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 30, 2019 - The Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR) Balkan regional network has won the prestigious Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize, which has been awarded by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe since 2009, the network said on Monday.

A representative of the YIHR was presented with the prize at a ceremony in Strasbourg on Monday, and YIHR shares the prize with Ilham Tohti, advocate and defender of the rights of the Uyghur minority in China.

The programming director of the YIHR chapter in Serbia, Ivan Đurić, said at the award-giving ceremony that YIHR would continue to work across the region on creating a future and societies in which views would not be based on prejudice and unreliable information, but on personal experience and competence.

YIHR sees the Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize as a motive to even more strongly oppose the nationalist rhetoric with which leaders of the Western Balkans attempt to undermine peace in the region, as well as to create even more possibilities for citizens to strengthen cooperation between the region's societies and states through regional exchanges and dialogue, said Đurić.

YIHR will also continue to encourage the process of coming to terms with the past, without which societies in the region cannot achieve a lasting and sustainable peace, the NGO said.

The Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize, which honours the former president of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic, has been awarded since 2009 to organisations and individuals for their outstanding contribution to protecting and promoting human rights in Europe and beyond.

Until 2013 it was called the Human Rights Prize of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

More news about human rights in Croatia can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, September 27, 2019 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Thursday accused the GONG non-governmental organisation of campaigning against the Croatian candidate for European Commission Vice-President, Dubravka Šuica.

"Dubravka Šuica got through the hearing before the Croatian Parliament's Committee on European Affairs where members of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) raised these topics which are now, ostensibly accidentally, being recycled by GONG, which always steps in on the SDP's side," Plenković told reporters in Brussels after a working lunch with European Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen.

Plenković was responding to questions about Croatian media reports on Šuica's personal assets and whether those could do her damage during a European Parliament committee hearing next week.

"GONG is a left-wing non-governmental organisation which has launched a major campaign by sending letters to all MEPs in an effort to sway their view on the Croatian candidate for European Commission Vice-President. The public should know this. The seemingly independent GONG is conducting a fierce campaign against the future European Commission Vice-President from Croatia. They are the long arm of the SDP, asking the same questions as MP Grbin. ... This is orchestrated and intentional and I am saying this with full responsibility so that the Croatian public should know," Plenković said.

Asked if this campaign managed to shake the confidence of Ursula von der Leyen, Plenković said: "Not at all."

The GONG NGO said on Thursday it still wanted answers to its six questions about the declaration of assets of Dubravka Šuica, the Croatian candidate for European Commission Vice-President, and that Prime Minister Andrej Plenković's "attack" on GONG was an attempt "to divert attention from what is important."

GONG explained in a press release why it had sent the questions to the European Parliament. "We requested the declaration of assets... from the Croatian Parliament, but it referred us to the Conflict of Interest Commission, which turned us down, citing the confidentiality of... Šuica's personal data."

"Since we didn't get the answers in Croatia, in the hope that we would finally get them, we sent the questions to European Parliament committees and the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament, who will hear Dubravka Šuica."

GONG said Šuica should put an end to years of speculation on the origin of her assets, which GONG said were also investigated by the tax authorities. It would be enough if she published her declarations of assets from the start of her political career and the findings of the tax authorities, the NGO added.

GONG went on to say that the prime minister, instead of attacking those asking questions, should have made sure that the Croatian and the European public were given answers in time. "We have the right to know."

GONG reiterated its questions to Šuica: How will she care for the future of democracy in the EU when the Croatian government is rife with corruption scandals? How will she defend the rule of law if she was against sanctions against Hungary for breaching the rule of law? How will she fight for equality if she was against two resolutions on gender equality? How did she manage, having worked only in the public and government sectors, to gain assets estimated at 5 million euro? Why hasn't she made public all tax audit findings from 2001 to 2009, when she was an MP and the mayor of Dubrovnik?

More news about Dubravka Šuica can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, September 17, 2019 - The GONG NGO said on Tuesday that the police treatment of journalist Gordan Duhaček represented unacceptable pressure on journalists and the continuation of the erosion of freedom of the press.

"Situations appropriate to repressive regimes are occurring under the government of Andrej Plenković, who is preparing to take over the presidency of the Council of the EU," GONG said, responding to Monday's arrest of Duhaček over, as the NGO said, a satirical little song on Twitter.

