ZAGREB, June 18, 2020 - The SSSH union federation on Thursday called on political parties to clearly articulate during the election campaign how they intended to ensure a social recovery, generate wage increases and improve living standards and how they would make good on their promises if they came to power.

More secure jobs, a higher minimum wage, a fair tax policy, strengthening public health and administration are some of the issues the unions want to hear during electioneering, SSSH leaders told a press conference.

"These are the demands we will put before the future government in order to change the direction in which the country is going. There can be no economic recovery without a social recovery," SSSH leader Mladen Novosel said.

Novosel added that the unions would not allow whoever came to power to let the workers down after the election.

He underscored that the future government should immediately establish a tripartite social dialogue on public policies and treat both social partners equally.

SSSH executive secretary for social dialogue and public policy Ana Milicevic Pezelj said that the coronavirus crisis had shown that the current social-economic situation was untenable and Croatia now had an opportunity for a fresh start.

The crisis has also shown that Croatia has to revive its industry and food production which it too easily gave up under pressure from various lobbyists, she noted.

Milicevic Pezelj said that it was necessary, as soon as possible, to establish a fund for a just transition, advance the education system, and ensure access to life-long learning.

ZAGREB, June 18, 2020 - Homeland Movement leader Miroslav Skoro said on Thursday it was not fair to twist his statements and take them out of context, referring to reactions to his statement that if a raped woman gets pregnant, she should agree with her family what to do.

"I know very well what I said. I'm a pro-lifer, I believe that life begins with conception and that it should be protected until natural death. It's not fair or right to twist someone's statements, take them out of context, and I don't think it's right to build an election campaign on someone's suffering," Skoro told reporters during a visit to a trade fair in Sesvete, Zagreb's eastern suburb.

He said it was quite normal for anyone, especially victims of violence, to seek advice from their family. "I didn't say that it should be a legal solution. I think that's natural, and will continue to advocate for human life to be protected from birth to natural death."

Skoro said that such accusations were laid at his door because there was nothing else he or the election candidates of the Homeland Movement could be reproached for.

ZAGREB, June 6, 2020 - The leadership of the Istrian Democratic Party (IDS)  on Friday decided to join the "Restart" opposition coalition led by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the upcoming parliamentary elections which Croatia will hold on 5 July.

The IDS leadership said that the decision was made after a series of negotiations with the SDP which accepted all the conditions set by this regional party.

One of the conditions was that any future territorial reorganization of Croatia would preserve the autonomous status of Istria as a county.

Also, the IDS insisted on having its four candidates on the Restart slate for the constituency No. 8.

In the last parliament, the IDS parliamentary club had four lawmakers: three of whom were IDS members plus independent deputy Furio Radin as the representative of the ethnic Italian minority.

The IDS leader Boris Miletic, who is the mayor of the City of Pula, said after the leadership's meeting that he was not among those four candidates, explaining that now when the county was dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences, his duty would be to "remain here in Istria." 

ZAGREB, June 2, 2020 - Ombudswoman for people with disabilities Anka Slonjsak on Tuesday called on all candidates campaigning ahead of the election to refrain from using people and children with disabilities for election purposes.

Slonjsak underscored in a press release that she had noticed in previous political campaign numerous actions detrimental to people and children with disabilities.

The difficult position of people and children with disabilities is often used to increase a political party's rating and show their social awareness.

At the same time, such a declarative commitment to the rights of people with disabilities is not translated into actions that really show respect for their voting and political participation rights.

When it comes to the choice of polling stations, we have often noticed that people with disabilities cannot access them, so it necessary to provide locations accessible to people with disabilities and other people with reduced mobility, Slonjsak said.

There should also be polls in healthcare facilities and social welfare institutions where people with disabilities reside because they have difficulties exercising their voting rights unlike, for example, people in the prison system, for whom special polling stations are organised.

Moreover, the marked under-representation of people with disabilities in political life points to a number of obstacles that are put in their way when it comes to how political parties function.

The ombudswoman thus calles on political parties to present their political programs in a way that is accessible to people with disabilities, especially the deaf, the blind, and voters with intellectual disabilities, and to ensure polling stations are accessible to disabled people.

ZAGREB, May 30, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic said on Saturday, after a wreath-laying ceremony at Zagreb's Mirogoj cemetery on the occasion of Statehood Day, that he was not boycotting the commemoration of that day, but that it was an election rally and a promise by a political administration that was now being fulfilled.

"This is an election rally. I am not boycotting anything. This is a promise by a political administration that is now fulfilling it. I consider that legislative decision a boycott of common sense and of the will of the majority of people in this country," the president said.

