April 1, 2023 - Croatia will soon receive and host 20 wounded Ukrainians, said Defense Minister Tomo Medved, who arrived in Kyiv with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on the anniversary of the liberation of Bucha in Ukraine. Medved said that Croatia would help Ukraine by accepting the wounded and that the initiative was presented in detail to the Ukrainian leadership today.

Two veteran centers are already in operation

"Today we went through the contents of the program in detail, and we expect very soon that Ukraine will prepare the first 20 wounded who will be accepted by the Croatian hospital system in accordance with their diagnosis, and after the completion of the treatment, a rehabilitation program will follow in our veterans' centers," said Medved, as reported by Index.

Two veteran centers are already in operation, and soon there will be two more, added the Minister of Defense. Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and Medved arrived in the Ukrainian capital today by train in complete secrecy.

Plenkovic will participate in the meeting at the "Bucha - Russia's responsibility for crimes in Ukraine" summit, and before the start of the summit, he met with the Ukrainian leadership. The crimes in Bucha "showed the true face of Russian aggression - intimidation of the Ukrainian people and committing crimes," said Plenkovic.

"Our support to Ukraine will continue, be it political, financial, humanitarian, or military"

"The Ukrainian leadership, the Ukrainian people, Ukrainian soldiers, and policemen have shown the world what it means to fight for freedom, what it means to be a patriot," he added. Plenkovic said that the international community has shown solidarity with Ukraine, "the likes of which has not been seen for decades" and that solidarity and unity in support of that country will remain "strong."

"Our support to Ukraine will continue, be it political, financial, humanitarian or military," the Croatian Prime Minister emphasized.

"All colleagues are aware of what it means to come here in person, however, the path is now much longer and more complicated, but if someone decides to take that path - it means that he has a big heart for Ukraine," said the Croatian ambassador to Ukraine, Anica Djamić, about Plenković visit to Ukraine, the second since the beginning of the Russian invasion.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated News section.

February the 28th, 2023 - The Croatian AD Plastik company hasn't been immune to ongoing geopolitical issues causing havoc for the economy, and while figures of 826 million kuna for 2022 sound encouraging, it's a big step down when compared to 2021.

As Marija Brnic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes, according to all announcements, the crisis with the shortage of semiconductors is gradually coming to an end and it is expected that it should end by the end of this year, at least according to Marinko Dosen, the CEO of the Croatian AD Plastik company. Issues following sanctions against Russia owing to their horrific invasion of neighbouring Ukraine have caused issues for just about every company, and AD Plastik hasn't been immune.

The group's operating income fell by 26.6% compared to 2021, to 826 million kuna. Normalised EBITDA amounted to 0.94 million kuna and was also lower by a staggering 99.3%, and with the adjustment values included, the net loss at the group level amounts to almost 80 million kuna in total.

The Croatian AD Plastik company's problems go hand in hand with current geopolitical ones and war in Europe. It has two factories in Russia, which stopped production after their main customers left Russia after the beginning of the aggression against Ukraine in February 2022. In the meantime, production did manage to be established in one of them, but with very significantly reduced capacities.

Back in pandemic-dominated 2021, which wasn't either for most business either, 27% of a grand total of 1.23 billion kuna in revenue was generated in Russia, while in 2022, that share fell to around 14%, with revenue on the EU and Serbian markets falling to 14%, and in Russia - by 61%. The Croatian AD Plastik company therefore focused almost entirely on the European market, and 205 million euros worth of work was contracted in 2022, mostly for Stellantis, with the start of serial production for most of the contracts set for 2024.

The positive thing for the Croatian AD Plastik company's report is the associated company EAPS from nearby Romania, in which it holds 50 percent ownership, and which, thanks to the business it contracted with Dacia Duster, achieved an increase in revenue of 35% (standing at 725 million kuna) and profits of 150% (76 million kuna).

For more, check out our dedicated business section.

February the 20th, 2023 - The Croatian company DOK-ING has sent two robots to Ukraine's aid, seeing them handed over to the representatives of the Ukrainian State Administration for Emergency Sisutations by Marijo Grgurinovic, DOK-ING's main man.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the handover of two out of a total of eight robotic systems designed for humanitarian demining to war-torn Ukraine took place at the headquarters of the Croatian company DOK-ING company a few days ago. The president of the DOK-ING Management Board, Marijo Grgurinovic, personally partook in the exchange.

As explained in the company's press release, the robots were donated by an American donor, and senior representatives of the Directorate of Civil Protection and the Centre for Testing, Development and Training (CTRO) also took part in the handover to Ukrainian officials.

Neven Karas, coordinator for civil protection affairs of the Directorate of Civil Protection, pointed out that, unfortunately, the Republic of Croatia has had to endure a similar experience as what Ukraine is currently going through, but thanks to it, the country gained rich experience in mine action.

"As Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic pointed out at the last meeting with President Zelenski, an agreement on cooperation in the field of mine action between Ukraine and Croatia will be concluded, and one of the most important segments of this cooperation and assistance is precisely the delivery of our equipment and machines for humanitarian action. We've repeatedly pointed out that we have rich experience, we have knowledge and we have all of the proper resources,'' added Karas.