The media in Croatia are swamped in lawsuits, politicians harass journalists and the police go after them, visiting them at their workplace, GONG said.

It voiced concern about judge Krešimir Ozanić's threat to Duhaček, which was published by Index, the website Duhaček works for, and demanded an urgent reaction from the State Judicial Council and the Justice Ministry.

"An attack on journalists is an attack on the freedom of the press, on the right of all citizens to question the government, as well as an attack on our fundamental political liberties, which we must not allow in any way," GONG said.

Duhaček was arrested at Zagreb airport on Monday for not responding to a police summons and was subsequently fined.

The arrest was condemned by the Croatian Journalists Association on Monday, while the House of Human Rights Zagreb and the Centre for Peace Studies said today it constituted unacceptable pressure on freedom of the press in Croatia and yet another problematic police action against persons who expressed social criticism.

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

ZAGREB, August 12, 2019 - The Lipa taxpayers' association has recently launched an online petition against the introduction of taxes on sugar in non-alcoholic beverages and against plans to increase taxes on cigarettes and alcohol.

Lipa, which describes itself as "the voice of taxpayers in public discourse", has stated that the taxation of drinks with added sugar and higher tobacco and alcohol taxes "will improve nothing in your lives".

It will only increase the amount of money made available to the "too wasteful state", Lipa says in a press release.

The NGO is against a new tax being imposed on sugary drinks "under the pretext of protection of young people against obesity" and insists that cheap fast food, the only type of food available to impoverished citizens, is the cause of obesity.

The association calls for reducing the tax burden and enhancing living standards to improve citizens' eating habits.

It also calls on the government to implement the 2019 National Reform Programme, which includes the merger of hospitals, further development of integrated public procurement, digitisation and efficient human resources management in the health system, as a way of improving public health.

More news about taxes can be found in the Business section.

ZAGREB, July 19, 2019 - Human Rights House in Zagreb on Friday said that it was inappropriate to nominate the incumbent Interior Minister Davor Božinović as the deputy prime minister for the coordination of human rights, calling on MPs to reject his nomination.

"Appointing Minister Božinović with this burden is a step backwards and certainly cannot give a 'new boost and energy' to the government's activities in the field of human rights, which has been neglected for years and without fundamental public policies for the protection and promotion of human rights such as a national human rights programme," the NGO said in a press release.

It is absurd the minister whose "ministry is faced with continual and serious accusations by international and local organisations and institutions of systematic human rights violations and illegal expulsions of refugees and migrants" should be responsible for the coordination of government activities in the field of human rights.

The NGO accused Minister Božinović of "seriously jeopardising the rule of law in Croatia," because he "systematically prevented and thwarted the supervision of police conduct by the ombudsman's office, an independent institution authorised by parliament for the protection of human rights."

The NGO called on lawmakers to show their commitment to the respect of human rights and Croatian laws by rejecting Minister Božinović's nomination and urged Prime Minister Andrej Plenković to select someone that would make a significant step forward in that field.

More news about human rights in Croatia can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, July 17, 2019 - The Forum 2020, an informal civil society platform, on Wednesday outlined its four priorities during Croatia's chairmanship of the European Union in the first half of 2020 - a law-based Europe, a Europe of sustainable development, a Europe as a peace-building model, and a Europe with the potential for enlargement.

Forum 2020 is an informal platform of civil society organisations that have gathered in relation to Croatia's chairmanship of the EU at the start of next year. It comprises more than 20 NGOs and is coordinated by the CROSOL platform, the organisation informed on Wednesday.

The first priority is a democratic Europe of free and responsible people founded on the rule of law and human rights. Forum 2020 advocates a Europe of free, independent and critical NGOs, independent institutions and media.

The second topical priority is a EU that still has the potential for enlargement and one that will stabilise the Western Balkans.

The third is about Europe that is committed to the goals of sustainable development within and beyond its borders and the final priority is the European Union as a global peacebuilder.

All these priorities have been elaborated in detail with concrete demands relating to public policy and have been released on CROSOL's web site and sent to the Croatian government and foreign ministry.

Members of Forum 2020 include the Centre for Peace Studies, the Network of Croatian Youth, Gong, BaBe, Documenta and the House of Human Rights.

Croatia will take over the chair of the Council of the European Union from Finland on 1 January 2020.