He added that on 30 May 1990 a multi-party parliament was elected in democratic elections in which the absolute majority was held by a political party that had been supported by a relative minority of Croatian voters.

"That cannot be everyone's holiday. There were other parties as well. To single it out as a holiday of Croatian statehood is very pretentious. To start with, you should find something that does not bother anyone. And by that I mean a vast majority," Milanovic said, adding that Victory Day (August 5) was much more important than May 30 as well as that in the independence referendum of May 19, 1991, practically all Croatians had voted.

Asked why he was then commemorating May 30, he said that he was doing it out of respect for the dead.

"That is the minimum of conciliatoriness and respect I will always show because after all, this decision was adopted by the parliament, however, as we know, the parliament can pass any decision with a majority based on defectors. That is what I said half a year ago, that is my position and I am now showing it this way," he said.

Milanovic did not join today PM Andrej Plenkovic and Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic in laying a wreath at the grave of first Croatian President Franjo Tudjman at Mirogoj.

He also confirmed that he would not attend any of the commemorative events to be held later in the day.

Milanovic on impeachment: Go ahead and do it

Asked about senior HDZ official Vladimir Seks' statement that a procedure should be launched to remove Milanovic from office over his position on Statehood Day, Milanovic said "He should go ahead and do it."

"Nobody has ever voted for Mr Seks, code name "Sova" (Owl). He has been one of the very negative figures in Croatia in the last 30 years, leaving behind a negative institutional trace that is difficult to remove. Let him do it. Who knows, maybe someone will launch an investigation into responsibility for war crimes committed in Osijek," said Milanovic.

He also said that the current parliament had made the decision on Statehood Day solely for the purpose of elections.

"You do it because you can. You have bought defectors' votes. Someone else will come and I hope they will be sensible enough not to insist on imposing their own will and choosing something that bothers half the Croatian people. That's not the way to do it," said Milanovic.

Asked about Friday's arrests, including those of state-owned Hrvatske Sume forest management company CEO Krunoslav Jakupcic and Public Administration State Secretary Josipa Rimac, and if he believed they, too, were part of the election campaign, Milanovic said that many people were arrested.

"They are all actually members of the ruling party. This is now assuming the proportions of an epidemic. What I have seen is not entirely clear to me because it seems an investigation was compromised. I would like to believe that the Office of the Chief State Prosecutor (DORH) has arguments (to support the case) because if it does not, it will be ridiculed," he said.

Milanovic recalled that during his term as Prime Minister, one government member had been dismissed but that there had been no such cases as the current ones, and that DORH officials had not been appointed on the last day of the parliament's term but well into it.

"I want that difference to be noted," he said.

ZAGREB, May 25, 2020 - Prime Minister and HDZ president Andrej Plenkovic said on Sunday the HDZ was going into the parliamentary election to win voters' confidence for "the second half" and that after the election he was willing to sit at the table with those that would pull Croatia forward but that Miroslav Skoro was not such a person.

"We coped with the pandemic crisis and now that we have finished the first half, we want to win voters' confidence for the second half so that we can embark on economic recovery," he said on RTL television.

He said the HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) would present its platform "in the next few days" and that it "has everything Croatian citizens need in the future. We are willing to achieve that."

Plenkovic said the HDZ would run in the July 5 election with the partners it cooperated within 2016, reiterating that it would not form a coalition with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and recalling that the HDZ never said it would form a coalition with Skoro's Homeland Movement, "let alone with Bridge, given our experience."

He reiterated that Skoro proved to be "a great partner to the SDP" and that he helped Zoran Milanovic be elected president.

"I'm willing to sit at the table with those who will pull Croatia forward. Miroslav Skoro is not that one, especially after the parliamentary election. Mr Skoro's partners have hurled so many lies, bile, and untruths at the HDZ and me. That's not my company... I want Croatian citizens to be the HDZ's main partner."

As for a possible post-election coalition with Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic, Plenkovic said he doubted that he could pass the electoral threshold. "I doubt it, especially after what he said a few days ago when he stated who did what for Zagreb after the earthquake."

He said the problems in drawing up a bill on the reconstruction of Zagreb surfaced between the Construction Ministry and the city, and that a consensus was reached only when he became involved.

Plenkovic confirmed that talks were held with Marijana Petir to be on an HDZ slate in the coming election as well as with Mladen Markac, but denied that he had discussed that also with the former head of state Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic.

