ZAGREB, March 16, 2019 - President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović will call the European elections by the March 26 deadline, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković said in Split on Saturday.

Speaking to reporters ahead of a meeting of the HDZ party's Split County branch, Jandroković said after the elections were called, slates would be submitted and confirmed, followed by campaigning and the vote on May 26.

Asked what results the ruling HDZ, of which he is secretary-general, expected in the EP elections and Croatia's presidential election later this year, he said recent local elections in Lika County "have shown the HDZ is convincingly the strongest party, regardless of attempts to downplay our success."

He said the HDZ was the only party which could win 30% of the vote, that every other party had serious internal problems and that the upcoming elections would reflect that. He estimated that the HDZ would score an excellent result in the EP elections and a convincing victory.

Social Democratic Party (SDP) president Davor Bernardić said on Saturday the SDP was seeing to it that Croatian citizens were equal in the European Union and not "second class citizens" and that, for that to be happen, "we must have representatives of Croatian interests in Brussels, not representatives of Brussels' interests in Croatia."

Presenting the SDP's candidates for European Parliament elections in Osijek, Bernardić said the point of being in politics was to provide everyone in Croatia with equal chances and equal rights to succeed.

He said the incumbent SDP MEPs had demonstrated how one should fight for "the interests of our citizens in Brussels."

He said the SDP wanted to ensure equal treatment for Croatian farmers as well as equal hospitality and tourism taxes, which he said were higher in Croatia than in its Mediterranean competitors. He warned that salaries in Croatia were three times lower than elsewhere in the EU.

SDP MEP Biljana Borzan, who is running for reelection, said consumers' problems concerned all EU citizens and that MEPs had the duty to warn about every injustice. "The Social Democrats always were and will be the voice of Croatian citizens in the EU."

She said it was important to motivate people to vote in the EP elections due in May as two-thirds of regulations applying to all Croatian citizens were adopted in the EU.

More news on the European elections can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, March 11, 2019 - The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ)-led coalition won Sunday's the early election for the Lika-Senj County Assembly with 35.4 percent of votes, according to information released by the State Election Committee on Sunday evening,

The independent slate of former HDZ member Darko Milinović was second (20.4 percent), the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) was third (17.2 percent), the independent slate of Anto Dabo was fourth (9.8 percent) and the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) was fifth with 5.36 of the votes.

Parties that won less than five percent of the votes are the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the Živi Zid Party, the HSLS/HNS coalition and Milan Bandić's party.

The New Lika-Senj County Assembly will have 13 members from the HDZ slate, seven from Milinović's slate, six from the HSP slate, three from Dabo's slate and two from the the SDSS slate.

The turnout was 51.2 percent.

The HDZ also won election for the Davor Municipal Council, while the SDP won the election for the Ogulin City Council. The independent slate of Marina Budimir won the elections in the town of Ilok.

More news about Lika-Senj County and the Lika region can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, March 1, 2019 - The head of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) parliamentary group, Branko Bačić, on Friday commented on the statement by Ivan Vrdoljak, leader of the Croatian People's Party (HNS), a junior partner in the HDZ-led government, that he would support a possible presidential candidacy of former Social Democrat prime minister Zoran Milanović, saying that "during talks between the HDZ and the HNS on the formation of the parliamentary majority there was no talk of a joint candidate for presidential elections."

"The HNS is therefore free to decide on its own who it will support. But if history is life's teacher, and it should be, for all of us, let me remind you that their joint participation in the last parliamentary election resulted in Zoran Milanović leaving politics. I believe they will both give it some thought before announcing a candidacy," said Bacic.

He added that the HNS could decide on its own who to nominate and "since Deputy PM (and HNS member) Predrag Štromar has said that they are not satisfied with the president's work, that's what the HNS's position is."

Asked if the HDZ would talk to other coalition partners to possibly secure their support for its presidential candidate, Bačić said that one should wait for the HDZ to state its position on the matter first.

He repeated that the HDZ would support incumbent President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović if she decided to run for a second term in office, recalling that she had said that she would announce her possible candidacy after elections for the European Parliament, set for May.