Marijo Grgurinovic stated that he is glad that the Croatian company DOK-ING has had trust placed in it and has once again been recognised as the world leader in demining robots, where it holds 80% of the global market.

"DOK-ING has sold its machines in about 40 countries around the world, and while we have world fame and attention, we're glad when we're visited in Zitnjak, where the very development and production of our robots takes place, where you can essentially see and feel the lifeblood of our innovation laboratory, and which is backed by top engineering experts", said Grgurinovic.

Alina Kozlova, a representative of SESU Ukraine, added that these robotic machines really do work to save human lives thanks to their remote controls and many multi-functionalities.

As a reminder, the Croatian company DOK-ING's robotic systems are used all over the world by armies, civil protection units, members of police forces, commercial operators and international non-governmental organisations in all kinds of demining operations.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated news section.

February the 10th, 2023 - This week in Croatian politics, the fallout among certain individuals surrounding the topic of training Ukrainian soldiers in Croatia and elsewhere in the EU has remained heated, Plenkovic's asset card has been up for scrutiny, and SDP's president has accused HDZ of not wanting to solve the pressing issue of corruption at all.

Plenkovic's latest asset card shows he inherited 80,000 euros

The topic of asset cards which showcase what politicians own in terms of property (be it residential or otherwise) and other such items is often a hot topic in the often complex world of Croatian politics. PM Andrej Plenkovic's latest one shows that he has inherited a very nice sum of money indeed. 

Plenkovic recently submitted a new asset card to the Commission for deciding on conflicts of interest, having reported increased savings from 170,000 euros to 250,000 euros. He achieved these increased savings through inheritance, HDZ's main man and the prime minister of the country stated in the newly submitted asset card. It wasn't only Andrej Plenkovic's savings which have increased, his wife Ana Maslac Plenkovic has also seen her cash go up.

Plenkovic also reported over 11,000 euros for his wife, an employee of the Croatian Parliament. The card says that Plenkovic's wife also achieved increased savings through inheritance. The asset card states that the amount of tax paid on inheritance and gifted money stands at 461.90 euros. Plenkovic now has more real estate, but it refers solely to a smaller part of a garden on the island of Hvar, the area of which spans just 25 square metres.

SDP President Pedja Grbin appeared on N1 Television and discussed some of the latest political topics, including corruption

SDP President Pedja Grbin was a guest on recently on N1 Television where he commented on the report of the chief state attorney Zlata Hrvoj Sipek. He recalled his statement from two years ago when he said that Hrvoj Sipek would fail to bring the (very) necessary changes to the system, and added that during her recent questioning in parliament, she didn't mention the fight against corruption even once.

"When it comes to some minor thefts and the like, I think DORH (State Attorney's Office) is doing well, but the problem arises when Plenkovic calls them, because when he does - investigations stop. People within DORH need to work in impossible conditions, they have nowhere to put their files, nor material resources, and who is in charge of all of that? The government, but they don't even want the DORH to function properly and well, while the state attorney barely mentioned it in her own presentation," added SDP's president.

We need to teach children about the harmfulness of corruption, and mechanisms and tools should be incorporated into the state administration system that will reduce corruption to the smallest possible extent. We recently received European Union funds for this, but these funds aren't being used. In a situation where every person can follow their own situation, corruption is almost impossible," continued Grbin:

"HDZ doesn't want to use that EU money because they don't want to fight corruption, instead everything is left to DORH, where when they receive a case in which the letters ''AP'' are mentioned, the file just gets shoved in a drawer. That is just not enough, the fight against corruption also means the reform of public self-government to a better organisation of the healthcare system."

Plenkovic goes to Brussels and claims that those who voted against the training of Ukrainians in Croatia and the rest of the EU in their fight against Russian aggression did so out of ''pure hatred''

The enormous levels of support of the European Union and the European public for Ukraine and its horrific suffering at Russia's hands shows that the vast majority of Europeans clearly see what is evil, and that is Russian aggression.

''It would be good if everyone saw it so clearly in Croatia as well,'' Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday in Brussels, perhaps using the opportunity to take a swipe at Zoran Milanovic for his increasingly odd comments when referring to the Russia-Ukraine war.

"The support of the European Union is still strong and unified, this unity is unprecedented,'' Plenkovic said, and then alluded to certain members of the Croatian Parliament who were against Croatia participating in the training of Ukrainian soldiers. He said those who voted against the idea did so out of hatred.

When asked by a journalist whether Croatian support for Ukraine deflated after the lack of a two-thirds majority in the Parliament that would have bypassed President Zoran Milanovic's veto on the training of Ukrainian soldiers in Croatia, Plenkovic said that it "deflated only among those who keep on trying to please Russian points of view" as well as "individual members of the Croatian Parliament who, out of pure hatred for the government, HDZ or me personally, didn't participate or voted against it".

Plenkovic pointed out that he is convinced that the vast majority of the Croatian people don't share the views of those who are against the training of Ukrainian soldiers.