"There's no need for that. I didn't notice that she wants to be an MP," he said. Asked if Grabar-Kitarovic might be in the next government if the HDZ won, he said they had not talked about it.

Plenkovic confirmed that the head of the COVID-19 crisis management team, Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic, as well as Health Minister Vili Beros would be on HDZ slates, but that there had been no talk about team members Alemka Markotic and Krunoslav Capak being listed. He added that he wanted former defense minister Damir Krsticevic to be on an HDZ slate.

Asked about his communication with President Milanovic, Plenkovic said they spoke on the phone and consult when necessary. "And when there are outstanding issues, it ends up in the media."

The German chancellor Angela Merkel, otherwise one of the most powerful people in the European Union, was recently in the Croatian capital of Zagreb at HDZ's pre-European election rally. HDZ is a party which divides opinion vastly among the public, with some loathing it more than anything and others loyal like dogs to it, its leader and its core values, regardless of whether or not the party actually sticks to them.

But, what exactly did Angela Merkel, a highly respected and intelligent political figure who has dominated both German and European politics for such a long time, think of HDZ's performance? The real question is, what did she really take away from it at all, or did the somewhat bizarre undercurrents manage to pass her by entirely? 

As Index/Davor Tomsic writes on the 19th of May, 2019, whether or not Merkel, from the vastly different (and vastly wealthier) Germany, truly grasped what was really going on at HDZ's recent gathering at Zagreb's Cibona is perhaps the most brutal question that could be posed right now, as it appears that HDZ decided to use their limelight in front of Europe's most powerful woman to drop any proverbial mask and show, let's say, a rather old face of the party.

HDZ is a topic as tired as any in Croatia, and the country and its populace have had more than enough time and equally as many chances to make up their own minds about HDZ over the past thirty years, and Plenković once again decided to reveal the true face of his party just before the European elections, and in front of no less than the German chancellor herself, who came to the party's pre-election gathering in the capital for the first time.

Why did Merkel choose to come in the first place?

Of all the countries where the European People's Party operates, the family of which, as HDZ love to state, both Merkel and Plenković proudly belong to, she decided to come to Croatia. It's still not clear why. It's true that HDZ, given the number of MPs it has in Croatia, has a very high percentage of EEP MEPs, but it's not very likely that this is the sole reason Merkel came to show her personal support to Plenković in Zagreb.

It is possible, however, that Plenković is very well respected in the EEP, but that doesn't quite seem to be the real reason for Merkel's arrival, either. Her reasons should probably be sought during the campaign for Manfred Weber, who was also present at the recent HDZ rally. The fact that Croatia is set to assume the rotating EU presidency for six months may have a lot to do with it all.

The reason for Merkel's arrival is certainly more to do with Andrej Plenković than anything else, to whom the whole European environment is a natural habitat. HDZ's main man is a loud and proud member of the European family and is generally seen as a modern European among his peers, as a diplomat deeply attached to European values. Merkel recently announced that this is to be her last term in office in Germany, but despite that decision, she's still probably the most powerful woman on the international political scene.

Despite being a very ''out and proud'' Europhile and a member of the very progressive EEP, just what did Plenković and his party choose to present to Merkel? Rather bizarrely, the Bleiburg tragedy, Thompson and Franjo Tuđman...

Although HDZ's European election program was entitled "Croatia for Generations"; which is supposed to suggest that the party's main focus is the future, it seems that at HDZ's mildly odd rally, there were more words said about the past than much else.

What might not be surprising to that party is the fact that Croatia has somehow managed to gain a massive 1687 new ex-defenders, a whole 24 years after the end of the Homeland War.

To make the matter even more absurd, a controversial topic of the past was openly discussed by HDZ's Karlo Ressler, a 29-year-old man who is present as a promising new face in the party. Ressler was born in no less than Bleiburg, the location of the infamous Bleiburg tragedy, for which a commemoration to murdered Croatian soldiers is held annually, which unfortunately tends to attract political symbols of the past, and which, most importantly of all, Austria has sought to ban.

Austria is a nation that Germany shares very many special ties with, and discussing something that the aforementioned country appears dead set on banning in front of the German chancellor might not have been the most well thought out approach. Germany is far from the horrors of the Second World War, and discussions about it don't seem to scream that HDZ is a party with its eyes on the prize - the future.

Ressler took to the stage and stated that the Bleiburg tragedy was one of the greatest tragedies of the Croatian people, receiving HDZ's ovations in response. Ressler was otherwise born 44 years after Bleiburg happened.