Asked about the political responsibility of Social Policy Minister Nada Murganić for a tragedy that happened on Thursday on Pag island, where a man threw his four underage children off the first-storey balcony of the house they live in, Bačić said that "the Prime Minister has stated his position on the matter" and that "there is no political responsibility on Minister Murganić's part."

"She promptly travelled to Zadar to investigate the circumstances of the case. I support her work, her ministry does an excellent job and she enjoys our full support," said Bačić.

PM Andrej Plenković said on Thursday that there was no political responsibility on Murganić's part and that all should fight against phenomena such as domestic violence, violence against women and peer violence. The best way to do it is through a strong family, good parenting and education, he said.

Asked if the functioning of the social care system should be checked given the frequency of cases of violence lately, Plenković answered in the affirmative, noting that the system should be continually improved.

More news on the upcoming elections can be found in the Politics section.

The total revenues increased by almost 120,000 kuna, earnings from abroad rose while those from Croatia declined, and net profits exceeded half a million kuna. This is the 2018 financial statement of the EuroAlba Advisory company, a consulting firm that was founded three years ago by former Croatian Prime Minister and a potential candidate at presidential elections later this year Zoran Milanović, reports Jutarnji List on February 27, 2019.

The former SDP boss, who is the preferred presidential candidate for many members of his party, as well as most parties of the Amsterdam Coalition, is currently the only employee of the company headquartered at Miramarska Street in Zagreb.

The company's total revenues in the previous year amounted to 744,970 kuna, an increase of 20 per cent compared to 2017 when revenues amounted to 625,000 kuna. About 115,000 kuna were the total expenses of Milanović's company, only 13,000 kuna higher than in the previous reporting period.

Gross profits amounted to 629,000 kuna, or 552,952 kuna after tax payments, indicating that net earnings in relation to 2017 increased by about 93,000 kuna. It is as if he received a monthly salary of 46,000 for the whole year. However, the financial report reads that the former Croatian Prime Minister receives only slightly over 3,000 kuna a month. Namely, in the staff costs category, the annual net salary for employees amounted to 40,010 kuna, or 3,334 kuna per month. Milanović did not employ anyone last year, but remained the only employee, as he was in 2017.

According to publicly available data, the company whose sole business activity is "business and management consultancy", had 209,000 kuna of revenues from "selling goods or services abroad" in 2018, which is an increase of almost 140,000 kuna compared to 2017.

At that time, Milanović's consulting services abroad were linked to Edi Rama, the Albanian Prime Minister, regarding the country's accession to the European Union. Whom Milanović advised in 2018 is unknown, but his acquaintances say that last year he travelled to China and Russia several times.

From consulting services in Croatia, Milanovic last year raised 535,000 kuna, or 20,000 kuna less than 2017. The media often linked the former SDP prime minister with the Crodux oil company.

In addition to his consultancy business, Milanović is the president of the Diplomatic Council of the Dag Hammarskjöld School of International Relations and Diplomacy. Before that, the post was held by Budimir Lončar, a former adviser to presidents Ivo Josipović and Stjepan Mesić. The dean of the college is Joško Klisović (SDP). Milanović founded the company in 2016, two months after he lost parliamentary elections.

More news about the former prime minister can be found in the Politics section.

Translated from Jutarnji List (reported by Tomislav Mamić).

ZAGREB, February 26, 2019 - Matija Posavec, who heads the Croatian People's Party (HNS) slate for the European Parliament elections, said on Tuesday his goal was for Croatia to be more functioning as a European Union member state than it is now, and that the HNS would push for "more European values to enter Croatia."

"With regard to the average pay, we want as many of our citizens as possible to have an average pay above 7,000 kuna. That's the only economic and population reform which can stop emigration," Posavec told reporters in Osijek.

He said Croatia was not absorbing European funds well because it had contracted only 62% and paid out only 26% of the funds available in the 2014-20 period.

