ZAGREB, December 30, 2019 - The Veterans' Affairs Ministry on Monday issued a statement in which it said that President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović's husband Jakov has been given the status of war veteran as an employee of the Defence Ministry (MORH) from 1994 to 1996, however, he has not exercised his right to use any benefit he is entitled to by law.

The ministry was replying to media enquiries following a statement by Grabar-Kitarović for the N1 television station when she said that her husband was offered veteran status because during the war, he had worked for the Defence Ministry but that he had rejected that offer.

After the Croatian Peasants' Party (HSS) called out Grabar-Kitarović to name who had offered her husband veteran status, the Veterans' Affairs Ministry stated that Jakov was given that status as an employee of the Defence Ministry and member of the non-combat sector in the period from 1994 to 1996.

The ministry underlined that Kitarović did not use any benefits he was entitled to by the relevant legislation.

The ministry added that as an employee of the Defence Ministry, Kitarović was entitled to the status of a veteran based on the then valid regulation notably, in 1999 employees at the ministry and in the armed forces during the Homeland War became eligible for veteran status.

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

ZAGREB, December 30, 2019 - Science and Education Minister Blaženka Divjak on Monday underscored that Croatia's presidency of the Council of the EU was an opportunity for Zagreb to highlight the topics it finds important and to present itself as a country of professional and creative people.

Presenting priorities in education and science during Croatia's presidency, Minister Divjak explained that the role of its presidency "is not just to pursue one's own policies but to objectively conduct the EU's policies" however, it is an opportunity to recognise those topics that Croatia has been working on for a long time, she said.

Research and space technology are in the Council's remit and one of the priorities is brain circulation and jobs of the future that are related to space technology.

Brain drain is a huge problem for Croatia and similar countries. "Talent is equally distributed, opportunity is not," and so it is important for equalise opportunities as much as possible, it was said.

With regard to space technology, this does not refer to travelling to Mars but to industries that apply space technology and more than 10 percent of the economy is dependent on that technology, it was underscored at the news conference which the minister held.

Topics that are important for Croatia include teachers of the future, discussions on reforms and investments in education and vocational education. Another important issue is mobility that is implemented through the Erasmus+ programme.

The EU's Horizon Europe for research has 100 billion euros at its disposal.

The Erasmus+ programme, for which there are proposals to triple its funding, could be as high as 70 billion euro, while the EU proposes investing 16 billion euro to enhance the European space programme.

A total of 24 official events will be held in the remit of these two councils as will some important conferences which will include numerous institutions, agencies, universities, schools and teams of mentors.

We expect an improvement in opportunities for Croatian researchers and teachers to participate and to bring their institutions closer programme-wise, Minister Divjak said.

As an example, she noted the establishment of the European universities' network with the inclusion of three Croatian universities from Rijeka, Split and Zadar.

More news about Croatia and the EU can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, December 29, 2019 - In 2019 Croatian officials had to defend the country's foreign policy from criticisms that Croatia was unlawfully returning migrants to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country prepared for presidency over the EU in 2020, hosted a conference of the 16+1 initiative and lobbied for the appointment of Croatian women to important international positions, with the usual tensions in relations with neighbouring countries falling into the background.

Croatia will take over the chairmanship of the Council of the European Union on 1 January 2020, and that will be the most important foreign policy event for the country since its accession to the EU in 2013.

Zagreb will take over the rotating EU presidency at the very beginning of the term of the new European Commission, led by German Ursula von der Leyen for whose appointment credit also goes to Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, who, as one of the European People's Party (EPP) negotiators, insisted that the position of EC President should go to the EPP as the winner of the May 2019 elections for the European Parliament.

Brexit is expected to be finalised during Croatia's EU presidency, which will also be marked by discussions on the new EU budget.

A large part of Croatia's diplomatic activities, notably in the second half of 2019, therefore related to acquainting oneself with the programme of EU presidency and adjusting it with other European countries.

An important topic in that was the situation in Southeast Europe and EU enlargement to Western Balkan countries. Zagreb will therefore use its presidency to organise a new summit on EU enlargement to Western Balkan countries, 20 years after such a summit meeting was held in the Croatian capital city.

The summit will be held in May, about seven months after the European Council decided not to launch membership talks with Albania and North Macedonia, a country that agreed to change its name over its membership in Euro-Atlantic associations.

The Croatian political leadership has been repeating since October that it regrets that decision.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended Zagreb in May from frequent accusations that it was violating the rights of migrants trying to cross over from Bosnia and Herzegovina, stressing that the perspective of a country protecting the EU's external border was different from the perspective of countries in the heart of the Schengen area.