"As far as the Croatian people are concerned, I'm convinced that the vast majority of the Croatian people, considering our own experience, are very much in solidarity with Ukraine and want to help. It's the government that makes decisions about military aid being sent to Ukraine. We've been doing it continuously, and we'll continue to do it,'' he assured, adding that Croatia will help Ukraine in demining when the conflict finally does end as well.

On Thursday, Zelenski addressed the representatives of the European Parliament, then he came to the European Council for the summit of the leaders of the member states. After that, he held a series of bilateral meetings with various European leaders. The European leaders were divided into four groups for the meetings with the Ukrainian president, and Plenkovic was in a group with the leaders of Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary and Slovenia.

The former Defence Minister within Milanovic's old government has openly stated that he disagrees with the president's somewhat controversial views about the Ukraine issue

Ante Kotromanovic, the former Minister of Defense from Zoran Milanovic's old SDP government, spoke in Dnevnik N1 about the development of the war in Ukraine. Among other things, he stated that he does not consider the training of Ukrainians in Croati to be a prolongation of the war, which is the opposite of the thesis advocated by the President of the Republic of Croatia, Zoran Milanovic.

Referring to the current mass rocket attacks, Kotromanovic isn't ruling out the option that it could be the offensive that the Russians were talking about in the recent past, but also the option that it is a kind of "greeting" to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who recently returned from Brussels.

"This does seem to me that this could be a prelude to the start of some serious operation. We see these massive rocket attacks and drones that have been terrorising the whole of Ukraine for months now, but we don't see the movements of larger formations on the ground. In my opinion, the Russians definitely need something, something of a more significant victory. This is their last chance. What they've shown so far has been extremely bad. If they don't do something now, the question is whether they will ever have the chance to launch such major offensives again, considering that they're all now exhausted. About 200,000 soldiers have died so far on both sides,'' he stated.

He believes that fighter planes would significantly strengthen the Ukrainian armed forces, but he points out that the tanks that are already arriving from the Western allies will also give them strength. "Both European and American support will remain constant, there will be no oscillations. Especially when it comes to the Americans, they will go all the way and deliver everything the Ukrainians need," Kotromanovic believes.

Speaking about the successes on the Ukrainian battlefield, he emphasised the importance of Ukrainian military skills and military commanders.

"We saw that the Ukrainians are the true masters of improvisation. In a number of cases, they improvised in planning, they had the courage to take over new resources and send them quickly out to the battlefield," said Kotromanovic and added:

"Under the patronage of the US and all the advisers who spent several years there, the Ukrainians changed their narrative and that's why they're more successful than the Russian Army which is direct, as nothing can happen there until the commander-in-chief approves it.''

He believes that there are two reasons for the delay in sending certain weapons over to Ukraine - one reason is that people are now waiting to see how Russia will react, but also sometimes complicated internal politics in certain countries. Now, he says, leaders who support sending their necessary weapons have prevailed.

"I'm only sorry that this didn't happen sooner. I don't agree with the idea that arming Ukraine is prolonging the war. We need to be patient now and leave it to the Ukrainians to decide whether they want to continue the war," said Kotromanovic. Referring clearly to the remark that this is the opposite of the opinion of Zoran Milanovic, in whose government he was a member, Kotromanovic added that Milanovic has his opinion, and that he has his own.

For more on Croatian politics, make sure to check out our dedicated section and keep an eye out for our Week in Croatian Politics which are published each Friday.

February the 3rd, 2023 - This week in Croatian politics, we've had energy price woes, ''uhljebljivanje'' through exposed messages, and questions by experts about precisely what Croatia is trying to do by allowing Zoran Milanovic to make such confusing and politically damaging statements about the Russia-Ukraine war.

The government is looking into what it can do when it comes to energy prices after the 1st of April this year

Energy costs are still causing a lot of concern among the general public and particularly among businesses who are struggling to pay their often extortionate bills. With an unusually mild winter seeing us avoid what could have been a much worse scenario, the government is now busy looking into what it can do when the measures they put in place expire (April the 1st, and it certainly is no joke). Claiming that the costs for energy would have been far higher and caused more issues had the government not capped their prices, Plenkovic has assured the public that his ministers are analysing the situation and seeing what they can do as we edge towards spring.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic stated that without government measures, energy prices for many companies and individuals would have been much higher, adding that the ministers are currently analysing what the situation will be after April the 1st, given that government measures regarding these prices will last until March the 31st.

Given that some distributors have announced price increases of their own, journalists were naturally interested in whether the policy of regulating electricity and gas prices will continue from April the 1st, to which Plenkovic replied that the ministers of finance and economy are in charge of "preparing and analysing the situation for after that date".

"We believe that the [energy] price situation will stabilise"

Yesterday, the CBS published the first estimate according to which inflation during the month of January of this year (when compared to January 2022) was on average higher by 12.7 percent, and compared to December, prices remained the same on average. Plenkovic rated that announcement as very good.

"Obviously, the trend of inflation growth that we had in the last months of 2022 is now slowly going down, which is in line with the forecasts of the government and the European Commission (EC). We believe that the situation with prices will stabilise and that at this time next year we'll be talking about an annual inflation rate of around six percent, which would be very good considering these crisis circumstances," said Plenkovic after the government session.

