ZAGREB, November 30, 2018 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday that he did not see the statement by President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović as an attack on him, and announced that the National Security Council would be convened in December.

"No, why would I see it as an attack? The only thing I can see as an attack is what happened a few months ago, that text messages are fabricated and attempts are made to confuse the public in Croatia and to implicate me in something that is on the other side of the law. That is an attack," Plenković told the press after a meeting of the parliamentary group of his HDZ party.

Plenković said that "phenomena" such as the fake text messages scandal should be investigated and cleared up by relevant authorities. "I don't see anything new here because things like this happen in our political and media arena every week."

Asked to comment on the president's claim that he had not responded to her invitation to call a National Security Council meeting, Plenković said that these meetings needed to be well prepared, and the Council needs to adopt a document concerning the work of the security services next year.

He said that the National Security Council would convene some time in December, when the timing is deemed right.

Asked if Grabar-Kitarović should have temporarily suspended her national security adviser Vlado Galić until the scandal was discussed, Plenković said that this was for her to decide.

The President's Office said earlier that President Grabar-Kitarović most resolutely dismissed any insinuations of her alleged involvement in an alleged attempt to topple the government of Prime Minister Plenković and that she considered this insinuation as a direct political attack on the state institutions, especially the institution of the President of the Republic.

Speaker of Parliament Gordan Jandroković said on Thursday that a meeting of the National Security Council would be convened "when it becomes necessary."

Asked why Prime Minister Andrej Plenković hasn't replied to President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović's request to convene the National Security Council, Jandroković said that he didn't have any information about that.

"I believe that the Council will be convened when that becomes necessary," he said, and when pressed to say whether it was necessary now, he said, "It's hard for me to say. I would have to see the reasons for the President's stance. I saw that it was pretty dramatic. I am not quite sure which part of Mr Varga's deposition the president is referring to but it is certainly necessary to discuss and resolve the problem, if it exists," Jandroković said ahead of a meeting of the parliamentary group of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party.

Asked to comment on the statement by president that the political institutions in the country were currently under the strongest attack and the prime minister was not reacting, Jandroković said he didn't think the president's calling out the government was that dramatic. "A warning of an ongoing attack on the institutions is indeed dramatic but mentioning the prime minister isn't as dramatic as is being made out."

Asked whether he agreed with the president's claim that the institutions were currently under attack, Jandroković said it was necessary to determine what had actually happened. "As soon as the fake text messages scandal emerged and when information leaked from the security system, it was something that needed investigating to see what happened. Who did that, what their intentions were and was there a wider group of people involved, should be determined. Perhaps that wasn't the first time. That act indicates that it's necessary to take action. I'm not sure though that that's a reason to convene the National Security Council and to escalate tensions," Jandroković said on the statement by president.

For more on Croatia’s president, click here.

ZAGREB, November 24, 2018 - The Foreign Ministry on Friday defended Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, against whom the Conflict of Interest Commission decided to launch proceedings over the appointment of his close friend as Croatia's ambassador to UK.

The Commission launched the proceedings because, when Igor Pokaz was appointed to the post, Plenković did not inform the public that he had been Pokaz's best man at his wedding.

Plenković said the Commission's decision was "without arguments and unnecessary" and the Foreign Ministry came to his defence, saying Pokaz was an expert with a vast career. "Reducing his appointment to a personal acquaintance would mean to negate and devalue his professional achievements," the ministry said.

Plenković did not nominate Pokaz nor could he exempt himself from the appointment in which the president, the government and parliament's foreign affairs committee take part, it added.

In the case in question, the prime minister, based on a government decision and the opinion of the parliamentary committee, gave his co-signature for the president's decision, and the procedure was done entirely in line with the constitution and other regulations, the ministry said, adding that decisions on the appointments of ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions as well as on their dismissals are made by the president.

Under the constitution, the prime minister cannot exempt himself from decisions on the appointments of ambassadors, and the appointments and dismissals of heads of diplomatic missions cannot be done without a co-decision by the prime minister and the president, the ministry said.