Even though the Croatian political leadership dismissed allegations that it was pushing back migrants, at the time when it had to prove to the European Commission that it was capable of protecting the EU's external border, Croatia was a topic in international media over allegations that it violated migrants' rights and pushed them back.

A Swiss TV station in May ran a video showing Croatian police officers forcibly returning migrants to neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Human Rights Watch in July asked President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović in an open letter that Croatia stop pushing back migrants, and the president admitted in an interview with a Swiss TV station that the practice of pushbacks over the green border did exist.

Amnesty International joined in the criticism, and Croatia's treatment of migrants was also reported about by Reuters, the BBC, The Guardian, Euronews, Foreign Policy, etc.

The Croatian authorities dismissed all criticisms, claiming that migrants were treated lawfully.

The Croatian government sought support for its accession to the Schengen area in dialogue with other countries. In late October the EC assessed that Croatia had met the necessary criteria.

It is now up to other European countries to decide if Croatia will join the area and Slovenia has already said, more or less directly, that it will make its support conditional on Croatia's agreeing to implement a ruling by an international arbitral tribunal on the two countries' border dispute. Bulgaria and Romania have had a positive assessment from the EC since 2011 but have still not joined the Schengen area, which is why it is yet to be seen what awaits Croatia on that path.

After Croatia's talks with the European Central Bank, the EC and member-states, the euro group in October accepted a letter of intent from Croatia on joining the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, ERM II, a step that precedes the introduction of the euro as the official currency.

In 2019 a woman from Croatia was appointed for the first time the leader of one the biggest multilateral international organisations - Foreign and European Affairs Minister Marija Pejčinović Burić in June defeated her Belgian counterpart and became the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, an organisation established in 1949 that brings together 47 European and other countries but before Pejčinović Burić had only one other woman at its helm.

Pejčinović Burić was succeeded as foreign minister by Gordan Grlić Radman, until then Croatia's ambassador to Germany.

In November Croatia also got its first woman European Commission Vice-President, with EPP member of the European Parliament Dubravka Šuica becoming one of eight EC vice-presidents, in charge of democracy and demography.

This year Croatia also got an executive director of an EU agency when Maja Markovčić Kostelac in January took over the leadership of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) in Lisbon.

Croatia in 2019 hosted several political meetings. In April Dubrovnik hosted a summit meeting of the 16+1 initiative, launched with the aim of strengthening economic cooperation between China and eastern Europe. After Greece joined the platform in Dubrovnik, it was renamed 17+1.

Attending the Dubrovnik conference were the prime ministers of almost all participating countries, including Li Keqiang of China, who arrived for the event accompanied by a large delegation of politicians and business people.

Li said that Croatia and China had entered a diamond stage of their relations, and together with his host, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, toured the construction site of the 2.08 billion kuna Pelješac Bridge, which is being built by the China Road and Bridge Corporation and which the EU is co-financing with 85% of the necessary funds.

In May, ahead of elections for the European Parliament, German Chancellor Merkel and Manfred Weber, at the time still the EPP's lead candidate for the position of EC President, arrived in Zagreb for a rally of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the EPP.

Addressing the event, the two German officials condemned nationalism as an adversary that aimed to destroy Europe and that had caused tragedies in the past. At the rally, music by Croatian pop-rock singer Marko Perković Thompson was played, which met with the criticism of some German media outlets.

Chancellor Merkel did not know which songs would be played at the Zagreb rally or their content, her office said later in response to a query from the N1 broadcaster, adding that during her visit to Zagreb, Merkel had expressed a clear stand against nationalism.

The EPP in November held a congress in Zagreb. More than 2,000 participants from 40 countries attended, including von der Leyen, Merkel, Weber, Sebastian Kurz and Silvio Berlusconi.

Former European Council President Donald Tusk was elected the new EPP president at the event.

More news about Croatian foreign policy can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, December 29, 2019 - The European Commission has warned Croatia that it has not eradicated corruption and that it should reform the system of public salaries, stimulate a longer working life and bring order in healthcare, Jutarnji List daily reports on Sunday.

Fighting corruption, notably locally and in public companies, reforming the public pay system, reducing healthcare budget risks, stimulating a longer working life and improving the welfare system are the main reform measures totally lacking in Croatia, the Commission says in its annual review of progress made in public policy measures to correct macroeconomic imbalances, the daily reports.

The review was made at the end of November and covers the period until November 5.

Aside from those measures, the Commission demands Croatia intensify efforts in reforms which are at a standstill, stagnating or not being implemented energetically enough, such as strengthening fiscal responsibility, modernising public administration, improving the state assets management, privatising state assets, reforming regulated professions, reducing parafiscal levies and reducing case backlogs.

