ZAGREB, 27 April 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Wednesday after a meeting of the parliamentary majority that he would nominate Anja Šimpraga as a new deputy prime minister, Davor Filipović as the new labour minister and Marin Piletić as the new economy minister.

Speaking to the press after presenting the candidates to the coalition partners, Plenković said all three had known for 20 days that they would be nominated, but the announcement was postponed until after the Easter holidays and the completion of negotiations with trade unions led by Labour Minister Josip Aladrović.

"They are the new generation, they are very young and I think six cabinet members were born in the 1980s, which speaks to the trend of politically rejuvenating the government", Plenković said.

The new ministers are expected to take office on Friday, after being heard by the relevant parliamentary committees and voted in.

Plenković once again thanked the outgoing ministers for their contributions.

He said new business challenges awaited Economy Minister Tomislav Ćorić and that the ruling HDZ would support him for the position of central bank vice governor.

As for Aladrović and Deputy PM Boris Milošević, who are under investigation by the State Prosecutor's Office, Plenković said that if they were not proven guilty, the government's door would be open and that he was confident they might contribute to it in the future.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated politics section.

ZAGREB, Aug 1, 2020 - The speech by Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) MP Anja Simpraga in the Croatian parliament, in which she described how she had experienced Operation Storm as a child "from the other side", has attracted great attention because seldom has parliament heard accounts of the Croatian military offensive by members of the Serb minority, Jutarnji List daily said on Saturday.

Although the Croatian public, thanks to independent media and the Hague war crimes tribunal, was aware almost from day one of what was happening during the Croatian liberation operation, including war crimes committed by some Croatian army troops, this speech drew attention to the reasons why it is difficult for the Serb minority in Croatia to participate in celebrations of Operation Storm anniversaries, the newspaper said.

"You can see for yourselves in what kind of society we live in, how young people are growing up," Simpraga told Jutarnji List about her motives to address parliament and the public in such a personal speech.

"The fact that I have a chance to describe the circumstances in which I found myself as well as many other children motivated me to say loud and clear what I said from the parliament rostrum," she said.

Almost paraphrasing General Ante Gotovina after his release from the Hague tribunal's detention unit, Simpraga said: "It's time for us to move on and realise that we no longer live in the war."

Simpraga is the deputy head of Sibenik-Knin County. She entered parliament as a substitute for Deputy Prime Minister Boris Milosevic.

Operation Storm crushed a Serb armed insurgency in central and southern parts of Croatia in August 1995, effectively ending the 1991-1995 war. The operation will be commemorated with a ceremony in Knin, the main Serb stronghold during the war, on August 5, and Deputy PM Milosevic will be attending.