ZAGREB, July 10, 2019 - Prime Minister and Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) leader Andrej Plenković said on Tuesday evening that he had been supported by the party leadership to reshuffle his cabinet.

"Members of the HDZ presidency and the national council gave me the support to take measures I find necessary to refresh the government," Plenković said after the meeting of the HDZ leadership in Zagreb.

He said that the purpose of this refreshing will be to streamline the efforts aimed at achieving the goals from the government's agenda and to prepare Croatia for the chairmanship over the European Union in the first half of 2020.

Furthermore, all that will be done with the aim of consolidating the HDZ and providing full support to President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović in the race for her second term.

He added that the meeting had revolved around a few important topics and that all the participants supported the course taken by the government and by the HDZ which enabled Croatia to enjoy a political stability and conditions for the committed reform activities.

More HDZ news can be found in the Politics section.

Regional Development Minister Gabrijel Žalac’s mother is not the only wife driving a rent-a-car. Certain parliamentary and government officials will be driven in them for at least the next two months. The tax-payers will pay for this a monthly amount of 73,500 kuna with VAT included, i.e. 147,000 kuna, for the total of 14 rented vehicles. Out of this, the total monthly cost for the Parliament is 38,750 kuna per month, while the Office for General Affairs of the Parliament and Government (UZOP) will pay 35,000 kuna, reports 24sata.hr on April 8, 2019.

A five-year operational lease agreement for 20 cars purchased in 2014 expired in mid-March, so the UZOP had to return them to the leasing companies. The Central State Bureau for Public Procurement has concluded a framework agreement for the 18 new cars to be delivered. “But, in order to avoid the situation that we have no vehicles available, we have hired vehicles for the transportation of officials, civil servants and dignitaries," reported the UZOP.

For the purposes of transportation of deputy speakers of the Croatian Parliament, rent-a-car companies delivered to Parliament four Opel Insignias, as well as two Mercedes E Class vehicles to transport foreign delegations. A monthly rental of one Opel Insignia costs 5,000 kuna without VAT, or 6,250 kuna with the tax included. The rental of a Mercedes E Class on a monthly basis is 5,500 kuna without VAT or 6,875 kuna with the tax.

For the purposes of transportation of civil servants and other officials of parliament, government and government offices, eight 2014 Opel Insignia have also been rented. For each of them, the monthly rent without VAT amounts to 3,500 kuna.

“Since vehicles have been leased until the delivery of new vehicles, for a maximum of two months, there was no need to conduct a public procurement procedure. The parliament and the UZOP obtained them per the internal instructions on how to conduct a simple procurement procedure,” said the General Affairs Office.

This all means that someone has missed the deadlines for car purchase by two months. And that someone should be held responsible since the deadlines for announcing public procurement procedures have not been respected. If they had done all these things in a timely manner, there would have been no additional government spending, says a source.

Translated from 24sata.hr (reported by Snježana Krnetić).

More “uhljeb” news can be found in the Politics section.

The palace has changed a series of owners. The first one was Ban Petar Zrinski. Then, after the collapse of his famous conspiracy, it was sold to Baron Čikulini, and in the middle of the 17th century, it was bought by Ivan Drašković Trakošćanski. After that, it was taken over by the Sermage family, and after the marriage of the daughter of Petar Troil Sermage the palace at St. Mark’s Square was taken over by Baron Ivan Emilijan Kulmer. He was the last private owner before the Banski Dvori palace became a place where main political decisions are made. Today it is the headquarters of the Croatian government, reports Večernji List on April 2, 2019.

Ivan Kulmer is most likely the one who should be credited for the artwork that had been hidden for decades under the red-gold wallpaper of the Ban Jelačić Room, where the Croatian government usually meets. It was discovered last summer when the restoration of the room began. Workers have found valuable frescos after they removed the wallpaper, and the restorers have since discovered unknown details.

The analysis determined that the artwork dates back to the late 18th or early 19th century when Kulmer was the owner of the building. They discovered that the frescoes were made with the secco technique, but the author is still unknown. At least for now, says the government, adding that it is “a Central European painter".

After the completion of all the works, Culture Minister Nina Obuljen Koržinek will sit in front of the frescos, as per usually seating chart. The murals will no longer be covered, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković announced. The government had to hire experts who are now working on their renovation.

“Damage has been noticed, such as surfaces damaged when the channels for electrical installations were put it. In some places, the painted and plastered layers of the walls were missing,” says the government. Before the works began, restorers had to create a fresco study with analysis and comparative examples to reconstruct the missing parts. Laboratory tests have been carried out, while the entire hall has also been documented with photographs and 3D laser scanning.

Currently, the experts are painting the missing parts of the composition. The frescoes are located on the northern wall and a part of the eastern wall of the room. They show a land landscape with trees, and there is the sea coast in the distance, with towns and building further away.

Translated from Večernji List (reported by Petra Balija).