As for reforms that are being implemented at an adequate pace, the Commission mentions the education reform and the regulatory reform.

As a result of the reform shortcomings, the biggest problems of the Croatian economy, despite the measures undertaken on the labour market, are a low active population rate and low productivity growth.

In the 2015-17 period, Croatia grew above the potential growth and since then the economy has grown somewhat in line with its capacity, with GDP in 2019 reaching the level of 2008, Jutarnji says, adding that unless the necessary reforms are launched, the economy will grow below its potential as of 2021.

More news about corruption issues can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, December 29, 2019 - Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina have very good relations despite occasional miscommunication, Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said in Sarajevo on Saturday, adding that Croatia would show it supported BiH during its EU presidency in the first half of 2020.

He met with BiH's new Foreign Minister Bisera Turković. Speaking to the press, he said that as a co-signatory of the Dayton peace agreement, Croatia supported BiH's territorial integrity and sovereignty as well as the equality of its constituent peoples.

He said that during its EU presidency Croatia would be a resolute advocate of the continuation of BiH's Euro-Atlantic journey. "Presiding the Council of the EU is a big responsibility for a stable neighbourhood, notably BiH with which Croatia has the longest border."

Grlić Radman reiterated that for the sake of BiH's stability, its constituent peoples should elect their government representatives.

He also met with the Archbishop of Sarajevo, Cardinal Vinko Puljić, underlining the importance of his struggle for the survival of Croats in BiH in the spirit of tolerance, which he said contributed to peace, stability and dialogue.

Puljić said the Catholic Church in BiH counted on the continuation of Croatia's support for the survival of Croats in BiH, adding that equality was a burning issue for them. "Because Croatia is presiding the EU, it should help (BiH) to become normal too, and it won't become normal unless there are equal rights."

More news about relations between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina can be found in the Politics section.

What follows is a review of events in Croatian politics in 2019, as reported by TCN. If you would like to refresh your memory about the events which has led us here, read the reviews for the three previous years (2016, 2017, 2018).

The year started with a high-profile failure by the government. Months after it was announced that Croatia would buy used Israeli F-16 fighter planes, the US government vetoed the sale and the whole project fell through. Despite earlier warnings from experts that the deal was in question, ministers continued to claim that everything was alight. However, after a meeting between high-ranking officials from the United States and Israel, the truth was revealed. Ministers lost their nerves and the government launched an immediate investigation, which expectedly ended without any real results, and also announced that it would re-start the process. To show its level of seriousness, it even established a commission! Twelve months later, the process of deciding which aircraft to buy still hasn't move any further on and is not expected to end for at least another year.

The migrant crisis continued to be in the news this year. The inflow of migrants over the borders with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia increased somewhat, together with media coverage about alleged brutality of Croatian police and illegal pushbacks of migrants to Bosnia. The authorities were quick to deny everything, but the sheer number of documented cases makes it apparent that at least some of the allegations are founded.

Efforts to limit media freedoms continued this year and some reporters were even briefly arrested. Journalists, NGOs and international organisations stood up to these attempts, but the final score is still unknown.

Repression continued in other ways as well, with courts ruling that peaceful protesters should go to prison, Croatia's human rights situation being criticised from abroad, ethnically-motivated assaults (several of them) taking place, ombudswomen’s warnings not being heard, journalists receiving instructions from the president on what to do, and diplomats spreading hate...

Historical revisionism was in full force once again this year. As a result, representatives of Jews, Serbs and anti-fascist organisations once again boycotted the government’s annual commemoration at the site of the Jasenovac concentration camp.

European elections were held in May (with even Pamela Anderson giving recommendations to Croatian voters). While the ruling HDZ party had high hopes earlier in the year (and was supported by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who attended one of its rather controversial rallies in Zagreb), the actual results were much tighter and were interpreted by everyone as a success for the opposition (particularly SDP) and a disappointment for the government.

June brought us a few days of excitement when it seemed possible that prime minister Plenković might just succeed in his life-long dream of getting a top EU job. Despite denying he ever wanted such a thing, he was rumoured to be trying to become president of the European Commission (or president of the European Council, or perhaps something else). In the end, he had to return to Croatia empty handed, again denying his alleged attempts.

Unlike Plenković, foreign minister Marija Pejčinović-Burić was more successful in the area of career development. In June, she was elected secretary-general of the Council of Europe. She promptly resigned her post in Croatia and has not been heard about since. Another happy politician is Dubravka Šuica, who has been appointed Croatia’s commissioner in the European Commission.