Government spokesman Marko Milic allegedly sent messages to Croatian Forests (Hrvatske sume) to get his friend a job in the classic ''uhljeb'' fashion - he says not all is what it seems

Government spokesman Marko Milic recently had his alleged messages exposed by Nacional, in which he was organising for his friend to be employed within Croatian Forests. This type of employing peoples' friends, cousins, former housemates and estranged aunts who are in no way qualified to do the task at hand has been clamped down on in the past (apparently), but still goes on in many sectors. While in certain circles of society, who you know being more important than what you know can be expected, but the government spokesman being allegedly engaged in it is something Plenkovic likely won't stand for.

Despite the accusations against him and the messages published by Nacional, Milic spoke about the messages in which he apparently arranged ''uhljebljivanje'' within Croatian Forests. Index asked Milic about the messages published by Nacional, and in his response, he didn't dispute the authenticity of the messages, but claimed that the correspondence he had with the head of Croatian Forests at the time didn't affect the employment of an individual named Niko Dujmovic, nor did it have any bearing on the fact that Dujmovic was given an employment contract for an indefinite period after those messages were sent.

However, he failed to explain why he even questioned the head of Croatian Forests, Krunoslav Jakupcic, about a certain man named Dujmovic at all, nor why, after Jakupcic wrote to him that Dujmovic could work there and that he'd employ him indefinitely, he replied with the words "Thank you very much".

Marko Milic's answer to Index has been translated and transmitted in its entirety below:

"Regarding what's been published by Nacional, this is yet another in a series of inaccurate and misleading articles in which information is placed in such a way as to suggest the existence of illegal actions, which don't exist. I'm aware that the aforementioned 'correspondence' has been circulating in the media space, and as far as I know, Croatian Forests has already given an answer to some media outlets clarifying the factual situation.

Regarding the employment of Niko Dujmovic, the correspondence between me and Mr. Jakupcic dates from September the 30th, 2019, and Niko Dujmovic was employed by Croatian Forests in accordance with the prescribed procedure and on the basis of a public tender from back in July 2018. Therefore, his employment took place more than one year before this correspondence, from which it follows that it had no influence on the establishment of the employment relationship of Mr. Dujmovic.

In addition, as far as I know based on the response of Croatian Forests, Mr. Dujmovic received an employment contract for an indefinite period during the second half of 2021, and that is almost two years after the published 'correspondence' took place, which clearly shows that the said messages had no influence on him getting a contract for an indefinite period.

As for the mention of the company Biomasa, I have no connection with it, I don't know what it does, nor do I know the people who are employed there. It was very likely a specific complaint that was sent to the government at the time regarding the prescribed procedure (we receive such complaints on a daily basis), and we forwarded the case to Croatian Forests. Regarding the further actions of Croatian Forests, we didn't have any instructions or influence, which is also evident from this correspondence.

Regarding the employment of Branko Filipeti, I have no influence on the content of messages sent to me by other people, to which I haven't even responded. I don't know this person," Milic wrote.

Now we've seen Milic's response, let's look at the messages published by Nacional, allegedly sent by him:

"Niko Dujmovic" - this is the very simple message that Marko Milic sent to Krunoslav Jakupcic on September the 30th, 2019, while Jakupcic was still the head of Croatian Forests (before he was arrested).

"He'll work [at Croatian Forests] for up to a year on a fixed-term basis - this is the normal way of doing things within Croatian Forests, and then we'll accept him for an indefinite period. I heard that he's good. Best wishes," responded Jakupcic.

"Thank you very much, Kruno," replied Milic.

"You're welcome," responded Jakupcic.

Milic has since gone on to further defend himself and these messages which he claims hold no weight by saying that USKOK (Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime) hasn't been in touch with him during an appearance on RTL. Croatian Forests have had their own say, saying that everything was done according to the law. 

President Zoran Milanovic's bizarre statements regarding Russia has confused the wider public, and now a professor from King's College London has understandably asked what Croatia is trying to do and what it wants

In a longer interview for DW, security expert Peter R. Neumann (King's College London) commented on the Western policy towards Ukraine, and also referred to the statements of Croatian President Milanovic about both Russia and Ukraine, which have been increasingly odd and problematic.

Peter R. Neumann is otherwise professor of security issues at King's College London and the director of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR), the world's leading research institute dealing with issues of radicalisation and terrorism. After studying political science in Berlin and Belfast, Peter R. Neumann earned his doctorate at London's King's College on the subject of the Northern Irish conflict.

While we won't bring you the interview translated in full, given that most of it focuses on the wider scope of the Russia-Ukraine war, we will publish what he said about Milanovic's strange statements which have caused not only Neumann, but numerous other individuals on the European ans global political stage to ask what Croatia is even trying to say or do by allowing the president to make such bold statements. Neumann has even wondered if Croatia is trying to state that it wants to leave the EU by allowing Milanovic the space to come out with such politically damaging things.

