ZAGREB, October 24, 2019 - Opposition parties in the Croatian Parliament on Thursday welcomed the request by the European Commission that in the process of accession to the Schengen free-travel area Croatia should strengthen its Commission on Prevention of Conflict of Interest, especially the penalty mechanisms, while some of the ruling parties said that improvements were necessary to enhance the Commission's operational role.

Peđa Grbin of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) recalled that the adoption of the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act had been one of the conditions for the conclusion of accession negotiations with the European Union.

"Had we not adopted the rules on the prevention of conflict of interest and given the Commission relatively broad powers, we wouldn't have been in the EU. And now, after we entered the EU, we behave like some who we laughed at, such as Bulgaria or Romania which entered the EU and then started breaking the rules and accession criteria. Croatia said that it would not behave like that, but it was enough for the HDZ to come to power for us to turn our backs on that," Grbin told reporters.

He called for strict rules on the prevention of conflict of interest.

"Croatia needs to combat conflict of interest because it is the first step towards corruption. If we don't want to be among the most corrupt countries in Europe and the world, we have to start preventing conflict of interest. The fact that the European Commission felt the need to write about it in a report clearly indicates that this matters to Europe too," Grbin said.

Sunčana Glavak of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) said that Croatia had met all technical criteria for Schengen membership.

"Everything that has been done in the last three years is an excellent success of the government and I am confident that we will continue in this direction so that Croatia becomes a full member of the Schengen area as soon as possible because that is in the interest of our citizens, as well as in the interest of citizens of the EU and our neighbours. Croatia has the longest border and we are in a way, guardians of European peace and security," Glavak said.

"The Commission on Prevention of Conflict of Interest has its powers, it must work in accordance with the law and interpret the law correctly, and whether the law should be amended, whether its powers should be expanded or not should be left to the legislature to decide," Glavak said.

Milorad Batinić of the Croatian People's Party (HNS), a junior partner in the ruling coalition, said that his party was of the view that the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act should be improved.

He said that certain improvements should be made to enhance the operational role of the Commission, adding that the HNS supported transparency and wanted the Commission to have the same powers as similar bodies in the EU.

More news about conflict of interest issues can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, October 14, 2019 - The chair of the Conflict of Interest Commission, Nataša Novaković, said on Monday that despite criticisms of its work by state officials, the Commission would continue working as it had so far and that it had contacted foreign institutions over the situation in Croatia and the new conflict of interest law.

"We have been witnessing numerous media statements by the highest state officials who describe the work of the Commission as that of an arbiter and a political instrument. In order to protect this body's work and integrity, we underline that despite the criticism we will continue working as we have so far, in line with the practice that has been confirmed by administrative courts and the parliament, which voted for our annual reports," Novaković told reporters.

Commenting on Prime Minister Andrej Plenković's recent statement on the Commission's decision that he had violated the principle of conscientious and transparent conduct, which he described as absurd, Novaković said Plenković's statement was inappropriate but that she did not take it personally.

"It just took me by surprise. I will refrain from personal comments. The Prime Minister could have attended our session and everything he said at the extraordinary news conference could have been said before the Commission," Novaković said.

"We do not wage any personal wars, we make decisions because that is our job," she stressed.

Due to the situation in the country and announcements regarding the new conflict of interest law, a month ago the Commission contacted the Council of Europe's Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) as well as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Today, Commission representatives will also meet with a representative of the European Commission, Novakovic said.

She said that she expected the drafting of the new conflict of interest law to start anew so as to allow Commission representatives to also participate in the task force in charge of writing the law.

"We expect... the draft that was put to public consultation and the one which we do not know what it looks like, to be abandoned," she said.

More news about conflict of interest issues can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, October 12, 2019 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Friday the Conflict of Interest Commission did not make a unanimous decision today that he had breached the principle of conduct, and that it was a decision which damaged the Commission's image.

Speaking at a press conference, he said the decision was about the perception of three Commission members without a legal basis.