He said there had not been much talk in the Croatian political sphere about a European Commission recommendation and law stating that small and medium enterprises must be protected. He pushed for protecting domestic farm products, saying Croatia imports two billion euro worth of food annually.

"If only one percent of that was invested in domestic production, it would be a 20 million euro investment annually in family farms and family SMEs," Posavec said, adding that European values must reach every corner of Croatia because of unbalanced development.

More news on the European Parliament elections can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, February 24, 2019 - Prime Minister and HDZ president Andrej Plenković said on Saturday the party's slate for the European Parliament elections would be ready by the end of March and that the HDZ would score a convincing victory as the candidates would be very competent and convincing.

He was responding to questions from the press in Gospić.

As for new legislative solutions concerning loans pegged to the Swiss franc and announcements of protests, he said banks, interested associations and the Finance Ministry were continually talking about the matter.

He also commented on the case of Frane Lučić, the only survivor of a 2007 tragedy in which 12 of his fellow firefighters were killed. Lučić has won a lawsuit against the town of Šibenik and the Republic of Croatia, which are to pay him 1.75 million kuna in damages, but the Šibenik prosecutor's office has appealed.

Plenković said he had discussed the case with the minister of justice and that he wanted an equitable settlement and equitable satisfaction.

Plenković also said on Saturday that no political party in Croatia's history had done more for Croatia's sovereignty, independence and freedom than the HDZ.

"No one else either had the opportunity or pushed so much for Croatia's strong position on the international scene," Plenković said in Ogulin at a ceremony marking the 29th anniversary of the HDZ's Karlovac County branch.

He said Croatia and all of Europe were in a complex international context, and that the HDZ's rivals on the far right in the upcoming European Parliament elections, by "preaching sovereignism," were targeting HDZ voters. Their concept of sovereignism is about 30 years old and shows their ignorance of the present and Croatia's position, he added.

Plenković said that when it joined the European Union, Croatia gathered part of is sovereignty at the supranational level in order to be stronger, not weaker. He recalled that a majority of the funding for projects came from the EU.

He went on to say that the HDZ had led reforms aimed at ensuring democratic institutions, high standards in the protection of human and minority rights, a functioning justice system, and press freedoms.

Plenković said the government was continuing with decentralisation. "The HDZ has set partnership, functioning decentralisation, fiscal decentralisation and joint projects as the four main elements for kickstarting the development of all of Croatia."

He said they had ensured 44 projects for Karlovac County worth over 2.5 billion kuna.

More news about the European Parliament elections can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, February 23, 2019 - The Amsterdam Coalition presented in Zagreb on Saturday a slate with 12 candidates for European Parliament elections, with the message that they are fighting for a progressive, free and prosperous Croatia and against intolerance, incompetence and primitivism.

The slate is headed by Istrian Democratic Party vice president Valter Flego, followed by Jozo Radoš of GLAS and ALDE in the EP, surgeon Zoran Bahtijarević, and Croatian Pensioners Party president and Croatian MP Silvano Hrelja.

These are elections between two Croatias and two Europes, GLAS president Anka Mrak Taritaš said, adding that populists, manipulators and radicals wanted to destroy Europe.

Croatian Peasant Party president Krešo Beljak said Croatia deserved to be part of civilised, antifascist and secular Europe. He voiced confidence that the Amsterdam Coalition would win three seats in the EP.

Flego underlined the importance of the EP elections, saying more and more important decisions were made in the EU. He expects the Amsterdam Coalition to win two seats in the EP.

More news on the Amsterdam Coalition can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, February 18, 2019 - The head of Istria County and deputy leader of the Istrian Democratic Party (IDS) will be the top candidate on the Amsterdam Coalition slate in the European Parliament elections in May, the IDS decided at a convention in the northern coastal town of Poreč.

Flego will be the only candidate of the IDS on the liberal-left coalition's slate whose members believe could win one or two seats in the European Parliament.

"Our party today is characterised by the attributes of consistency and credibility, something that other political parties in this country definitely need," IDS leader Boris Miletić told reporters after the convention.

