ZAGREB, March 17, 2020 - In order to prevent the spreading of the novel coronavirus, the Croatian parliament will organise its plenary sessions in line with the national civil protection authority's recommendations on minimum personal distance, sources at the parliament said on Tuesday without specifying details.

Unofficial sources, however, say that a new seating arrangement has been defined for Wednesday, when the parliament will reconvene.

To make sure that there is room in the parliament chamber for each of the 151 members of parliament and that they sit at the prescribed distance from one another, they will sit in every other bench, at seats that are usually occupied by government members and at side seats and seats in all three galleries.

MPs will be given a precise seating order on Tuesday afternoon.

On Wednesday the parliament will vote on a proposal to add a government-sponsored set of bills to the session's agenda on assistance to the economic sector and amendments to the Civil Protection Act.

Since all deputies will not be physically able to vote electronically due to the new seating order, electronic voting will be combined with voting by a show of hands.

The parliament has already given instructions to media outlets regarding reporters' presence in the parliament building and internal protocols are being made to prevent the spreading of the coronavirus.

More coronavirus news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, March 2, 2020 - The parliament is continuing to work in a regular manner and without any changes after one of the 151 members of the legislature stated that he would be in self-quarantine as a precaution since he had been at an event at which one of the eight Croatian patients diagnosed with coronavirus had also attended.

In response to Hina's queries about the latest developments after parliamentarian Joško Klisović informed the public that he would be self-isolated in the next 14 days, even though he participated in voting in the parliament on Friday, parliament's public relations office said that there will not be any disruptions to the parliament's regular work.

The national parliament responded that no other deputy has reported that they had come into contact with any of the people tested positive for coronavirus.

To date, five positive cases have been registered in Rijeka and three more cases in Zagreb.

More news about coronavirus can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, January 7, 2020 - Citizens are spending less and less time visiting MPs' personal websites, and only seven out of 151 MPs had around a thousand hits in 2019, including Sonja Čikotić of MOST, data on the website of the Croatian Parliament show.

Among the above-mentioned group are five HDZ MPs: Branko Bačić, Tomislav Sokol, Marijan Kustić, Stevo Culej and Josip Đakić. They are joined by Ivan Pernar (SIP).

In comparison to previous years, a thousand hits is a rather modest number.

For example, in the first half of 2018, when the favourites were Goran Aleksić (SNAGA), independent Marko Vučetić and Culej, their sites had nearly 4,500, 4,000 and 3,000 hits respectively.

Miljan Brkić's (HDZ) website had nearly 10,700 hits in the first half of 2016, while Miro Bulj's (MOST) had 7,600. Goran Marić's (HDZ) website had the most hits in 2015 and 2014.

The website of each MP contains merely his or her photo, biography and a list of committees the MP is a member of.

Parliament says that MPs' websites popularity is decreasing "in favour of the increasing number of visits for deputy clubs, visits to MPs' websites according to party affiliation and according to national minorities representation."

As in previous years, parties with the most hits are the HDZ (3,916), MOST (2,035), the SDP (1,785) and Bandić Milan 365 (1,757).

In comparison with the previous period, citizens are increasingly looking up MPs' expenses (1,882).

They are also interested in calls for tenders (6,727), and the employment section, which had more than 3,300 hits even though there have been no vacancies since 2017.

The Parliament's website had the highest number of visitors in a single day (more than 4,320) on 16 January 2019, when PM Andrej Plenković submitted a report on the European Council meetings.

Slightly fewer visitors accessed the site on 14 February when 16 opposition MPs requested an interpellation on the work of the Government regarding the purchase of fighter jets.

The highest number of visitors (78.4%) are from Croatia, followed by those from the US and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Parliament's website had 3,136,041 hits in 2019.

More politics news can be found in the dedicated section.

