ZAGREB, November 20, 2020 - The High Administrative Court has upheld a ruling by the Administrative Court and a State Election Commission decision to fine the Social Democratic Party (SDP) over former SDP MP Gordan Maras having displayed campaign messages on his laptop in parliament ahead of the 2019 European election.

Under the decision by the State Election Commission (DIP), the SDP was fined HRK 86,000 (approx. €11,500) for its former MP's conduct.

Ahead of the May 2019 EP elections, Maras displayed different promotional stickers in the parliament on his laptop such as "Vote Maras", and "Vote 007", which, DIP decided, violated the law on the financing of election campaigns because he used official parliament premises for electioneering.

DIP concluded that Maras showed extreme persistence in violating the law because he disregarded warnings to stop with that conduct.

Dissatisfied with DIP's decision, the SDP appealed with the Administrative Court in Zagreb, but that court too, ruled against the SDP, and its ruling has now been upheld by the High Administrative Court.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 8th of July, 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Croatian economy is among the three most affected in the EU, and the European Commission's summer forecasts are that our GDP could fall by 10.8 percent. Minister Maric said that Croatia is sticking to its estimate of a 9.1 percent GDP drop, but also announced higher salaries for about a million residents.

When it comes to government finances, Minister Maric reported that back in June, the decline in the amount of fiscalised receipts compared to June last year was about 16.5 percent. As for budget revenues, VAT in June, he pointed out, saw a plus when compared to June 2019, due to the overflow from May, so this isn't a realistic look at things, but since the beginning of the year, tax revenues have fallen by a total of between 13 and 15 percent.

The Croatian Government plans to achieve wage growth by reducing income tax rates from 36 to 30 percent and from 24 to 20 percent, which is a move residents will immediately feel in their pockets and bank accounts.

When asked by journalists whether this means that, due to the reduction of income tax, about a million residents will have higher salaries in the first year of the new government's mandate, he answered briefly: "That's right."

Economist Zeljko Lovrincevic agrees with Miniser Maric's forecast that the economic downturn should be slightly smaller than the European Commission's currently dire estimates. How the drop in GDP will affect the standard of living of Croatian residents, he says, depends primarily on whether there will be compensatory measures for the economy and employment support, and of course the question is then who will finance them. It also depends on what the wage policy will be. What is certain is that the state doesn't have much room to help the economy at this moment in time.

The aid plan is questionable...

When it comes to aid of 10 billion euros that should come from the European Union itself, Lovrincevic noted that there has been no talk of that from Europe.

''That plan hasn't been agreed. That rabbit is still far away in the forest,'' said Lovrincevic.

Economist Damir Novotny said that, if you look at the economic history after the Second World War, there were incomparably worse situations than the one we're in today. Since the 1990s, he recalls, Croatia has had a bad economic situation for a whole decade, due to the Homeland War. The economic situation, he continues, began to improve in 2002, when wages also rose, and then came 2008. As a result of the financial crisis, 150,000 people in the private sector lost their jobs. The state sector then protected itself, taxes were raised in the then-introduced crisis tax, meaning that the state sector passed practically unscathed.

Government measures are crucial

Novotny states that Croatia has had very anemic economic growth over the last ten years, but admits that the government has responded well with its various measures to try to save jobs. How this crisis will affect regular people, he says, is currently difficult to assess. He agrees that it all depends on how long the government’s measures to help the economy will last.

''The big question is how long they can last, but it's certainly not infinite. What happened back in 2009 could happen again if the government's intervention doesn't continue. Recovery must be accelerated and that's something I hope will happen, because today we're in different circumstances than we were back in 2009 because we're also now a member of the EU, where we have access to the anti-recession measures that are offered,'' noted Novotny.

He also pointed out that European Union money, which is intended to help the economy, will probably be conditioned by the implementation of structural reforms, without which, Croatia won't get its pockets filled.

Lovrincevic and Novotny both agree that the situation for Croatia would be much better if we were a member of the European Monetary Union because we would have even more measures at our disposal to help the economy damaged by the coronavirus crisis.

Andrej Plenkovic doesn't have time to wait around for the economic storm that is on its way to Croatia and he will have to quickly put together a team that will be there to face many challenges. The elections will be repeated at one polling station next week, and only after that will the final results of the parliamentary elections be announced. That's when the deadlines for constituting the Parliament and forming a new government will begin. Andrej Plenkovic can calmly wait for consultations with President Zoran Milanovic because he collected the required 76 hands in half a day. He spoke with President Milanovic on Monday, and after the announcement of the final election results, they'll contact him again to arrange a formal meeting.