Plenković used the same argument when commenting on the decision of the Conflict of Interest Commission. "Legally it's not possible to exempt oneself."

For more on Croatia’s relations with the United Kingdom, click here.

ZAGREB, November 23, 2018 - The Conflict of Interest Commission on Friday decided to launch proceedings to establish if Prime Minister Andrej Plenković was in conflict of interest when he failed to inform the public that Igor Pokaz, who has recently been appointed Croatia's ambassador to Great Britain, was the best man at his wedding.

The commission's vice chairman Davorin Ivanjek said that during the appointment of Pokaz, a career diplomat, to the ambassadorial post in London, Plenković should have informed the public that Pokaz was his best man and that he should have notified the relevant authorities that participated in the decision-making process.

Plenković should have informed the government officials who prepared the nomination of Pokaz at the proposal of the Foreign and European Affairs Ministry, said Ivanjek.

Ivanjek also commented that Plenković should also have notified President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, who co-signs appointment decisions.

Ivanjek assessed that this failure amounted to a breach of the Conflict of Interest Act.

Ivanjek says that the Commission will ask constitutional and law experts to give their opinions on whether Plenković could have exempted himself from the procedure of co-signing the decision on appointing Pokaz as the ambassador, considering the fact that such decisions are first co-signed by the head of government and then by the head of state, who makes a final decision.

Plenković said on Friday that the Conflict of Interest Commission has unfoundedly and unnecessarily launched proceedings against him and underscored that the prime minister cannot be excluded from the process of appointing diplomats.

"All legislation regulating the appointment of heads of diplomatic missions and consular offices does not foresee any variant of the exemption of the prime minister. Therefore, legally they cannot be exempted," Plenković told reporters.

Commenting on the complaint filed by MOST MP Miro Bulj, Plenković underscored that he participated in the selection process that ended with the appointment of someone he has known since 1994, someone whom he worked with and who has already been a Croatian diplomat in the North Atlantic Alliance, the Russian Federation and who worked in our mission to the United Nations and held several other diplomatic positions.

Pokaz, a career diplomat, was Permanent Representative to NATO and Ambassador to Russia, among other things, before his ambassadorial position in London, according to his CV available on the foreign ministry's web site.

"I believe then that I didn't do anything out of the ordinary, in fact, I did something good because he does his job well," Plenković claimed. He underscored that, in that regard, there is no way that he would exempt himself from the role that he was democratically elected to and won the confidence for in parliament.

On the other hand, that would mean that I would have to exempt myself when appointing any diplomat. "They are more or less all my friends, acquaintances, colleagues. We've known each other for 25 years. How will the Commission ascertain that someone, other than Mr Pokaz, wasn't close to me...if I were to appoint them to some other position," Plenković questioned.

Former prime minister Zoran Milanović, who comes from that same circle, was in the same position when he appointed deputy foreign minister Joško Klisović who was his best man. Was that a matter of conflict of interest?, Plenković added.

It is unbelievable, he added that the Commission didn't see the government's opinion on Pokaz's application for that position, even though it was registered accordingly. "We went a step further than some interpretations of parts of the law and that is what I am referring to without trying to mount pressure. We will open everything and I think that at the moment this is unfounded and unnecessary," he added.

Asked whether he believed that commission was politicised, Plenković said that that body was supposed to work in accordance with the law but also that it should observe the principle of purposefulness. "This is an example of a complaint by an opposition political party for some pointless question to be raised and I consider it to be excessive and am not entirely sure that it is beneficial to the general climate in these matters," he said.

Responding to a reporter's comment that he seemed to be a frequent target of complaints to the commission, Plenković said that complaints to the commission and pressing criminal charges seem to have "become a sport," for some. "Like we have done until now, we will respond calmly to all the questions that will be asked," he said.

For more on the conflict of interest issues in Croatia, click here.