ZAGREB, November 14, 2019 - Neither the presidency nor the political assembly of the European People's Party (EPP) will hold a meeting on the premises of the Croatian Parliament (Sabor), the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), a member of the EPP group said on Thursday confirming media reports that, after all, the Sabor will not be a venue for the EPP gathering in Zagreb.

The European People's Party is holding its Statutory Congress on 20 and 21 November in Zagreb.

Some of the technical meetings were initially planned to take place in the Parliament Hall (Sabornica), however, in the meantime the EPP decided to change the location for those technical meetings so as to avoid any damage to the group's reputation, according to the tabloid 24 sata.

The initial plan was that technical meetings on 19 November should take place in Sabornica, and the EPP was supposed to pay 74,488 kuna for the rent of the venue.

The decision of the Croatian Parliament's presidency to allow EPP meetings in the parliament and to collect some funds for that rental job infuriated the Opposition which then for weeks severely criticised the ruling Croatian Democratic Union.

The EPP Congress will be co-hosted by Prime Minister of Croatia and (HDZ) leader, Andrej Plenković, and EPP President Joseph Daul and EPP Secretary General Antonio Lopez -Isturiz, the EPP says on its website.

"The Congress in Zagreb will focus on effective policies to combat climate change, on empowering the younger generations and the Western Balkans."

The Congress will also elect the EPP Presidency, including the President, Vice-Presidents, Treasurer and Secretary General. 2,000 participants from more than 40 countries have been invited to participate in the Congress in Zagreb, the EPP says.

More HDZ news can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, November 4, 2019 - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković, who started his visit to China on Sunday, met with the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Li Zhanshu, in Beijing on Monday, the Croatian parliament said in a statement.

Jandroković and Li confirmed that the two countries relations were traditionally friendly and based on partnership.

It was said that the visit of the Croatian parliament speaker built on the political dialogue of the highest level, confirmed by Chinese Premier Li Kequiang's visit to Croatia earlier this year.

The two officials expressed satisfaction with their countries' very good and developed cooperation in a number of areas, from trade and science to culture and sports.

They also expressed satisfaction with the regular exchange of official visits by parliamentary delegations, with Jandroković inviting Li to pay an official visit to Croatia.

The Croatian official underlined the importance of Croatia's participation in the Belt and Road Initiative and the 17+1 project, noting that a successful summit meeting was held as part of the initiative and the project in Dubrovnik in April.

Jandroković said that one of the key events in the strengthening of Croatia-China relations and trust was the construction of the Pelješac bridge by China Road and Bridge Corporation.

He said the project was very important for Croatia considering that the bridge would connect Croatian territory, thus connecting EU territory.

Li, who visited Croatia in 2012, said that even though far away from each other, the two countries had close relations and that China considered Croatia one of the most important partners in the EU and Southeast and Central Europe.

The two officials also expressed satisfaction with a steady rise in the number of Chinese tourists visiting Croatia, expressing confidence that tourist cooperation would be additionally intensified, with the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) and Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) offices in Shanghai playing an important role in that.

Speaking of Croatia's participation in the second China International Import Expo in Shanghai, Jandroković said he was happy that this year the HGK had its own exhibition area at the event and that a Croatian-Chinese business forum would be held, with Croatian companies presenting their products, services, technologies and ideas.

Jandroković said that both sides were very satisfied with the high level of overall bilateral relations.

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

ZAGREB, November 2, 2019 - Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković is paying an official visit to China from 2 to 6 November and during his stay in that Asian country he will travel to Shanghai and Beijing, reads the Sabor's press release.

The Croatian official will commence his visit with his reception by the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Li Zhanshu, in the capital city.

During his stay in Beijing, Jandroković is due to hold meetings with the Huawei company's top executives and attend an exhibition about China's achievements and progress in the last 70 years.

The Sabor speaker will be at the helm of Croatia's delegation at the second International Import Expo that starts in Shanghai on Tuesday.

In that city, Jandroković is expected to hold a speech on the role of governments in creation of regulations, opening of markets, and prospects of multinational companies.