It is to be expected that Plenkovic could get the mandate to form the Government by the end of next week at the latest, and then he has thirty days to form his new team. The president should convene a constituent session of the Parliament within twenty days of the announcement of the final election results, and HDZ believes that this won't be delayed and that it will occur by the end of this month.

HDZ and its partners hope that the new government will be confirmed during the first few days of August, ie, before the anniversary of Operation Storm (Oluja), on August the 5th. It was announced earlier that the Parliament, once constituted, will certainly not have a break as it has enjoyed so far, but all of that needs to be discussed and worked out.

For more, follow our politics page.

ZAGREB, June 28, 2020 - Homeland Movement leader Miroslav Skoro on Sunday strongly distanced himself from "those who committed any criminal offence yet are in politics," saying that if Davorka Smokovic, a candidate on one of their lists, won a seat in parliament, she would cede it to the party.

The media have reported that the Homeland Movement's slate for Constituency No. 8 includes Smokovic, a former Pazin municipal prosecutor who was recently convicted of corruption.

In a press release, Skoro admitted to his part of the blame, saying the Homeland Movement could not control the "deep state" and vet people the usual way.

He said it was necessary to amend the election law because now the Homeland Movement could not legally take Smokovic off the slate.

Earlier today, Smokovic said in a press release that she was pulling out of the campaign. She said she had not received any Supreme Court ruling but that she did not want her "alleged burden" to be transferred onto the Homeland Movement in any way.

Smokovic added that if she won a seat in parliament, she would cede it to the party.

ZAGREB, June 28, 2020 - Although over 2,000 people in Croatia are self-isolating, the head of the national civil protection authority said on Saturday that all voters would be enabled to vote in the July 5 parliamentary election.

"That's a query we will forward to the State Electoral Commission, which is in constant contact with the Croatian Institute of Public Health, which will provide a framework for how to organise the election and do everything so that it is a controlled situation," Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said on Nova TV.

Commenting on the coronavirus hotspot in Djakovo, he said epidemiologists had responded promptly and that a certain number of people were in self-isolation, but that there was no need for quarantine.

He said the local civil protection authority would consider some restrictions which would not result in enclosures but the postponement of some events.

Bozinovic said the situation on the border crossings with Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina was being monitored daily and that control had been stepped up until June 30. He said the European Union had recommended that borders with Southeast European countries be reopened as of July 1.

"A balanced solution will be sought that is in the interest of protecting the health of all citizens and maintaining economic activity."

As for the increase in the number of infected young people in night clubs, Bozinovic said inspection teams would continue to visit the clubs, although the goal was not closures and layoffs but health protection.

ZAGREB, June 27, 2020 - Homeland Movement leader Miroslav Skoro said on Friday that the HDZ had moved away from the right-wing policy pursued by its former leader and Croatian president, the late Franjo Tudjman, and that its current leader Andrej Plenkovic was immune to any criticism.

Addressing a news conference in Dugo Selo outside Zagreb, he said that he did not want to patronise anyone, including the HDZ leader who was refusing to self-isolate following contacts with infected persons at the recent Adria Tour tennis tournament in Zadar, and who called such demands 'political folklore'.

Skoro said that he himself would get tested for the coronavirus as a responsible person even though he had not been in direct contact with Social Democrat Rajko Ostojic, with whom he had a debate recently and who has self-isolated due to contacts with another colleague in the SDP who has tested positive for COVID-19.

Skoro also said that he could not tell, when members of the national COVID-19 response team addressed the public if they were doing so as HDZ members or as health professionals, assessing that the team was not dealing with the latest epidemiological situation in the best possible way.

He criticised the team's head, Minister of the Interior Davor Bozinovic, for calling Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina eastern neighbours and closing the border to them, thus preventing the possibility for one part of Dalmatia to have any kind of tourist season this year.

ZAGREB, June 27, 2020 - Prime Minister and HDZ party leader Andrej Plenkovic said during a tour of the sixth constituency on Friday that after his party formed the government after the elections, it would raise the average wage to HRK 6,700 and to HRK 7,600 by the end of its term.

Speaking to party members and supporters in Sisak, Plenkovic also said that the minimum wage would be increased from HRK 3,250 to 4,250 and that pensions, which have been increased by 12%, would be additionally raised by 10%.