More art news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, February 1, 2019 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said at a government meeting in Dubrovnik on Friday that 40 decisions on projects in Dubrovnik-Neretva County would be adopted today and that the contracts to be signed afterwards would be worth nearly 4.5 billion kuna.

The government will adopt conclusions on water utility projects worth 2.8 billion kuna, transport projects worth over 22 million kuna, investments in ports worth over 518 million kuna, and the construction of a day hospital in Metković worth 1.5 million kuna.

Plenković singled out the Pelješac bridge project. He visited the construction site yesterday. He reiterated the works were proceeding well and that the bridge, access roads and infrastructure facilities "should be finished in exactly three years."

He also reiterated that the 357 million euro with which the European Union was co-financing the project "is proof of the value of our EU membership." "I expect us to continue to work on projects which will strongly, by reallocating funds from the European budget, reduce the inequalities between parts of Croatia and contribute to a more even regional development.

The prime minister also highlighted a recently renovated barracks of the Croatian army's 116th brigade, saying it was a boost to the economic development of the Ploče port and for the army to help civil institutions during natural disasters.

As for the future day hospital in Metković, Plenković said it was a necessity for 50,000 people in the area.

Speaking of Dubrovnik's tourism results, he said last year's arrivals were up 8% on 2017 and that the county recorded more than two million arrivals. He added that many of the projects the government was discussing today, such as better transport connectivity between the south and the rest of the country, would help to increase the tourist turnover.

Plenković said that later today he would visit the construction site of Dubrovnik's wastewater treatment plant and the city airport. He also said that a Croatian government last met in Dubrovnik 14 years ago.

The Plenković cabinet convened the meeting during the Festivity of Saint Blaise, the patron of Dubrovnik. The central day of the festivity will be on Sunday.

At Friday's government meeting in Dubrovnik, ministers reported about what was done in their departments over the past period and plans about the period ahead, with Labour Minister Marko Pavić boasting of drawing more than 300 million kuna from the European Social Fund, of ensuring prerequisites for tourism development, and of a decrease in unemployment which, according to Eurostat, was 7.7% in December, below the European Union average.

Justice Minister Dražen Bošnjaković said the merging of municipal and magistrate courts made them more efficient and that this was especially evident in Dubrovnik-Neretva County.

Interior Minister Davor Božinović said the security situation in the county was satisfactory, with record-high seizures of illegal drugs, and prevention of migrant smuggling.

Science and Education Minister Blaženka Divjka announced the construction of a 200 million kuna student dormitory and the drawing of 87 million kuna from EU funds over the next five years.

Demography, Family, Youth and Social Policy Minister Nada Murganić said 17 projects worth 611.5 million kuna had been or were being implemented and that 132.9 million kuna was being absorbed from the European Social Fund for children's programmes.

The state secretary at the Foreign Ministry, Zdravka Bušić, announced the China + 16 summit in Dubrovnik on April 11-12.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković announced that workers of Plobest Ploče whose health was poor because of working with asbestos would receive compensation.

More news on Dubrovnik can be found in the special Dubrovnik section.

ZAGREB, January 10, 2019 - The Croatian government plans to propose 134 bills this year, including those adjusting laws to the European Union acquis and those that form part of the National Reform Programme, according to the Plan for Legislative Activities that was adopted at a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

The plan was prepared in cooperation with ministries and other relevant bodies, and for 21 of the total of 134 bills, procedures to test the efficiency of regulations will be conducted.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said that over the past seven years the government had ensured better predictability, security and systematic organisation of certain administrative areas, analysis of the extent of impact of regulations, dialogue with stakeholders, public consultations and assessment of the effectiveness of regulations.

He said that the most important thing was that the number of bills on fast track had been reduced, underscoring that 85% of bills were adopted in regular parliamentary procedure which "shows respect for the parliament."

More news on the Croatian government can be found in our Politics section.

ZAGREB, January 8, 2019 - The Croatian government condemned in the strongest terms a Facebook post by MP Josip Đakić's son Ivan, which it said spreads hate speech which incites intolerance, according to a press release issued by the government's public relations office on Tuesday.

Relevant institutions have already launched action against such behaviour, the press release said.

The 22-year-old Ivan Đakić posted a photograph on his Facebook page on Monday showing an Ustasha with the severed head of a Chetnik, under which he wrote: "Merry Christmas to all my Serb 'friends'." The Ustashas and Chetniks were respective Croatian and Serbian allies of Nazi Germany in World War II.

The post prompted widespread condemnation over hate speech.

Ivan Đakić was taken in by the police in Virovitica, 150 kilometres northeast of Zagreb, for questioning.

The ruling HDZ party strongly condemned the post as hate speech and incitement to social intolerance, announcing that it would take disciplinary action against Ivan Đakić.

Ivan Đakić resigned from party membership on Tuesday. "I see his resignation from the party today as an act of confession of this grave mistake and a realisation of the gravity of this regrettable act," said his father, Josip Đakić, who serves as chairman of the HDZ's Virovitica-Podravina County committee.