"Since I am deeply convinced that it's a decision which damages the Commission's image, and which also damages me a little in the media sphere, I think it's fair to hear the other side too," he said after the Commission decided by a majority vote that he had violated the principle of conscientious and transparent conduct by failing to declare that he was Igor Pokaz's best man when proposing him for the position of ambassador to the UK.

Plenković said Pokaz entered the Foreign Ministry in 1994 and that he was first appointed as ambassador, to NATO, ten years ago, followed by his appointment as ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2015.

When Pokaz was proposed for the position of ambassador to the UK, the decision on that was made by then Foreign Minister Marija Pejčinović Burić, President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, Prime Minister Plenković and the relevant parliamentary committee.

Plenković said that Pokaz had asked him to be his best man in 1999 and that this fact had not been relevant for his three diplomatic appointments.

More news about conflict of interest issues can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, October 1, 2019 - The GONG NGO said on Tuesday it had asked the Council of Europe anti-corruption body GRECO to support the work of Croatia's independent Conflict of Interest Commission and condemn Prime Minister Andrej Plenković over his attacks on it.

GONG posted on its website a letter to GRECO (Group of States against Corruption) in which it says that Plenković is systematically undermining the Commission's work and attacking GONG over its insistence on transparency in the case of Croatia's European Commission candidate Dubravka Šuica.

GONG says the rhetoric which Plenković and Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković use regarding the Conflict of Interest Commission has a negative impact on the fight against corruption in Croatia.

The NGO mentioned a case in which the Commission opened proceedings against Plenković, Deputy PM Davor Božinović and three former ministers because the government did not submit travel requests and bills regarding their trip to Helsinki.

Instead of delivering the required documents, the government sent partial travel requests to some media outlets, GONG says. "Still, the key information is hidden," it warns, adding that Plenković has publicly stated that the Commission's requests are absurd and that it will not submit any documents.

Commission chair Nataša Novaković "was denounced" by Plenković after she began questioning his role in the Agrokor affair, in which a group of private consultants, who secretly wrote the Lex Agrokor law, was later engaged in jobs in Agrokor worth millions, GONG says in the letter.

It claims that by requesting Novaković's exemption and accusing her of a conflict of interest, Plenković has "caused a lengthy blockade in the resolution of his case, since the issue of exemption from the President of the Commission was not legally resolved."

"The fight against corruption and clientelism is crucial for Croatia, the youngest member of the European Union, so we urge GRECO to support the work of the Commission and condemn the inappropriate attacks of the Prime Minister," GONG says.

It adds "that this is not the first incident of verbal abuse of NGOs by the Government" and labels Plenković's statements as "insults."

More news about conflict of interest issues can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, September 10, 2019 - Parliament Speaker and secretary-general of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) Gordan Jandroković on Tuesday hinted that there might be a solution to the "tension" between the Conflict of Interest Commission and the government or the HDZ regarding travel allowance documents for a trip to the European People's Party conference in Helsinki.

"We will discuss that and I think that that would be rational," Jandroković told reporters when asked wouldn't the simplest thing be to just present the requested documents.

He underscored that it would be worthwhile if the commission did not in cases like this "pull the trigger straight away but to examine the entire situation." It isn't good to be under suspicion. You are guided by the principle of being fair toward the state, its finances and then in return someone accuses you of abusing your office. That causes a certain revolt and anger and I think that we can come out of this peacefully and one of the ways would be like you said," Jandroković said after a meeting of the parliamentary presidency.

The Conflict of Interest Commission has opened a case against Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and several ministers because they have not submitted the necessary travel allowance documents to the relevant bodies regarding their attendance at the EPP conference in Helsinki in November last year.

It is obvious that certain tension has arisen in relations between the commission and politics, Jandroković said insisting that the government and HDZ had acted properly with regard to the trip to Helsinki.