Speaking of his government's achievements in the past term, he said that the law on the financing of local and regional government units had helped Sisak-Moslavina County obtain more budget funds.

He added that close to HRK 90 million had been allocated from the state budget for regional development in Sisak County, contracts had been signed for HRK 1.8 billion of EU funds and HRK 170 million had been provided for active employment measures in the county.

(€1 = HRK 7.566)

ZAGREB, June 26, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic said on Friday that due to an increase in the number of new coronavirus infections, postponement of parliamentary elections set for July 5 was theoretically possible but that he doubted that the election would be postponed.

Milanovic noted that postponement of the elections in the current situation would be constitutionally possible but that it would require his holding talks with the prime minister as well as understanding on the part of the Opposition.

"Such a situation is not exactly envisaged by the Constitution, but some sort of solution would be found. I believe it would be theoretically possible, but in practice that is not going to happen," Milanovic said after attending a graduation ceremony at the Dr Franjo Tudjman Military Academy.

Milanovic added that he would not initiate talks on the postponement of the elections because he had not been the one to dissolve the parliament.

"I said that elections should be held at some other time, but after that I stopped commenting. (PM) Plenkovic contacted me and I asked him about his priorities, and holding elections on June 21 was definitely not among them," Milanovic said in reference to Plenkovic's statement that "by dissolving Parliament in May we wanted the election to be held when the intensity of the coronavirus was lowest, and it was the President who decided that the election would be held on the second to last date possible under the constitution."

Milanovic went on to say that June 28 and July 5 had been discussed as possible dates.

"I said, 'They will be held on July 5'. Hindsight is a good thing, but one leaves traces. I cannot do anything with regard to elections now without the prime minister's initiative, but that, too, is questionable. That option has not been specified," he said when asked about the possibility of delaying the elections set for July 5.

Asked what would happen if the situation with the coronavirus escalated, Milanovic said that he did not know and that one should have thought about it sooner.

Asked about the politicisation of the national team managing the coronavirus crisis, Milanovic said that he, himself, was asking himself such questions but that he did not know the answer.

"I have been wondering about some things, but I have called the elections, they should be held on July 5, and that's it," he said.

Milanovic was also asked to comment on the Adria Tour tennis tournament in Zadar, at which several players have contracted COVID-19, including the world's No. 1 tennis player Novak Djokovic.

"We were breaking news on CNN yesterday morning, but not for positive things. CNN is watched by guests on whom we may have counted to visit, and now that's not going to happen. I understand the need to promote a destination, but maybe that was a mistake. If (Bulgarian tennis player Grigori) Dimitrov had told about his contracting the coronavirus a few hours later, maybe all this negative publicity would not have happened. I understand the motives, if this had not happened, we would have said that the tournament was a great show," Milanovic said.

He also commented on whether PM Plenkovic should go into self-isolation due to contact with Djokovic.

"You don't want to hear my opinion on self-isolation and how it is conducted. Plenkovic's problem is that both (German Chancellor Angela) Merkel and the Canadian prime minister went into self-isolation after exactly the same situation, and now he is being criticised."

A complete lockdown, such as the one that happened in March and April, is not possible again, he said.

"Whoever on the crisis management team said that there would be no lockdown again was right," Milanovic said, adding that one could not do more than wearing face masks and protecting the elderly and ill.

"There is no reason for panic. Elections will be held in a week's time and we'll see what happens," he said.

As for post-election consultations on the formation of the new parliamentary majority, Milanovic said that there was no set deadline by which he had to appoint the Prime Minister-designate but that consultations would first be held with those who bring him the 76 signatures of support required to form a majority.

"Consultations will really be consultations, not a parade. They will be very transparent, not the way they were in some other situations, which has undermined trust in democracy. I don't have a favourite in these elections," Milanovic said.

ZAGREB, June 26, 2020 - The Croatian People's Party (HNS) presented its election slogan on Friday - "Croatia is loved through work," saying that its platform includes measures for the economy and free kindergartens, adding that HNS is prepared to go into a coalition with anyone that accepts its election platform.

HNS has real solutions for real problems and after the election, we will go into a coalition with those parties that accept our election platform, HNS leader Predrag Stromar said.

"We would go into a coalition with the HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) or the SDP (Social Democratic Party), but not with just anyone. We cannot accept extremists or loudmouths, those who come into the parliament to earn money or act out some stupidity, those sort of people are unacceptable to us," he added.

HNS said that its election platform was prepared in cooperation with citizens and based on their questions and suggestions, the main issues including higher wages, free kindergartens and resolving housing issues.