"I shared the photograph from a friend of mine and erased it within a minute. It doesn't reflect my opinion. I apologise to anyone I may have offended and wish them a merry Christmas," Đakić told the Index news website.

However, the screenshot clearly shows that Djakic did not remove the photograph within a minute and that he himself posted it.

More news on the dark part of the Croatian history can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, January 1, 2019 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković has released his New Year message wishing the Croatians in the country and abroad a happy and successful 2019, and recalling the measures his cabinet has taken in the outgoing year to raise the living standards.

In this context, he underscores a marked reduction of the tax burden which consequently has led to growing employment, higher salaries and better consumption, all of which has facilitated the economic growth.

In his New Year message, Prime Minister Plenković recalls that as of the start of the new year, Croatians will pay lower Value Added Tax on food and certain products, which will enable them to have a higher disposable income. "We wish for all Croatian people to live a decent life and therefore we advocate a higher social solidarity."

"We have increased the minimum wage to 3,000 kuna and pensions by 6 percent. A set of measures have helped over 50,000 citizens to have their bank accounts unblocked," he says.

Our future are our young people. Therefore, we are investing a lot in education and raising scholarships. The curricular reform is supposed to provide young people with high-quality education which will be conducive to their efforts to find jobs, he said.

Furthermore, the prime minister expresses his satisfaction with statistical figures indicating that negative birth growth has been halted. Thus in the first ten months of this year, 351 more babies were born than last year, according to Plenković's message.

We are expanding a set of measures aimed at the demographic revitalisation and at attracting Croatian expats to return to the homeland, he says.

Croatian prime minister also says that his cabinet is aware that the results in some fields have been better, whereas it is necessary to take additional efforts in some other fields. In this context, he points out the endeavours to achieve an even and balanced development in all corners of Croatia.

"In the year ahead of us, we are going to pay particular attention to strengthening citizens' confidence in the independence and efficiency of institutions. In that way, we will encourage a sense of justice and optimism in our society," the premier says.

Croatia will intensify its preparations for assuming the rotating presidency of the European Union in the first half of 2020 and for membership in the Schengen zone.

Let us together continue building a better and more prosperous Croatia. I wish you health and well-being, success and happiness in 2019, Plenković concludes in his message.

More news on the Croatian politics can be found in our dedicated section.

ZAGREB, December 31, 2018 - Parliament Speaker and Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) secretary-general Gordan Jandroković said on Monday that currently nothing hinted at a possible government reshuffle and underscored that the scandal dubbed text messages had nothing to do with the ruling HDZ party.

Considering the text messages affair, individuals worked outside the system and used the methods of work which can be considered inappropriate and perhaps contrary to law, Jandroković told the reporters who covered his New Year Eve walk through the centre of Zagreb. Jandroković said that the current leadership had nothing to do with that scandal.

Asked by the press what was about HDZ deputy president Milijan Brkić and his alleged connections with the suspects in the scandal, Jandroković said that he "is speaking about the people who now run the HDZ. All who are possibly implicated will have to be held to account." Jandroković declined to specify the names of those possibly implicated in the scandal.

As for the HDZ, he said that the party would prepare for the European Parliament elections, set for mid-May 2019.

Regarding the HDZ's position on the support to the incumbent president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović for her second term, Jandroković reiterated that he expected Grabar-Kitarović to first say whether she decided to rerun for the presidency. "If she decides so, the HDZ will support her."

He also admitted that there was no hurry for Grabar-Kitarović to outline her plans given that "no serious counter-candidate" has yet appeared.

Jandroković rejected media interpretations that the president replaced her advisers after caving in under the pressure from the HDZ leadership.

Commenting on the reporters' observations on fence-mending between President Grabar-Kitarović and Prime Minister and HDZ leader Andrej Plenković, Jandoković said that "the time has shown who were those people who stood behind occasional straining of the relations along the lines of the president and the government or the HDZ."

I expect cooperation and exchange of information as well as fixing of what ought to be fixed in the coming period, Jandroković said.

More news on the HDZ can be found in our Politics section.

ZAGREB, December 16, 2018 - The speaker of the Croatian parliament and secretary general of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party, Gordan Jandroković, dismissed on Sunday speculation about a possible government reshuffle given that the parliamentary group of Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić's party was increasing in number.

Speaking outside the Zagreb cathedral, reporters asked Jandroković to comment on media reports about a possible government reshuffle now that Bandić's party is short of only one MP to be able to form a parliamentary majority with the HDZ without its present junior partner, the Croatian People's Party (HNS). "This information is completely untrue, in fact it's nonsense," Jandroković said.

The speculation was prompted by the defection of Social Democratic Party (SDP) MP Ana Komparić Devčić to Bandić's Work and Solidarity Party this week. She is just one in a series of MPs who have recently crossed over to Bandić's party.

More news on the Zagreb mayor and other political events can be found in our Politics section.

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.