He will be one of the guests at the special dinner to be hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping in Shanghai within China International Import Expo.

On the last day of his visit, 6 November, Jandroković will take part in a Chinese-Croatian business forum in that the most populous urban area in China.

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

ZAGREB, October 25, 2019 - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković called on his counterparts from Council of Europe member states on Thursday to act together in order to avoid new divisions and preserve the European project, announcing that Croatia would promote the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development during its presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2020.

Through continuous and constructive dialogue, mutual understanding and common action we can avoid divisions and preserve unity, he said in Strasbourg in a debate called "Our Common European Home: the next 70 years".

Earlier divisions brought us into the simplified trap of populism and criticism of everything that has been so carefully built for the past 70 years, Jandroković said.

One of the CoE's achievements is the single system of the European Convention on Human Rights and all the related instruments which focus on the protection of human dignity, he added.

Croatia's CoE membership benefited Croatian citizens. The CoE's role was especially invaluable in light of the efforts we invested on our path to membership of the EU, which we will chair in about two months, he said.

Jandroković also spoke in a debate on the UN's sustainable development goals. The Sustainable Development Goals Index ranks Croatia 22nd out of 162 countries, which gives us a good chance to become one of the leaders in the transition towards sustainability, he said.

He mentioned Croatia's first sustainable development documents, saying parliament adopted the Environmental Protection Declaration in 1992, only five months after Croatia was internationally recognised.

Currently in force is the 2009 Sustainable Development Strategy, while a national development strategy until 2030 is being drawn up.

The "Croatia as we want it" strategy will encompass priorities and contribute to the sustainable development and demographic revival of Croatia in the coming decade, Jandroković said.

Croatia will promote the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development while chairing the Council of the EU next year, he said. The goals include ending poverty and hunger and promoting prosperity, peace, partnership and environmental protection.

Although the Agenda is not legally binding and the goals are being implemented slowly, he called on his counterparts to exchange opinions on how to step up the Agenda's progress. In that way, he said, we can revive the political momentum and initial enthusiasm.

More news about Council of Europe can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, October 24, 2019 - The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) on Wednesday dismissed claims about the "privatisation" of the national parliament's compound, and recalls that the parliament presidency's decision to lease its premises to the European People's Party (EPP) in November was made by a majority vote, including the support of the Social Democrat (SDP) representative.

The HDZ issued a press release on Wednesday evening after Vesna Pusić of the GLAS party and Gordan Maras of the SDP earlier in the day said that they found it unacceptable that the Sabor has leased its Grand Chamber to the EPP for its meetings in mid-November.

The HDZ recalls that the EPP is holding an election convention in Zagreb on 19-21 November, and that over 2000 participants from about 40 countries will arrive in Zagreb for that event.

The hosts of the EPP congress in Zagreb are Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, who is the leader of the HDZ , a member of the EPP, and the EPP president Jospeh Daul.

Also, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the European Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen and the European Council president Donald Tusk are expected to attend the congress.

A majority of the activities within the Congress are going to take place in Zagreb's Arena sports hall, the HDZ says.

Meetings of the EPP presidency and assembly will take place in the Croatian Parliament.

Organising its congresses in the recent years, the EPP have made sure that the gatherings of its Presidency and Assembly could take place in the chambers of national parliaments of the countries where congresses have been held, the HDZ notes.

For instance, this has been the case in Lithuania, Denmark, Finland and in the European Parliament in Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg, the HDZ says.

It also recalls that the EPP contacted the Croatian Parliament's Presidency in April asking for a possibility of renting the Grand Chamber for its congress in November.

A majority of the presidency members, including Sinisa Hajdas Dončić of the SDP, supported the lease, and only Božo Petrov of the MOST party abstained from the vote, according to the HDZ press release.

Under that decision, a day's rent for the Grand Chamber, where plenary sessions of Parliament are held, costs 35,000 kuna, while other chambers may be rented out for between 6,500 and 15,000 kuna.