One year after the start of the war, how united is the West in terms of its policy towards Russia? Although Western leaders try to give the impression that there is unity in the response to aggression, the fact is that there is still no consensus. Even in the European Union, there is no consensus about this correct policy, as you call it,'' asked the interviewer. Here is Neumann's response:

''It's true that there is no consensus in the West about the policy towards Russia. But it is also true that Vladimir Putin, when he attacked Ukraine on February the 24th last year, thought that this consensus would be even weaker. What has happened in the West over the last year has been surprising, it's surprising how united the West really was, and that there are very, very few countries that oppose the Western line, for example Hungary.

I think that surprised Vladimir Putin as well. When he launched the action on the 24th of February last year, he believed he would march into Ukraine, and that countries like Germany were too weak to defend against it. That is, he believed that there would be no Western unity.

That was a miscalculation. And that is why it's now important to preserve that unity of the West, because only with that unity can Ukraine be sent as much aid as it needs to be able to strike back at the aggressor.

But it isn't only Hungary which has taken the stance it has. And it's not only Orban. He isn't really alone in this regard. You must have heard the latest statements of Croatian President Zoran Milanovic, who criticises the Western policy, opposes sending weapons to Ukraine, says that a military solution to the war is not possible, that is, that Crimea will never be part of Ukraine and that the West annexed Kosovo. The president of a country that is a member of the European Union and NATO is saying these things...

I find that problematic. I think it's important that such statements aren't made because they are an encouragement in this situation, especially for Vladimir Putin. Because the Russians take advantage of such statements. Because they're used for Russian propaganda, because they say: look, even Europe is not united.

And the fact is that the European Union, with the exception of Hungary, has so far been relatively united in its support for Ukraine. It's important to continue this policy. I don't know what Croatia wants to achieve with this? What does it want to do here? Does it want to be on Russia's side? Does it want to leave the European Union? Does it want to lead a completely different policy from other EU countries? What exactly is the strategic goal for Croatia here?

In my opinion, such statements have no strategic purpose, except to encourage Vladimir Putin and offer him yet more new propaganda material.''

Milanovic has been busy deflecting, turning the attention away from his comments on Ukraine and Russia to the aforementioned scandal about messages sent to employ people within Croatian Forests. Using every possible opportunity to take a swipe at HDZ (which, let's be honest, are numerous anyway), Milanovic stated that the situation with these messages and ''uhljebs'' is ''worse now than it was twenty years ago'' before turning the attention to Plenkovic once again. He has also been busy clearing up after generating a very positive response from Serbia, of all countries, for claiming that yes, Kosovo was indeed ''stolen'' from Serbia. We'll look into that below...

Milanovic gets a round of applause from Serbia after claiming that Kosovo was stolen from it. He has since admitted that he ''could have worded it differently''

''Serbia will have to recognise Kosovo eventually in some way,'' President Zoran Milanovic said this week, adding that Belgrade must understand that it will be the one to emerge from the "Serbian-Russian romance" as the scorned lover.

Here in Zagreb, at a press conference with the new Slovenian president, Natasa Pirc Musar, Milanovic said that "some things must change" in Serbia in order for it to be more inclined to the West where it will apparently be "welcomed".

"The situation in Ukraine is the beginning of the end of this Serbian-Russian romance in which Serbia will realise that it is the scorned lover," said the Croatian president, adding that Serbia and the Kosovo issue "bothers Russia."

"Russia is trying something with Ukraine and the example of Kosovo sticks out like a thorn in the eye. Russia will have to recognise Kosovo at some point or pretend to recognise it in order to legalise what it is doing in Ukraine. That's the reality," Milanovic said, adding that "there is no love" between Belgrade and Moscow, but that it is merely an interest in which Serbia serves Russia.

The Croatian president also said that Serbia "will have to recognise Kosovo in some way", and Kosovo's politicians, "his friends", will have to give status to the Association of Serbian Municipalities, "which they agreed to and signed".

Regarding his recent statement that ''Kosovo was stolen from Serbia'', Milanovic said that this is a fact because Belgrade didn't agree to it. "Serbia was left without Kosovo, it did not give it up voluntarily, it lost it during the war," said Milanovic.

"I could have said differently, that Serbia was left without Kosovo or that Kosovo was excluded from Serbia, but I guess we all agree that Kosovo was part of Serbia," said Milanovic, adding that he does not have to convince anyone of his attachment to the Kosovo Albanians. He also said that he always invites statesmen from countries that have not recognised Kosovo to do so.

To the Serbian tabloids that reacted positively to his statement about the apparently ''stolen'' Kosovo, Milanovic responded with the title of Larry David's comedy series: Curb your enthusiasm. They won't like this now.''

For more on Croatian politics, make sure to keep up with our dedicated section and follow our Week in Croatian Politics articles which are published every Friday.

January the 28th, 2023 - We all know that President Zoran Milanovic (SDP) is one to make sometimes rather strange remarks, and he isn't at all shy when it comes to saying precisely what he thinks of everything and... well, everyone. Unfortunately, some of his statements have made him popular with the Russian press, and HDZ isn't having it.

As Index writes, HDZ recently took to Facebook in order to publish some of the titles and images of articles published in the Russian media space that convey the statements of President Zoran Milanovic about sending Western tanks into Ukraine.