Noting that the Amsterdam Coalition was growing steadily not just in approval ratings but also because other liberal and left-leaning parties were joining it, Miletić said he was confident that the IDS would score yet another victory in the forthcoming elections.

Flego said: "In the last 15 years Istria has received about 1.3 billion kuna (175 million euro) from EU funds, and Istria's representative in Brussels has a very important part in this. In the next 100 days to the elections, we want to do all we can together that Istria has its representative in Brussels because it is in the European Parliament that nearly two-thirds of laws that directly affect the daily lives of each of us are made."

Asked to comment on the four years in office of President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, Miletić said that Grabar-Kitarović had inappropriately reduced her presidency to the level of showbusiness.

"After the European Parliament elections, we will definitely stand behind one candidate who will challenge the incumbent president. We will decide on this in June," Miletić said. He would not say whether that candidate would be former SDP prime minister Zoran Milanović.

The IDS also marked the 29th anniversary of its foundation.

More news on the Amsterdam Coalition can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, February 17, 2019 - The MOST opposition party on Sunday presented its platform pillars which push for stronger sovereignty, the development of enterprise, an improved justice system, enhanced social rights, better education and healthcare, and the preservation of the environment.

Every one of us is important for Croatia's better future and for future generations. First and foremost, believe in yourselves, MOST leader Božo Petrov said at the party's national conference in Zagreb.

"The day is coming when each of us can decide what will happen to our families and our Croatia. You can choose whether to fight or die quietly, because this false stability and perfect thieves' balance to which Croatian citizens are exposed on a daily basis is a quiet death," said Petrov.

Speaking of upcoming European Parliament elections, he said MOST would base its activity in the EP on a sovereign Croatia.

The party's political secretary, Nikola Grmoja, said a responsible ruling system was key for eradicating corruption, which he said was practically public and legalised in today's society. "Only the fight against corruption can restore morality, ethics and honour to politics."

MOST MP Robert Podolnjak said every citizen must actively and equally participate in public and political life. He added that it was necessary to change the electoral system and reduce the number of MPs.

MP Ivana Ninčević Lesandrić said the party's enterprise platform pillar was based on cutting employers' costs and reducing the tax burden. MP Ante Pranić said the biggest problem was the overstaffed state administration.

Slaven Dobrović and Ružica Vuković said the key to a green Croatia was sustainable development based on innovative and ecological solutions in the municipal sector, energy and transport.

MP Sonja Čikotić said MOST wanted an education system in which an industrious and skilled

More news about MOST can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, February 17, 2019 - Democrats party president Mirando Mrsić signed in Čakovec on Sunday the accession of his party to the Amsterdam Coalition, which now comprises seven parties.

Mrsić said the Amsterdam Coalition offered better lives for all citizens and a Croatia they deserved in the 21st century. Croatia's biggest problems are poverty and emigration, he added.

"If we agree that something is good for all citizens, it's very easy to form a centre-left coalition which will oppose the creeping conservative revolution represented by the (ruling) HDZ," Mrsić said, adding that the Amsterdam Coalition could free Croatia from "the HDZ's iron clutch."

He said this coalition was the only opposition to the government, that it could take Croatia forward, and that it stood against crime, corruption and apathy.

GLAS president Anka Mrak Taritaš said the parties of the Amsterdam Coalition shared, first and foremost, common sense, and that they would join the fight to prevent the destruction of Europe. "We want Europe and Croatia to be educated, successful economies, competitive, with a preserved environment with renewable energy sources."

Croatian Peasant Party president Krešimir Beljak said Croatia did not need to be the richest country in the world but must be normal, European and tolerant as the great majority of its citizens wanted. "In the Amsterdam Coalition we are all equal. With the arrival of the Democrats, we have become the strongest opposition bloc and the strongest opposition political force."

Istrian Democratic Party vice president Renato Kručić said the Amsterdam Coalition was pulling Croatia from "the jaws of nationalism", and that there was room for everyone in Croatia, including the minorities living in it.

The coalition will present its candidates for the European Parliament elections on February 23.

More news on the Amsterdam Coalition can be found in the Politics section.