Vrdoljak: HBOR needs to change its name and business method

"The Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development needs to change its name and method of business and be transformed into the Croatian Development Fund that will provide financing for businesses," said Ivan Vrdoljak.

Minister of Science and Education Blazenka Divjak advocates the adoption of a law to check diplomas in all public companies, agencies, and state administration bodies.

ZAGREB, June 24, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic reiterated on Wednesday that postponing the parliamentary election was not an option even if the coronavirus situation deteriorated, stressing that Croatia was in a better situation than other countries facing elections.

"Our government defeated COVID-19 in the first wave. If you look at the figures, we are among the top three EU countries with the lowest number of new cases and the lowest number of active cases," Plenkovic said while responding to questions from the press during a visit to the northern city of Cakovec.

By way of illustration, he cited France which is holding the second round of local elections while recording over 500 new cases daily.

Asked if it wasn't hypocritical of the government to call on the public to be responsible while he himself refused to self-isolate after meeting the infected Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic, Plenkovic said he had explained their contact on Tuesday.

"If our contact had been such to qualify as close contact, I certainly would have followed the recommendations from epidemiologists rather than those from quack doctors from the opposition who have a political interest to raise such issues. That's a big difference," he said.

Plenkovic said that he was willing to do another test if necessary but that he did not see any need for it. He said he believed this would not harm his HDZ party in the forthcoming election because "people are serious and they see well who is doing what."

Asked if this situation was damaging to Croatia given that foreign media were also writing about his refusal to self-isolate, the prime minister said that it was not because "this information is not true." He referred the press to statements from the Public Health Institute rather than "copying statements by opposition politicians."

June 22, 2020 — The coronavirus's resurgence may jeopardize Croatia's parliamentary elections, slated for July 5, according to one of the ruling HDZ's top officials. The statement came before a tennis tournament in Zadar opened a pandora's box of potential infections and bad press.

HDZ's Vice President Ivan Anušić threw doubt over the parliamentary elections scheduled in just two weeks, claiming the rash of COVID-19 infections emerging over the last five days could postpone the vote or alter the election's turnout.

"There is a possibility that the parliamentary elections will be postponed," Anusic told Zadarski List. "I think that's an option too. In any case, a consensus should be reached on that in Croatia beforehand. No one can cancel the elections by force."

The government and Civil Protection Directorate have both assured the public the vote will be held as scheduled, though that's based on current new infection trends holding.

Croatia's constitution has no explicit procedure for postponing an already-announced parliamentary election. The decision on the election date was made by President Zoran Milanovic, but he cannot just revoke it. Scholars suggest if the situation with the coronavirus were to devolve quickly, the existing Parliament should declare a state of emergency by a two-thirds majority. Or perhaps the Constitutional Court would be in a position to conclude that not all the conditions for holding elections have been met.

Regardless, Anušić casual speculation the election may somehow be postponed coincided with his party suspending all election activities in Osijek-Baranja County, where a second rash of infections includes self-isolation for two of HDZ's candidates — Josip Škoirć and Ivan Radić.

Anušić does not think that the escalation of the virus will significantly change the mood of voters, but believes that it could still affect the outcome of the election by keeping some people at home.

"Unfortunately, there will be more infections," he said. "However, we know much more about the virus than three months ago. We know what and whom we must pay the most attention to and there will be no closure or quarantine."

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković declared victory against the coronavirus, using the falling numbers to justify dissolving parliament and holding elections well ahead of their late-autumn due date.

Plenkovic has argued only his party can see through the difficulties left behind by the pandemic, both economic and public health. COVID-19's return may damage a central plank of his re-election platform.

Or, it could keep vital voters at home, Anušič said.

"It seems to me that the turnout could be lower than it seemed," he said. "Who would benefit from that? Well, probably strong, organized parties, whose voters are more persistent."

The rival Social Dems have not analyzed who would benefit from a possible lower turnout, but they are in a hurry to prepare arguments to prove that the epidemic disqualifies the Government of Andrej Plenković.

"HDZ, because they concluded that it would benefit them, decided to endanger the health of the nation, with the message that they defeated the coronavirus," said the president of SDP's MPs club, Arsen Bauk. "Now it turns out that the claim of victory is a lie. Anything that would happen in terms of an outbreak of the epidemic would be entirely the responsibility of the Government, the HDZ leadership and the HDZ Civil Protection Directorate, who gambled with the health of the nation."