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

ZAGREB, June 3, 2019 - Projects by 53 NGOs from Croatia for which HRK 43.8 million is intended from two Swiss donations were presented on Monday as part of the Swiss-Croatian cooperation programme.

The projects that were chosen for co-financing should bolster sustainable development, economic and social cohesion, and Croatian-Swiss partnership for local social and economic growth and development.

As part of the projects, said Helena Beus, head of the Government Office for Cooperation with NGOs, 185 education programmes for sustainable development will be held, 60 models of good practice for sustainable development in the local community will be developed, 2,000 participants will exchange experiences and know-how with Swiss partners, and 10,000 students will be included in the projects.

Beus said 36 million kuna had been contracted for project implementation so far.

Swiss Ambassador Emilija Georgieva Regamey said the cooperation between the two countries was part of Switzerland's contribution to EU enlargement, which she added was aimed at levelling the economic inequalities between the member states.

Since 2007, we have invested 1.2 billion euro in projects in EU countries and these donations for civil society are two of the 11 projects Switzerland is implementing in Croatia, she said, adding that her country strongly believed that civil society had a very important role in society.

More news about NGOs in Croatia can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, May 20, 2019 - Since 2015 the EU has not managed to find an adequate response to the arrival of a growing number of migrants, except for closing borders and growing repression on borders, while the asylum system is waiting for an overhaul even though some member states have made it clear that they will not accept changes that entail distribution of migrants among EU countries, it was said at a round table discussion on migrations in Zagreb on Monday.

The discussion, organised by the Centre for Peace Studies (CMS) nongovernmental organisation, was attended by representatives of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the European Council on Refugees and Exiles, who spoke about the current situation regarding migrations and expectations in relation to decision-makers at the local and the EU level.

CMS representatives said they expected Croatian members of the European Parliament to demand that Croatia put an end to violence and unlawful activities on borders. They also called for "thoroughly investigating" what they described as unlawful and forcible deportations of refugees across Croatia's borders and the punishment of those responsible for them.

CMS activists said they wanted an end to be put to abuse and partial interpretations of Croatian and European laws to justify violation of migrants' human rights.

"A comprehensive migration and integration policy based on analyses of the situation needs to be adopted. Adequate funding needs to be expended both at the national and EU levels to support a two-way integration process, which includes cooperation between all stakeholders - the local community, civil society, citizens and the private sector," said Julija Kranjec of the CMS.

She added that the CMS expected Croatian MEPs to see it to that the EU "ensures safe and legal routes for persons seeking security in the EU and to ensure a functional asylum system."

The CMS expects the EU to support countries along the so-called Balkan route (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia), restrict the powers of the European border and coast guard agency Frontex and the establishment of 'an independent mechanism to control conduct on borders'.

More news about the migrant crisis can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, May 11, 2019 - The integration of migrants and helping them find employment is a positive and important example of solidarity which European Union member states show to people fleeing war and poverty, representatives of governmental and non-governmental organisations told a panel in Zagreb on Friday ahead of elections for the European Parliament.

The panel, entitled "A Europe of solidarity", also involved the head of the Jesuit Refugee Service in Croatia, Tvrtko Barun, and the state secretary at the Ministry of the Interior, Žarko Katić, who spoke about positive cooperation between governmental and non-governmental organisations for the purpose of employment and integration of migrants.

Last year the Jesuit Refugee Service helped find work for 40 migrants, in most cases assisting entire families in settling their status.

"The main precondition for any integration is knowing the language," Barun said. "Integration is a two-way process. Not everything depends on us, the government or the non-government sector. It is up to a person to make an effort and learn the language so they can communicate in their neighbourhood and at work."

Katić said that cooperation between the government and non-government sectors was crucial for implementing quality projects. He noted that finding employment for migrants was particularly successful given that the Croatian economy needed a large number of workers.

"Employers are looking for workers all the time, and they are hard to find in the neighbouring countries. That's why they are looking further afield from Croatia, as far as East Asia," Katić said, adding that the government planned to accept 65,000 foreign workers this year.

Barun said that it was important to give confidence and funding to the non-government sector so that they could ensure effective cooperation. "Non-governmental organisations will do this work more effectively, more cheaply and faster than the government sector," he said.

More news about the migrant crisis can be found in the Politics section.