"Regarding the trip to Helsinki we acted on the principle of frugality, rationality and all the costs of overnight stays, daily allowances were covered by the HDZ. The only cost the state had was for airfares," he said, underlining that the Prime Minister and he were on an official visit to Helsinki and met with their counterparts, Finland's prime minister and parliament speaker.

"We could have gone twice. I had been invited to Finland. I would have taken an entire delegation and the government's plane would have flown again. We estimated that in that situation we could combine a state and party visit and that the fairest way would be to divide the costs," he said and added that the state had the least expense and that HDZ paid more than 80,000 kuna.

He recalled that a similar situation occurred recently with German Chancellor Angela Merkel yet there was absolutely no debate about that in Germany. Merkel conducted an official visit to Zagreb and that same day she attended an HDZ rally. She arrived on an official plane and no one in Germany questioned that, he said.

Jandroković announced that the autumn session of parliament would commence on September 18 and lawmakers have 102 items on the agenda to resolve by the end of October.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Tuesday said that he would not submit any more documents to the Conflict of Interest Commission regarding a visit to Helsinki because the government had sent everything it had been requested.

"I won't submit anything else. We spelled everything out for them. That is why we gave it to you to point out the absurdity of the commission's request," Plenković told a press conference in Government House when asked about travel allowance documents for the trip to Helsinki that are being requested by the commission.

He added that there is no suspicion of conflict of interest in that situation because he went to Finland in his capacity as prime minister to meet with Finland's prime minister who was not connected with the European People's Party (EPP).

Plenković denied allegations that that meeting was held in a "small room on the margins of the EPP" convention and said that the meeting was held in Finland's government house.

"After that the EPP convention was held with one part that afternoon and the next part the following morning and I addressed the convention in my capacity as the prime minister of Croatia and not as a delegate and in that part where people like Angela Merkel, Jean-Claude Juncker, Donald Tusk speak, in that part that the heads of state address," Plenković underlined.

He explained that the government had "literally spelled it all out and explained it," to the Conflict of Interest Commission.

"However, if the people in the commission, most of whom are jurists, do not understand, do not realise, do not have experience or are acting under media pressure to keep something current in the news, is there anything odd there? No there isn't anything. We said that the HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) would pay for the hotel and daily allowances and that's how it is " he added, explaining that the problem would have arisen, if double daily allowances had been charged, but it was not the case.

"The commission is not a court, it is not a judicial institution, it is not the police and it is not the State Prosecutor," and the commission should be dealing with conflict of interest and within the remit of the law and not "what it thinks the media expects and what they think they should be doing," said Plenković.

More HDZ news can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, September 6, 2019 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Thursday commented on the decision by the Conflict of Interest Commission to launch proceedings against him over his failure to submit documents on his trip to Helsinki last year, saying that the Commission's action was unnecessary.

"This whole story is a fabrication with one purpose and goal - to cause political damage to me and the officials in question," the prime minister told the press outside the government headquarters.

He said that the Commission had no reason to take this action considering the documents which the government and his HDZ party had submitted to it, adding that initiating proceedings for a breach of office was unwarranted.

Plenković said that he as prime minister decides on the use of the government aircraft based on decisions taken by his chief of staff and that he decides on which people use the aircraft. He said that the government aircraft was used for travel to Finland on official business – to meet the Finnish prime minister and attend a conference of the European People's Party. Hotel accommodation costs and per diems for all the people involved were paid by the HDZ, he explained.

"What I'm saying was thoroughly and clearly explained in correspondence with the Commission. It's true and it's a fact, all else is an unnecessary fabrication," the prime minister said.

The press were shown a government report on the official trip indicating that the prime minister had forgone his per diems, that the accommodation costs had not been paid by the government and that there was no cost for the government.

The Commission launched the proceedings against Plenković, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture Tomislav Tolušić, former Minister of Demography, Family, Youth and Social Policy Nada Murganić and former Administration Minister Lovro Kuščević because they have not submitted the necessary travel allowance documents to the relevant bodies regarding their attendance at the EPP conference in Helsinki in November last year.