"If America and Russia don't come to an agreement, and that currently isn't something that is in sight, this war will not stop. Somehow I hope that some kind of talks do continue, or we will slowly move towards WW3, which some people think has already started, but I'm a little more reserved on that front. As for the tanks, both Russian and American will burn," President Zoran Milanovic said recently, among other rather alarming things.

HDZ called him out in its social media publication with the taunting title "From Russia with love/Iz Rusije s ljubavlju".

"The caries (an insult comparing the president to a persistent form of tooth decay) from Pantovcak is once again being showcased as a hero by the Russian regime's media. How could they not praise and celebrate Zoran ''Lex Perkovic'' Milanovic when he, much like the Kremlin, insults Germany and condemns it for the delivery of Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine? When he fervently spreads ideas which have already been being expressed Vladimir Putin's own spokesman Peskov, claiming that these tanks will 'burn' and threaten humanity - in order to stop aid from being sent to Ukraine - with 'a new world (nuclear) war?'' wrote HDZ.

"He wants Croatia to be in the ''Russian world'' they wrote, using the word ''svet'' instead of the Croatian word ''svijet'' for ''world'', in an apparent jab by using Serbian spelling.

''At the same time, President Zoran Milanovic has been saying things about the Germans, claiming that "that they've already tried to go to war with Russia", alluding to Adolf Hitler - similar to when he accused Ukrainians of "Nazism" because they don't agree with being enslaved. He also claims that the delivery of German and American tanks will ''only prolong the conflict'' (hm, conflict, not aggression or invasion). In translation - He demands that Kyiv capitulate!

Milanovic is now quite openly working in the interest of Russian aggression and Vladimir Putin's undemocratic regime, and against Ukraine, Europe (which he once again showered with insults) and the West. He wants Croatia in the "Russian world". But don't worry: Grbin & Grmoja will continue to support him, and will continue to claim that they ''see nothing objectionable'' in his statements," HDZ's Facebook post reads.

For more, check out our news section.

January the 16th, 2023 - Croatian citizen support for sanctions imposed by Croatia and the entire European Union (EU) against Russia for its horrific treatment of Ukraine stands at 76%.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, within the European Union, Croatian citizen support for sanctions against the Russian Federation is above the average, as is its unwavering support for Ukraine. This was confirmed by a recent Eurobarometer survey, according to which 76% of respondents in Croatia stated that they fully or mostly support both Croatian and EU policies regarding events regarding Russia and Ukraine.

The average at the level of the European Union stopped at 73% of support, and it is interesting to look into what the obtained data shows for each individual country. Convincingly, the greatest support for sanctions was expressed in Finland and Sweden, where it stands at almost 100%, with both countries standing at 96%.

Those countries are followed by countries that do not border either Russia or Ukraine (Netherlands 93%, Denmark 92%, Ireland 91%, Portugal 90%) in which support for a complete cooling of relations with Russia is even higher than in Poland (89%) and Lithuania ( 88%).

Arguably, the least support for the European Union's policy towards Russia can be found in Greece, where not even half of the respondents were inclined to show full solidarity with the wartorn and devastated Ukraine. Almost the entire number of countries that made up the former Eastern bloc - Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia - are below the European Union average in this regard. Another country showcasing relatively low support (62%) for the sanctions against Russia is also Italy.

Only 8% of citizens within the entire EU stated that they were completely and utterly against the policy of imposing sanctions against the Russian Federation for their abhorrent actions against neighbouring Ukraine which began with a shock invasion in February 2022, while there is a higher percentage of those who are "more in favour" (42%) of such sanctions than there are of those who are completely in favour.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated news section.

November the 25th, 2022 - This week in Croatian politics, we've had everything from wage increases for politicians and state officials and saying an emphatic ''YES'' to training Ukrainian soldiers, to Austria changing its tune regarding Croatian Schengen accession and Milanovic claiming that it's actually America fighting with Russia through Ukraine.

The monthly wage earned by Plenkovic, his ministers and parliamentarians is set to go up

Much to the delight of every average Joe living and working in Croatia and struggling to make ends meet, Plenkovic and co are set to get a wage increase. 

You'll probably remember that last month, the government and the trade unions finally came to an agreement on a basic salary increase, meaning that the monthly salary will also increase for Plenkovic, Milanovic, Jandrokovic, government ministers and members of parliament, that is, for all officials. However, with the passing of this particular law, the President of the Constitutional Court will be taking home the highest official salary, and not President Zoran Milanovic.

With the amendments to the law that the government sent to the parliament recently, for which it is requesting adoption under an urgent procedure, the base rate for officials will be the same as that applied to civil servants, so all future increases, including this one now, will automatically apply to politicians as well.

One Ukrainian minister thanks Croatia for allowing Ukrainian soldiers to come and be trained to fight the Russians in Croatia

''Thanks, Plenkovic!'' tweets the minister...

You might recall the likes of President Zoran Milanovic among others being staunchly against the idea of training Ukrainian soldiers to fight against their invaders here in Croatia. Milanovic believed that Croatia's showcasing of unwavering support for Ukraine and providing help and safety for refugees was enough, and that anything else would be provocation of Putin and inviting the war to this country's doorstep. Many agreed with him. Many more found themselves surprised at agreeing with him.