ZAGREB, November 20, 2018 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković met on Monday with the visiting Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalif Al Thani, and the two officials said that their countries were interested in closer economic cooperation and more investments, the government said in a statement.

Prime Minister Plenković and Sheikh Al Thani confirmed the excellent and friendly political relations between Croatia and Qatar.

The Croatian prime minister pointed to the importance of further advancing bilateral relations and stepping up investments and trade with Qatar.

In the same vein, eight bilateral agreements were signed between Croatia and Qatar earlier in the day, regulating cooperation in culture and sports, agriculture, education and research, and in the defence and other sectors.

With regard to the two countries' cooperation in the field of energy and diversification of energy sources, Plenković and Al Thani discussed the importance of further developing the LNG terminal project on the island of Krk.

The Qatari emir assessed as positive a significant increase in the number of Qataris visiting Croatia, noting that there was great potential for cooperation in many areas.

He extended an invitation for Prime Minister Plenković to officially visit Qatar, which Plenković accepted, the statement said.

Speaker of Parliament Gordan Jandroković also received the visiting Qatari emir, and on that occasion the Croatian official expressed confidence that this reciprocal official visit would be conducive to efforts to boost bilateral relations, the press office of the Croatian parliament stated.

The two officials agreed that good political relations between the two countries and exchange of visits of office holders paved the way for broadening cooperation in many fields.

Bilateral relations will be further boosted by the conclusion of bilateral agreements, notably on the economic front. In this context, Jandroković and Al Thani welcomed the growing statistics about Qataris visiting Croatia.

They exchanged opinions on regional security.

The Croatian parliament speaker accepted with pleasure the invitation of the Qatari emir to visit that Gulf country.

For more on Croatia’s politics, click here.

ZAGREB, November 16, 2018 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in Opatija on Thursday that a referendum on the introduction of the euro was held at the same time as the referendum on Croatia's European Union accession, during the vote on the Treaty of Accession "which says Croatia will join the euro area."

"Therefore a referendum was held," he said, responding to questions from the press about a euro referendum.

Asked about the chances of Croatia entering the European Exchange Rate Mechanism II as early as 2020, Plenković said the indicators were good regarding compliance with the Maastricht criteria. He added that Croatia had a euro introduction strategy and that a letter was being drawn up, to be forwarded by the minister of finance and the central bank governor, about the steps Croatia would take to enter the said mechanism, which is a prerequisite for joining the euro area.

Asked about dilemmas as to whether introducing the euro meant giving up a part of one's sovereignty, Plenković said "the European Union is bringing sovereignty together, thereby strengthening all the states within the European project."

"The euro is one of the closer integrations... Our goal is perfectly clear, strategically defined, confirmed at a referendum and adopted both in the accession negotiations and the Treaty of Accession. It is all part of the European project which, since 1990, has been the strategic commitment of all Croatian governments, all parliaments, all leaderships. There's no dilemma here. It is a policy of continuity and something that is in Croatia's interest," said Plenković.

Later in the day, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković held a lecture for law students at the 74th International Council Meeting of the European Law Students' Association taking place in Opatija this week.

Plenković spoke about the current situation in Croatia and its future goals, identifying as his government's priorities entry into the euro area and the Schengen area of passport-free movement.

ELSA brings together 52,000 law students from 44 European countries.

As a student, Plenković was the founder of ELSA Croatia, its president and the president of the ELSA International Board in 1993.

For more on the relations between Croatia and the European Union, click here.

ZAGREB, November 8, 2018 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday that his Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party would not curry favour with those on the far right end of the political spectrum and that there was no price he would not pay to accomplish that.

"Everything I have been doing since assuming leadership of the HDZ has been to strongly anchor the HDZ as a centre-right party, not a party at the end of the political spectrum, but a party projecting stability, seriousness and trust," Plenković told Croatian reporters covering his visit to Helsinki, where he attended a European People's Party congress at which Manfred Webber was elected lead candidate for next year’s EU elections. He added that recent opinion polls showed that it was necessary to keep on that track.