Mostly good economic news continued. Public debt is at its lowest level in decades, the European Commission concluded that Croatia no longer suffered from excessive economic imbalances, and GDP growth is holding up.

One of the companies which was in the public focus this year was Croatia Airlines, Croatia’s national flag carrier. Its business results were dismal and the search for possible strategic partners was on, but without any real results. The government eventually decided to cover some of the debts, but as the year comes to and end, there is no long-term solution in sight. In the meantime, Zagreb Airport continues to lose airlines using its services.

The construction of an LNG terminal on the island of Krk has apparently started out with strong support from the US government, after many years of delays and announcements. The project is funded from the state budget, since there was no interest among anyone to actually use the terminal. The government claims that there will be interest once the terminal is built, but it would not be the first major government-funded project in Croatia’s history to fail to deliver on its promises.

The construction of Pelješac bridge continues to go at an even faster pace than expected (despite occasional Bosnian protests), mostly thanks to the efforts by the Chinese construction company which won the tender, which also brought about a marked improvement in the relations between Croatia and China. Unfortunately, the construction of the access roads leading up to the bridge has not progressed nearly as fast, with tenders being decided just several months ago. It is quite possible that, when the bridge is built, it will be unusable for a while because there will be no roads leading to it.

Emigration continues amid Croatia's demographic crisis, although somewhat slower than in previous years, probably as a result of the fact that most of those who could have left have already done so. The authorities talk about demographic revival, but nothing much has happened so far.

Political scandals were as numerous as ever. The regional development minister had an accident while driving without a driving license, the agriculture minister forgot to list all his assets on an official statement, the administration minister had his own scandals which were too numerous even to count, and the state assets minister had problems of his own. The Prime minister strongly supported his ministers before some of them resigned, and then he changed his mind and dismissed the rest of them.

The ruling coalition remained stable this year, despite occasional rumours of impending collapse. Ultimatums were rejected, resignations demanded, talks announced, decisions to stay in coalition made, threats given... Just the usual stuff.

As expected, the border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia has not been resolved this year. Slovenia was disappointed with the EU’s decision not to get involved in a dispute between its two members. The chances that this issue will feature in our review for 2020 are quite high.

In October, the European Commission announced that Croatia has fulfilled all the technical conditions to join the Schengen area. However, the final decision will require the unanimous support of all EU member states, and Slovenia does not seem ready to give its approval until the border dispute with Croatia is resolved. 

Another major project is the introduction of euro in Croatia. After a lot of talk, the government has finally sent an official request. The process will certainly take years and opinion is divided as to whether it is a good idea or not.

One of the highlights were the trade union's activities. Earlier in the year, the unions managed to collect enough signatures for a referendum against the government’s pension reform and an increase in the retirement age. The government capitulated and revoked already approved laws (although it previously warned that such a decision would be a disaster).

The other major trade union success was the primary and secondary school strike later in the year. After almost two months, the government capitulated and gave the unions more or less everything they had asked for.

One of the highlights of the next six months will be Croatia’s EU presidency. The government is promoting it as a great success, although all EU member states sooner or later get their chance to hold the rotating presidency. While Croatia's plans are ambitious, their delivery will probably be more modest.

The major event at the end of the year was the first round of Croatia's presidential elections.

While the post is largely ceremonial, elections are held every five years and still manage to occupy public attention for months. Three major candidates launched their bids: incumbent president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović (officially an independent candidate who in reality is HDZ), former SDP prime minister Zoran Milanović, and singer Miroslav Škoro, who presented himself as a candidate of change, despite having been an MP, a diplomat and a former HDZ member.

The first round was held on December 22. Zoran Milanović won with 29.6% of the vote, followed by Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović with 26.7%. Škoro was third with 24.5%. Milanović and Grabar-Kitarović will take part in the run-off on January 5.

ZAGREB, December 28, 2019 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Friday that in January Croatia would dynamically embark on the presidency of the European Union, including meetings with leading European officials and the European Commission.

"Already in the week starting January 7, we will have a very intensive and dynamic course of events," he said at the last cabinet meeting this year.

On January 7, Plenković is going to Paris for consultations with French President Emmanuel Macron, European Council President Charles Michel is arriving in Zagreb two days later, and the European Commission will convene in Zagreb on the 10th.

On January 14, Plenković will present Croatia's presidency programme at the European Parliament, while on the 16th he will hold consultations with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.

Croatia will chair the EU as of January 1 as the youngest member state to do so. The cabinet today adopted Croatia's presidency programme.

Plenković and Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman reiterated that the programme contained Croatia's national priorities and that it was aligned with the EU's strategic programme for the 2019-24 period as well as the new Commission's policy guidelines.