The EPP has rented the Grand Chamber and another hall that costs 7,500 kuna, so that the rental of the premises will cost it 42,500 kuna, without other services such as technical support and catering.

The EPP says on its website that: "Now that the EPP has once again emerged as the leading force following the European elections and has successfully secured the Presidency of the European Commission, we would like to warmly invite you to the EPP Statutory Congress in Zagreb."

More HDZ news can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, October 8, 2019 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Tuesday again expressed satisfaction that the Croatian candidate for a European Commission Vice President, Dubravka Šuica, had successfully passed a hearing before the relevant committees of the European Parliament, expressing confidence that she would also contribute to improving the status of persons with disabilities.

"Ms Šuica, who has always advocated the rights of vulnerable groups, will... make it possible for what is done at EU level to be of help at the national level," Plenković said in response to a question from members of the public visiting the parliament which opened its door to them on the occasion of Independence Day.

One of the topics to be dealt with by Šuica are persons with disabilities, Plenković said when asked by a citizen if Šuica's election would have an impact on the status of persons with disabilities.

The prime minister stressed that emigration was not only a problem in Croatia and that other EU member states, too, had encountered it in the first years of liberalisation of movement of their citizens, who were leaving for more developed EU countries.

"Those trends have been stabilising in Croatia, too, and there are no more mass emigration trends," the PM said, adding that emigration today was different from what it had been 100 or 150 years ago.

Citing measures his government had undertaken to stop emigration, he cited successful economic indicators - an increase in the average and minimum wages, a growth of pensions, a 3.1% economic growth and three record tourist seasons.

"The government has kickstarted economic growth, macroeconomic trends are good, we have the lowest unemployment rate and the highest employment rate, of 66%," he said, admitting that things could always be better.

He noted that the government would soon discuss an energy strategy and underlined that the education reform was one of the key instruments for job adaptation in the future.

Plenković confirmed being acquainted with the problem of unlawful logging, of which representatives of the Zeleni Odred (Green Squad) association spoke, criticising the government for not doing anything about it.

The PM said that unlawful logging was not happening with the government's consent.

Answering questions from members of the public, War Veterans Minister Tomo Medved repeated that shedding light on the fate of people gone missing in the 1991-95 war was a priority for the government and his ministry, adding that Croatia was still looking for 1,891 persons.

Numerous citizens asked questions of personal interest to them, from property-rights related issues to family issues, and were referred to the relevant ministries.

Speaker Gordan Jandroković agreed with citizens' objection that some members of parliament did not attend parliamentary sessions regularly, saying that some of them were justifiably absent and some were not. Unjustified absence is fined, but the worst penalty for any such member of parliament is not being re-elected, he said.

More politics news can be found in the dedicated section.

ZAGREB, Sept 18, 2019 - After a two-month recess, lawmakers will return to parliament on Wednesday for the autumn session which will last until the end of October.

The session will begin with Question Time when 38 lawmakers both from opposition parties and from the ruling majority will put questions to Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and his ministers.

The prime minister is also expected to inform parliament of meetings held by the European Council and practice has shown that that debate can often be quite heated.

The Credentials and Privileges Commission will inform parliament that it has stripped of immunity former public administration minister Lovro Kuščević, an HDZ MP, and that it has given its approval for the State Prosecutor's Office to launch criminal proceedings against him for abuse of office and powers.

Lawmakers will debate ten items on the agenda in this first week, including a government-sponsored distress bill.

There are already 100 items tabled on the agenda and it is more than likely that more will be added before the end of October.

Parliament is expected to debate the government's annual report, the third to be presented by Prime Minister Plenković, when he is expected to inform the parliament and public about what his government has done over the past year.

Parliament is also expected to take a vote of confidence in Health Minister Milan Kujundžić as requested by opposition parties.

The new session will have a new caucus - the Independent Slate of Young People, bringing the number of parliamentary groups to 14.

More politics news can be found in the dedicated section.