He said the populist signals evident in elections in several European countries were something one should deal with. "I think we, as the most responsible party in Croatia, are dealing with that very well and will continue to do so. We won't curry favour with those at the far right end of the political spectrum who, with their rhetoric, don't contribute to the progress of Croatian society but pull it backwards. I will vehemently fight against that and there's no price we won't pay for that."

Asked if this message was related to the president's fall of six percentage points in opinion polls and developments concerning the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, Plenković said he had not seen all the details of the polls but noted that the HDZ had gone up one percent and that he was glad the HDZ had been rising in all key opinion polls in recent months.

He reiterated that the Global Compact was a global response to the migration issue, and said its drafting began with a UN declaration in 2016, before he became prime minister, at a General Assembly session attended by President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović. She has recently said that she will not attend a Global Compact conference in Marrakesh next month.

Plenković said it was a solid document with some contentious formulations for some countries. "We have to demystify this discussion that started in Croatia's public sphere. It's a legally non-binding document, not a treaty, a catalogue of measures, and I see no reason why it should cause so many disputes and hysteria generated always by the same parties and actors," he said, adding that a discussion would be held and a decision made on who would go to Marrakesh instead of the president.

He said there was no disagreement on this matter in the government and that the president was the one who changed her mind and decided not to attend the conference.

For more on the Croatian politics, click here.

ZAGREB, November 8, 2018 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and his Finnish counterpart Juha Sipila, who met in Helsinki on Wednesday, agreed that the relations between Croatia and Finland had been more and more developed, and were now together preparing the programme for the European trio that will chair the Council of the European Union over the next year and a half year.

We have very good bilateral relations and had a good talk on EU issues and on bilateral relations. Our countries, together with Romania, form the trio faced with a challenging period when the European Parliament the Commission and others will change. I hope that we will not leave a lot unresolved matters for you during your chairmanship, Sipila told reporters after the talks with Plenković who arrived in Helsinki to attend a conference of the European People's Party.

Romania, which will take over the chairmanship at the start of next year, followed by Finland in the second half of 2019 and Croatia in the first half of 2020, form a European trio that together prepare the programme for the next year and a half.

Prime Minister Plenković also expressed satisfaction with the good development of the Croatia-Finland relations and their intensified contact, and recalled the introduction of four direct flights between Croatia and Finland during the six months of the tourism season which has notably contributed to tourist arrivals from Finland.

"With regard to the programme of the European trio, I think that our priorities converge with regard to growth, security, migration, global issues, relations with Southeast Europe, enlargement and joint efforts to complete negotiations over the multi-annual financial framework," Plenković said and expressed hope that those negotiations will have been completed by the time Croatia takes over the chairmanship. "If that happens to await us, we will be prepared," he said.

Agreement over the seven-year budget framework is always one of the most demanding issues in the European Union and negotiations go on for a long time. The European Commission delivered its draft multi-annual budget in May and expressed hope that an agreement on this matter would be reached before the European Parliament election in the spring next year. However, the chances for that are slim. In any case it is not excluded that an agreement is reached during Croatia's chairmanship.

Asked how to tackle populism, which is an increasing phenomenon throughout Europe, Plenković said that he endeavours to raise awareness in the Croatian public of European topics in such a way that after each summit meeting he speaks in parliament about the conclusions adopted at those meetings.

"My party's policy is very clear. We try to present matters as they are. We strive to win voters' support for a very clear platform without rhetoric that generates fear. The European Parliament election will be an opportunity to win the confidence of voters, an opportunity to send encouraging messages. Various types of parties exist. There are political parties and parties that can govern. We are a party that can govern," said Plenković who is the leader of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ).

Sipila added that in that regard the most important thing was to implement what the party had promised its voters.

For more on the HDZ party, click here.