The slogan of the Croatian presidency is “A strong Europe in a challenging world” and the focus will be on a Europe that develops, a Europe that connects, a Europe that protects and a Europe that is influential.

Grlić Radman said the presidency was a historic event for Croatia and that the programme was detailed. "We can be proud of the look, the visuals of this document," he said adding that "the content highlights Croatia's priorities."

The presidency will contribute to boosting Croatia's influence and visibility in international relations, he said, adding that polls showed that support for the European journey among Croatian citizens was increasing. "Today 81% of citizens recognise the EU as an organisation to which Croatia belongs naturally."

Plenković highlighted a project for the reconstruction of the existing and the construction of a second track on a 44 km Hrvatski Leskovac-Karlovac rail section worth 3.45 billion kuna, of which 2.7 billion kuna is a European grant.

"It's good that this project is starting just before the presidency so that we can all once again realise that EU membership makes Croatia's sovereignty stronger, nobler and fuller, and thereby our influence too," he said.

Aside from the main four priorities of the Croatian presidency, the programme details priorities for the ten configurations of the Council of the EU related to topics that are discussed and decided such as agriculture, fisheries, justice and home affairs.

The configurations are chaired by the relevant ministers from the presiding country, except the Foreign Affairs Council which is chaired by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

Although the European Council, the EU's highest political body, is chaired by President Charles Michel, Plenković will have a prominent role in three important events during the Croatian presidency -- an EU-Western Balkans summit in Zagreb in May, the reaching of an agreement on the multiannual financial framework, and the organisation of a conference on Europe's future.

More news about Croatia and the EU can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, December 22, 2019 - A survey shows that more than 40 percent of Croatians have a positive opinion about the European Union, while as many as 81 percent know that Croatia is taking over the presidency of the Council of the European Union for the first time on January 1, 2020, the Jutarnji List daily reported on Sunday.

The survey, financed by the EU, was carried out by the IPSOS Puls agency between November 27 and December 3. A total of 1,005 Croatians took part in the survey.

If a referendum on accession to the EU were to be held today, 68 percent of the respondents would be in favour and 28 percent would vote against. In 2012, 67 percent of those who went to the polls supported accession to the EU and 33 percent were against it.

As many as 43 percent of the respondents see the EU in a positive light, mostly those in the 18 - 30 age group.

More news about Croatia and the EU can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, December 20, 2019 - The highest Croatian officials on Friday presented a revamped National and University Library (NSB) in Zagreb, which in the first six months of 2020 will be the seat of Croatia's presidency of the European Union.

"We are wrapping up a project that is significant for Croatian culture and science and we can freely say that today this prominent institution is getting an additional congress and conference facet," Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said.

95 million kuna has been invested to prepare the NSB for Croatia's presidency of the EU, Plenković said at the ceremony that was also attended by Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković, the Croatian members of the European People's Party (EPP) in the European Parliament, European Commission Vice-President Dubravka Šuica, representatives of the diplomatic corps, religious dignitaries and media workers.

A 550-square-metre hall has been prepared to host numerous meetings during the presidency, as have eight smaller halls for up to 60-80 people, a press centre, a dining room for delegates, translators' and TV booths, video walls and a medical office.

The NSB will be the first building in Croatia with a 5G network which is still being used non-commercially.

Plenković said that the renovated NSB would serve to host various activities after Croatia's EU presidency, such as congresses, government activities, university activities and activities of the alternative theatre scene.

Croatia takes over the six-month rotating EU presidency from Finland on 1 January 2020.

More news about Croatia and the EU can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, December 18, 2019 - The European Commission on Tuesday recommended a detailed analysis be conducted next year of possible macroeconomic imbalances in 13 member states, including Croatia.

After its meeting in Strasbourg, the Commission released the Annual Growth Survey, the Alert Mechanism Report and the Single Market Scoreboard, marking the new cycle of the European Semester, a mechanism for the coordination of economic policies within the Union. The Single Market Scoreboard was included in the European Semester cycle for the first time.

The Alert Mechanism Report, which serves as a tool to detect any macroeconomic imbalances, says that 13 member states will be subject to a detailed review in 2020 as well. These are the same countries that were covered by the same procedure last year: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sweden.

In February this year, the Commission confirmed that Croatia was no longer experiencing excessive macroeconomic imbalances, but only macroeconomic imbalances.

The Commission will present the results of the analysis in country reports in February or March 2020. It will then decide whether to start a corrective mechanism to remedy the macroeconomic imbalances based on an assessment of whether the government's reform programme is ambitious enough to correct the imbalances.

More news about Croatia and the EU can be found in the Business section.