Still, it seems that his case for disapproval fell on deaf ears as the Ukrainian Defence Minister, Oleksij Reznikov, thanked Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovi and Defense Minister Marij Banozic on Twitter after the government sent the decision on Croatia's participation in the military aid mission to Ukraine for approval by the parliament yesterday.

"The government of the Republic of Croatia approved the decision to train the Ukrainian army in Croatia. A modern, well-trained army with powerful partners will definitely defeat a pack of Russian murderers, robbers and rapists. Thank you Andrej Plenkovic and Mario Banozic for their support!" Reznikov tweeted.

Croatia's participation in the military aid mission to Ukraine includes the training of Ukrainian soldiers in Croatia, which isn't something many people are all too thrilled about. Banozic, however, seems to have allowed all logical opposition to this fly right over his head. ''What are they against? Are they against saving lives?'' he asked.

Zoran Milanovic claims that America is fighting a war against Russia... through Ukraine

If you're a follower of Croatian politics in any deeper capacity, you'll know that President Milanovic often comes out with some rather unusual things. He also never misses an opportunity to spit on HDZ, which for many makes him a popular character in at least one aspect. For others, his distasteful remarks cross the line a bit too often, and for others, well, they can't quite make head nor tail of him. He has recently come out with something quite strange.

The Day of the City of Zadar took place recently, which is celebrated at a formal session of the City Council, and Milanovic was there. As expected, he referred to the government's decision to train Ukrainian soldiers in Croatia which I mentioned above, and which he was firmly against. "This is personal terror and harassment by Plenkovic, it's just his desire to push some of his ideas," said Milanovic, as RTL reported at the time.

President Milanovic also said that he knows what is written in the Croatian Constitution because ''he wrote it''. He was referring to the statement of the government at that session that the training of Ukrainian soldiers is based on the Constitution and on the laws and international agreements according to which Ukraine is an allied country.

''Therefore,'' Milanovic added: "Ukraine, to its credit, is not an ally." "The Croatian Parliament is not responsible for making any decisions on the training of foreign soldiers in Croatia," he said. He called things as they were set up by the government a "Udbas sabotage", which, if you know who the ''Udbasi'' (the Yugoslav secret service) were and what they got up to, you'll realise is quite the statement.

"Now it will be seen who's Russia and who's for Ukraine. I'm not for anyone. I'm for Croatia,'' Milanovic said.

"There's a war going on there between America and Russia. Between Russia and Ukraine, I'm on the side of Ukraine, of course. But it's a war between America and Russia," he said. "We have to state that the Americans are waging a war against Russia through Ukrainian youths, we have to say that. When it comes to decisions that have a security and defense character, you have to consult with the president, and I say to the members of parliament: ''Don't be intimidated,'' he said.

New measures against inflation could come to be, and all hands are on deck for post-earthquake reconstruction (for the earthquake that occurred two years ago)

Plenkovic recently pointed out that the proposed state budget for next year will provide funds for the growth of both wages and pensions, increased funds for veterans and the army, and he also announced possible new measures to mitigate the impact of inflation, with the message that "there's power and space for that".

"We have the space and strength to do that, if there's a need, and considering the circumstances, our measures will be precise and comprehensive, and as we've done so far, we'll solve it and you'll be satisfied with what we do,'' said Plenkovic in response to Branko Grcic (SDP ) when asked what will happen at the end of March next year, when all previous measures are due to expire.

''We'll also reduce excise duties on heating oil and thereby provide additional assistance to people,'' announced the Prime Minister during the parliamentary debate on the 2023 budget, adding that ''the number of people at risk of poverty is continuously falling in Croatia and that figure is smaller than when we assumed responsibility.''

In his answers to the deputies, Plenković pointed out that the fight against corruption continues, that it is strong and brings results.

Regarding the post-earthquake reconstruction for the earthquakes which struck Zagreb in March 2020 and the Banovina area in December of that same year, which he was also asked about, Plenkovic said that the government is providing a lot of aid and that the reconstruction of houses is intensifying, that all departments are working on reconstruction and are in charge of spending the available funds.

Austria is now all for Croatia joining Schengen, or is it?

You may have read (or heard) about Austria taking a stance against Croatia joining the Schengen zone in January 2023, with talk of the country potentially going as far as to block entry. Now it seems that the tide has turned, or has it? Memories are short when it comes to Croatian politics.

Plenkovic recently received the Federal Chancellor of the Republic of Austria, Karl Nehammer, at Banski dvori. This is Nehammer's first official visit to Croatia as chancellor.

"In the last thirty years or so, relations with Austria have been among the most extensive of the numerous countries with which Croatia cooperates since it was internationally recognised. Since the 1990s, Austria has been the second biggest investor in Croatia. This year, Croatia was visited by one and a half million Austrian tourists,'' said Plenkovic at the beginning of the press conference.

"Today we also discussed the most important topic ahead of this visit, which is the final two weeks before the decision on Croatian membership of the Schengen area. This was an opportunity to once again explain to the chancellor what Croatia has done from 2016 until today," Plenkovic said.

