,'' Croatian PM Plenkovic assured on Saturday when he appeared on N1 Television. Plenkovic emphasised that everyone is aware of what another lockdown and the closure of the economy would mean for the country, because, if they weren't aware of the scale of the damage, he said later, the government would not have given six billion kuna to Croatian companies in support.

"We'll do everything we can to appeal to reason. So far we have no plans for a new lockdown, but we also need to raise the level of responsibility. I understand that people are having a hard time, that they're frustrated, nervous. This situation is happening to everyone. Some countries are taking restrictive measures once again. But if we aren't disciplined then we won't win this. That's how things stand across the whole of the EU,'' said Croatian PM Plenkovic.

819 newly confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 virus were recorded on Sunday, and the number of active cases in Croatia is above 5000. Among them, 548 patients were hospitalised yesterday, of which 32 were on a respirator.

Since February the 25th, 2020, when the first case of this infection was recorded in Croatia, a total of 25,580 people have become infected with the new coronavirus and have been recorded to date.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.