Conflict of Interest Commission president Nataša Novaković on Thursday responded to Prime Minister Andrej Plenković's claims that proceedings against him and several ministers was based on fabrications, saying he had not treated this independent authority fairly.

"It's not fair to treat an independent body like that. Under the law, they have to submit documents. We have the right to request them, others have the duty to submit them without delay," Novakovic said on RTL TV.

Novakovic, however, said partial documentation was submitted "which is even contradictory... Not one travel request was submitted. We still don't know who was in the plane, who was in the government's official delegation."

She added that if everything was in order, there was not one reason not to submit all the documents requested by the Commission.

Asked if Plenković's statement about fabrications was an attack on the Commission, Novakovic said it was and that this was not the first case in which the Commission had requested travel requests.

Asked what could be expected of a new conflict of interest law, she said it seemed the government did not need the Commission. She added that the Commission had a constructive meeting with Public Administration Minister Ivan Malenica two weeks ago and that they agreed to examine together why the bill was "stuck" and what would happen with it.

"Every day there's a new allusion to our actions," she said, adding that the Commission was not fabricating or damaging anyone and that she did not know what repercussions this would have on the bill.

More news on the conflict of interest issues can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, September 5, 2019 - The Conflict of Interest Commission on Thursday launched proceedings against Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and several of his ministers for breaching public office and ignoring the Commission's request to submit documents related to trips to attend a European People's Party (EPP) conference in Helsinki.

The Commission launched the proceedings against Plenković, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture Tomislav Tolušić, former Minister of Demography, Family, Youth and Social Policy Nada Murganić and former Administration Minister Lovro Kuščević because they have not submitted the necessary travel allowance documents to the relevant bodies regarding their attendance at the EPP conference in Helsinki in November last year.

The Commission's Chair Nataša Novaković said that the procedure was launched following a majority vote over a possible breach of public office and failure to submit the relevant documents to the Commission.

Prime Minister Plenković failed to instruct his chief of staff and the ministers in question failed to instruct the relevant services to submit the requested data and documents to the Commission, which gives rise to the possibility that "these officials did not act conscientiously, responsibly and transparently," Novaković said.

Novaković said that the procedure was not initiated because of the officials' trip to Helsinki.

More conflict of interest news can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, July 12, 2019 - The State Assets Ministry on Friday denied claims made in an article headlined "Goran Marić's conflict of interest? Enabling former boss in whose apartment his son lives to purchase attractive land," in the Jutarnji List daily, claiming that someone is trying to impute conflict of interest on Minister Goran Marić with regard to the dissolution of co-ownership of state land.

The Jutarnji List claims that in May, Marić decided to sell over 13,000 square metres of land to companies related to Željko Udovičić, the owner of the company that owns the building in which Minster Marić's son is currently living. The land is located in Brsečine near Dubrovnik in a construction zone on the seashore and earmarked for a tourism resort and is valued at HRK 5.092 million.

The land accounts for just of 19% that Udovičić's company required, to be in a position to be registered as the sole owners of the land, which until then had been co-owned with the state, the daily said.

The state agreed to be registered as the sole owner of unattractive land above the road while the rest of the land was sold to Udovičić's companies, the article noted.

The State Assets Ministry claimed that the article was trying to impute conflict of interest onto Marić regarding the dissolution of co-ownership.

"The dispute over the right of ownership of land between the Republic of Croatia and Sikirica d.o.o. and Valeta d.o.o. (companies owned by Udovičić) has been ongoing for 10 years. As the state lost one of three suits, the county prosecution settled with the said companies for land that was defined as being co-owned in such a way that, of two plots, one went to the state with an area of approximately 0.7 hectares and the other, went to the said companies with an area of 6.8 hectares," the ministry said in a press release.

The Office of the County State Prosecutor referred the companies to the State Assets Ministry for the purpose of dissolving the co-ownership and that was processed in regular procedure as is the case with hundreds of similar cases of dissolution and in the most transparent way possible, the press release added.