"We're currently discussing the expansion of Schengen, and we can see that Austria in particular has insufficient protection of its external borders. At the same time, we have a reduction in border protection within the EU itself, in our opinion it can't continue like that, so some measures will have to be taken,'' he said.

"When we talk about Schengen's expansion, and at the same time we criticise the plan that the European Commission should present with regard to these problems that we've presented, it is important to say that this doesn't apply to Croatia. Special votes will be cast for Croatia, as they will for both Bulgaria and Romania. We'll support Croatia's accession to the Schengen area, but we're going to be critical of the efforts of Bulgaria and Romania," added the Austrian chancellor.

The Austrian chancellor also said that it is necessary to change the system and strengthen the EU's external borders in order to make free movement within Schengen possible.

It's worth noting that Austrian Minister of the Interior, Gerhard Karner, caused great concern reently after he said that he was against the expansion of the Schengen area to include Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania. Over the past few days, he has repeatedly said that he is against any Schengen expansion, which he said is something that simply isn't working, which can be seen from the increased number of asylum seekers arriving in Austria. That country registered the entry of around 100,000 migrants this year alone, of which 75,000 were not previously registered in any EU country at all.

Nehammer warned that his minister wanted to signal that "Schengen is clearly not working and that new measures are needed." The Council for Justice and Internal Affairs meets on December the 8th and 9th, when it will make the final decision on Croatia's entry into the Schengen area. Croatia's accession was previously supported by the European Commission and the European Parliament, so all fingers (and likely toes) are crossed.

For more on Croatian politics, make sure to follow our dedicated section and keep your eyes peeled for our Week in Croatian Politics articles which are published every Friday.

October the 7th, 2022 - A praiseworthy Croatian educational campaign aimed at raising public awareness about the importance of accepting Ukrainian families who have fled from their war-torn homeland has kicked off.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the very first words of the educational video created by the Centre for Missing and Abused Children which aims to shed light on the importance of the acceptance and integration of displaced persons are that ''we're all born free, mum says that the entire world is ours. I guess we should know that, because we've seen it all.''

Since the end of February this year and the beginning of the armed conflict in Ukraine following Russian invasion, we have been witnessing wanton destruction in that country by Russian forces, due to which many Ukrainian families were forced to leave their homes and flee the country entirely.

In order to provide displaced persons with the best possible support, the Centre for Missing and Abused Children has launched an informative Croatian educational campaign called Sinergija integracije/Synergy of Integration, which is being financially supported by the Office for NGOs of the Croatian Government and which aims to provide displaced persons, in this case those individuals are primarily Ukrainian families, with faster and easier access to all necessary information about protection, help, education and getting into work.

"With this Croatian educational campaign, we want to increase the level of awareness of the wider public about the needs of integration of Ukrainian families in the area of ​​Osijek-Baranja County, but also in other parts of Croatia. In addition to the video, which aims to provide a sense of hope, togetherness and love, we also created other promotional and educational materials such as picture books, colouring books and short stories, with which we want to ensure the reduction of the language barrier and connect children from different cultures,'' said Tomislav Ramljak, head of the Centre.

The Synergy of Integration campaign is part of the wider Slavonian heart for families of Ukraine action/Slavonsko srce za obitelji Ukrajine plan, as part of which an Info Centre for displaced persons from Ukraine was established in Osijek, where they could get all the information about their registration of residence, temporary protection, rights from the social welfare system, employment, healthcare and education. Back at the beginning of June, the Day Centre was established, where various activities and workshops for displaced persons from Ukraine are being held every day.

The Centre for Missing and Abused Children is otherwise a leading organisation that has been operating for more than fifteen years in the field of protecting children from abuse and sexual exploitation on the Internet. It takes care of children who are having to cope in unfavourable living conditions every day and tries to raise the quality of their lives. In cooperation with the wider community, various experts and competent institutions, the Centre works to prevent the disappearance of children and provides support to families in crisis situations.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 18 July 2022 - A humanitarian campaign for Ukraine by the Croatian Association of Fine Artists' (HDLU) Vinkovci branch wrapped up in the eastern town of Vinkovci on Sunday with an exhibition and the handover of 62 works by 57 artists to the Ukrainian Embassy.

"We are giving these works of art to the Ukrainian people with the wish that they ennoble the walls of two to three schools and one institution in Ukraine, to be selected by the Ukrainians," said HDLU Vinkovci vice president Marko Lončar.

He said the exhibition was called Culture to Culture "because we Croats are giving part of our culture to Ukrainian culture."

He recalled that the campaign began in April with a donation exhibition called "Appeal to Assist Displaced Ukrainians" in Vinkovci, in cooperation with the Croatian Red Cross.

Thankful for the donation, Ukrainian Ambassador Vasyly Kyrylych said Croatia and its people strongly supported Ukraine since the start of the Russian aggression.

"Here in Vinkovci today, we see again that Croats strongly support Ukraine because they experienced and know what it means to defend one's state. We are grateful for that. We are strong in spirit and strong, not in hope, but in faith that we will win because we are defending our country, our homes, our families," he said.

"This is yet another aspect of our assistance to the Ukrainian people, with whom we empathize, confident that they will succeed in winning their freedom," said Vukovar-Srijem County head Damir Dekanić.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.