ZAGREB, November 6, 2018 - Croatia has a favourable geographical position in the middle of Europe and as a member of the European Union it is part of the large European market with over 500 million people which represents a great opportunity for Chinese companies interested in cooperation, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in Shanghai on Tuesday, at the Croatia-China business forum which brought together representatives of about 30 Croatian and more than 130 Chinese companies.

With his participation in the business forum, the Croatian prime minister wrapped up his five-day visit to the world's second largest economy. During his stay in China, he held talks with top Chinese officials – President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang – and held a number of working meetings with Chinese business people.

Opening the business forum, Plenković invited Chinese companies to invest in Croatia, notably in railway infrastructure and naval ports, saying that Croatia wanted to increase its exports to China. "We want to attract new investment and I believe that our meetings will help further development of cooperation between Croatia and China. This forum shows that Croatian companies are increasingly interested in the Chinese market. Let's hope your talks today will result in numerous deals," Plenković said.

He underscored the advantages of Croatia's favourable geographical position, adding that Croatia is part of the market with 500 million people. Plenković stressed Croatia was entirely integrated in transport plans on the European level and focused on further investment in the railway sector.

He recalled that the overall trade between the two countries last year amount to 900 million dollars of which only 125 million dollars was Croatia's exports to China. "Our goal is to have a balanced trade...We want to increase Croatia's exports to China, which is why we are here, to help Croatia's exporters," Plenković said.

He also underscored the importance of cooperation with China in the China +16 initiative. The 16+1 format is an initiative launched by China aimed at intensifying and expanding cooperation with 11 EU Member States and 5 Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia) in the fields of investments, transport, finance, science, education, and culture. In the framework of the initiative, China has defined three potential priority areas for economic cooperation: infrastructure, high technologies, and green technologies.

"It is a great honour for us to host the China+1 summit in spring 2019 in Dubrovnik," Plenković said. He also underlined the importance of the decision, adopted by the Hrvatske Ceste road operator, to select the China Road and Bridge Corporation to build the Pelješac Bridge in Croatia, which he described as "the most important infrastructural project in Croatia."

Plenković wrapped up his visit to China by expressed satisfaction with his stay in that country and the talks he held with the Chinese politicians and business people.

A delegation of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), led by HDZ chief Andrej Plenković, will take part in a congress of the European People's Party (EPP) in Helsinki on Wednesday and Thursday when EPP members are expected to elect their lead candidate for the next European elections, scheduled to take place on May 23-26, 2019.

Plenković will also hold a bilateral meeting with Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila on Wednesday.

The EPP meeting in Helsinki will also be attended by government leaders from the EPP ranks, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, as well as European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, European Council President Donald Tusk and European Parliament President Antonio Tajani.

Some EPP members are going to support Manfred Weber, currently the leader of the parliamentary group of the PPE in the European Parliament, in the running for the next President of the European Commission.

Manfred Weber is running against Alexander Stubb inside the group as the other EPP member aspiring to become this entity's candidate to the European Commission top job.

To read more about Croatian politics, click here.

ZAGREB, November 4, 2018 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković who is paying a working visit to China from 2 to 6 November, on Sunday visited Shanghai and held talks with Mayor Ying Yong, and during his stay in this Chinese commercial hub he also toured the 36-kilometre-long Hangzhou Bay Bridge, built by China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) which has been awarded the contract to construct Croatia's Pelješac Bridge.

Hangzhou Bay Bridge, which was inaugurated in 2008, is a highway bridge across Hangzhou Bay and connects the municipalities of Jiaxing and Ningbo in Zhejiang province. The bridge shortened the highway travel distance between Shanghai and the world biggest seaport of Ningbo from 400 to 180 kilometres, thus reducing travel time from four to two hours.

The CRBC corporation managed to build this cable-stayed bridge with the longest spam of 448 metres in five years. CRBC executives informed Plenković about the characteristics of the bridge, which is one of the longest highway bridges in the world.