"The dissolution finally resolved any further damage being caused to Croatia and enabled an income into the state budget in the amount of 5.092 million kuna," the ministry underscored, adding that Minister Marić never in any way influenced that decision.

The ministry added that the owners of the Valeta d.o.o. and Sikirica d.o.o. are not the owners of the companies with which Marić's son signed a lease agreement for the apartment he is living in.

More news about the state assets minister can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, July 10, 2019 - The Constitutional Court has upheld a complaint which former Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) leader Tomislav Karamarko lodged against the rulings of administrative courts that confirmed the 2016 decision by the Conflict of Interest Commission that during his term as Deputy Prime Minister he was in a conflict of interest due to his business and private relations with MOL's consultant Josip Petrović.

Karamarko's lawyer Vesna Alaburić told Hina on Wednesday that the explanation of the Constitutional Court's judgment would be forwarded to her and his client on Friday, but that the minutes of the court session on 2 July show that the rulings of both the Zagreb Administrative Court and High Administrative Court have been quashed.

The case will thus be sent back to these courts for reconsideration.

Alaburić said that the Constitutional Court did not go into the merits of the decision made by the Conflict of Interest Commission.

Alaburić said that she considers the decision made by that commission to be against the law and incorrect. "We believe that we will prove that in the new proceedings."

Karamarko told the N1 commercial broadcaster that the judgement delivered by the Constitutional Court was fair. "I was not in a conflict of interest. I only wanted to help Croatia to avoid a huge financial loss," he said.

On 15 June 2016, the Conflict of Interest Commission decided that the then Deputy Prime Minister and HDZ leader Karamarko was in a conflict of interest when he had been expressing his personal views and suggestions that Croatia should withdraw from the arbitration proceedings with the Hungarian energy group MOL over Croatia's oil and gas company INA, and that this was evident when Karamarko expressed his opinions at the HDZ-MOST Council for Cooperation in early May.

The Commission established that Karamarko had found himself in a situation when his private interests could influence his performance in the government and could have greater weight than public interests, which is why he should not be involved in decision-making regarding the INA-MOL arbitration. Croatia's government and MOL, INA's two major stakeholders, are involved in two arbitration proceedings over their relations in INA.

The Commission examined the potential conflict of interest in which Karamarko might be due to business relations between the Drimia company, owned by his wife Ana, and the Peritus Savjetovanja company owned by Josip Petrović, MOL lobbyist and consultant, for two years after Karamarko took the helm of the HDZ and due to the friendship between Karamarko and Petrović.

"Personal and business relations that have existed between Karamarko and Petrović put the office-holder Karamarko in a situation when his private interests can affect his impartiality in performing his duties as the First Deputy Prime Minister and, likewise, he may be in a conflict of interest which is why he cannot participate in decision-making regarding the arbitration proceedings," the Commission concluded then.

The Commission also noted that upon taking office as Deputy Prime Minister Karamarko failed to declare properly business relations that connected him with Petrović and Petrović's firm which performed a series of intelligence and consulting services for MOL.

More news about Tomislav Karamarko can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, July 8, 2019 - The Conflict of Interest Commission said on Monday there were no grounds to institute proceedings against President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović after she was earlier criticised over a discount she was given for a medical check-up at a private hospital.

The commission established that the president paid the full price of the medical check-up, and that the discount, cited in numerous queries from media outlets, would not have amounted to an impermissible gift because it was also used by regular patients of the clinic.

The complaints sent to the Commission in February claimed that the president may have received a gift worth more than 500 kuna through this discount. In late February the Commission opened the case to establish the facts and decide whether to institute proceedings against Grabar-Kitarović or not.

Media said that the president had undergone a regular preventive check-up at the Radiochirurgia Zagreb hospital and was given a 20% discount, paying 6,160 kuna instead of 7,700 for the examination.

Under the Conflict of Interest Act, state officials are not allowed to receive gifts worth more than 500 kuna.

More news about the conflict of interest issues in Croatia can be found in the Politics section.