After his talks with the Shanghai mayor Ying, the prime minister said that during the visit to Hangzhou Bay Bridge, the Croatian delegation had an opportunity to see how the CRBC corporation had been successful in completing the demanding job of building that 36-kilometre-long bridge within five years. “This is an extraordinary success,” Plenković said.

On 23 April this year, the Croatian road operator (Hrvatske Ceste) and the CRBC signed a contract for the construction of Pelješac Bridge and access roads, worth 2.08 billion kuna (281 million euro) excluding VAT. The bridge will be 2.4 kilometres long and 55 metres high. It should be built in 36 months and the beginning of the work was in July.

The Pelješac Bridge is to be constructed between the Croatian mainland and Pelješac peninsula to bypass the 15-kilometre-long stretch of the coast at Neum where Bosnia and Herzegovina has access to the Adriatic Sea. The bridge will ensure connectivity between the Dubrovnik area and the rest of Croatia.

Croatian delegation's visit to Shanghai focuses on boosting economic ties

On Monday, Prime Minister Plenković and many other foreign leaders will attend the opening of China International Import Expo in Shanghai.

The prime minister is due to hold a meeting with Huawei top executives and also participate in the panel discussion "Trade & Innovation" in Shanghai. He will formally open the office of the Croatian National Tourism Board (HTZ) in the largest city in China by population and will participate in a Croatian-Chinese business forum to be organised there by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK). The HGK set up its office in Shanghai a year ago in a bid to provide stronger institutionalised support to all Croatian companies entering the Chinese market.

To read more about the Pelješac Bridge construction, click here.

ZAGREB, November 4, 2018 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Saturday visited Hangzhou, the capital of Zheijang, one of China's richest provinces, where he met with Che Jun, head of the province.

The province, which has a population of over 55 million, cooperates with Croatia at local level. It has a cooperation agreement with Istria County, recently it has signed a similar agreement with the Town of Split, and its city of Nangbo, the world's largest port, has been cooperating with Rijeka for several years.

"We talked with the leaders of the province about the further advancement of relations, given that half the trade with China comes from this province, which also has the largest port in the world," Plenković said. "We wish to attract further interest, notably in Chinese investment in Croatia. Here is also the headquarters of Alibaba, one of the most important global companies, which says enough about why we chose to come to Hangzhou," he said.

Zheijang accounts for 400 million dollars of the 900 million dollars in trade between China and Croatia.

Plenkovic said he planned to visit the 36-kilometre-long Hangzhou Bay bridge on Sunday. "Tomorrow we will visit one of the biggest sea bridges, which was built by the China Road and Bridge Corporation. For us, it is building the strategic and symbolically important Pelješac Bridge."

"That project is important both for Croatia and for China. For us, it is important because it’s an emblematic project which will connect two separate parts of the country, and for you, it's important because it's an unprecedented project in the cooperation between China and a European Union country," Plenković said.

He reiterated that he was pleased the China+16 initiative would meet in Croatia in 2019. "That's an opportunity for us to strengthen the relations with China," he said, adding that next year bilateral cooperation will focus on culture and tourism. "That's compatible with the China+16 initiative, where we will focus on cooperation between small and medium-sized companies, which are the backbone of every economy."

After the talks with Plenković, Che said Zheijang's cooperation with Croatia was excellent and recalled that the two countries were also linked by Marco Polo. The two countries are tied by a big friendship, both between China and Croatia and between Zheijang and Croatia. Marco Polo was born in Croatia and he introduced Europeans to Hanghzhou, he added.

The famous Venetian traveller from the end of the 13th century who, according to legend, was born on the Croatian island of Korčula, described Hanghzhou in his travel memoirs as the greatest city in the world. Che said this confirmed the two sides had good relations in the past.

It is necessary to expand cooperation in other areas, such as small and medium-sized enterprise, trade, culture, exchange of students and tourism. The potential for that is unlimited, he said.

Plenković on Friday began a five-day visit to China aimed at bolstering Croatia's political and economic relations with the world's second largest economy.

For more on Croatia’s relations with China, click here.