Next on the rather strange agenda was to play a bit of Thompson to Merkel at the rally in Zagreb. The controversial singer, regardless of personal opinions, is banned in half of Europe, and his concerts are banned in Germany of all places, but HDZ still decided to go ahead and blast out Lijepa li si for the German chancellor anyway.

If HDZ's message wasn't quite clear enough to everyone yet, the party leader made sure to confirm it all again, by going out onto the stage and literally screaming about it for around twenty minutes. Screaming about what you might ask? The past and Dr. Franjo Tuđman, I'd answer. He described HDZ's strength and even went as far as to discuss the party's ''enemies'', but refrained from naming them.

Let's not forget that among all of this, there was also a language barrier to deal with, too. Uncomfortable? Yes.

HDZ managed to glorify nationalism and Croatia's membership of the European Union at the same time, and while there were Croatian and HDZ flags galore, there was not one single EU flag to be seen.

Make sure to follow our dedicated politics page for much more.

Click here for the original article by Davor Tomsic for Index

Independent parliamentarian Vlaho Orepić discussed various issues surrounding the Croatian political and social structure, claiming that ''the failure to properly deal with fake (fictitious) residences by the authorities is politically motivated and purposely left unresolved with the aim of influencing the outcomes of the upcoming elections,''

The fact that there is no real intention of the current authorities to remove fake residences from the electoral register and bring some order [to that situation] and accordingly, Croatia conducts a policy of banalisation when it comes to the conditions for obtaining Croatian citizenship were grounds for a press conference held by independent MP Vlaho Orepić.

On Tuesday, February the 5th, 2019, on the premises of the Croatian Parliament, Vlaho Orepić held a press conference on which he once again pointed out to the media and the public the problem of fake residence registration.

The fact that this issue remains unresolved means people who have their permanent residence in the Republic of Croatia are denied the right to elect their own authorities, and Croatian citizens living outside the homeland (whose voting rights are indisputable and come directly from what is written in the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia (Ustav Republike Hrvatske) are also deceived in this way.

The conclusion which has now been arrived to, given that a response from the relevant minister wasn't given even after the issue was brought up in parliament, is that there is simply no sincere and real intention of the current government to even try to tackle an extremely important issue so that honest elections can be carried out in the future. Orepić has therefore also called upon political and social structures to take a stance and engage with the aim of protecting legality of upcoming elections and democratic processes in the Republic of Croatia.

"What worries me, and what has inspired a series of both formal and informal reactions from me, even this press conference, is the fact that false (fictitious) residences are politically motivated and protected with the aim of influencing the outcomes of the electoral process(es) in the Republic of Croatia. My goal is to put an end to fake residence [registration] and the type of politics which permits that same cheating in the elections. My goal is fair elections,'' stated Orepić.

According to new statistics, Croatia has fewer than four million inhabitants (approximately 3.750 million), according to official data we can count almost 4,175,000 people with health insurance and as many as 3,746,286 voters. The fact that the number of voters isn't actually correct has been indicated by the data of the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), published in July 2017, which states that just children under the age of fourteen alone which are registered amount to 600,000. It's totally clear that Croatia has no accurate and publicly available list of citizens and voters, nor does it have the political will to have this problem solved.

From the mentioned numerical indicators, as well as from the legal definition of residence, which reads as - residence is the place and address in the Republic of Croatia where the person permanently resides in order to exercise his/her rights and obligations related to living interests such as family, professional, economic, social, cultural and social other interests - it's clear that a lot of people who don't meet these conditions have been entered into the electoral register.

They are listed [on the electoral register] on the basis of their false registrations of residence in the Republic of Croatia and thus, in addition to voting and other rights, they enjoy economic ones which come with residing in the Republic of Croatia.

That this is politically motivated has also been indicated by the fact that the second day after Vlaho Orepić's dismissal as Minister of the Interior, the disclosure and deletion procedure of false residence registrations in the Republic of Croatia (mainly regarding citizens from neighbouring Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina) was suspended. Activities related to the abolition of fake residences are a legal obligation of the chief of police administrations, but in spite of that fact, all of those who were engaged in carrying out this work were prevented from continuing with it.

While Vlaho Orepić was the Minister of the Interior, in just two and a half months, about 45,000 fake residence registrations were removed, and over the next four months that number rose to 75,000. The estimates are that at the present moment, there are at least 150,000 fictitious residence registrations in the Republic of Croatia, which brings a whole range of election process outcomes as well as the legality of the authorities at all levels into question.

"I hope all political, judicial and other social structures will realise the importance of this issue. From the government, the security services and the justice system, I expect an urgent reaction, just as was done with the recent attempt to try to discredit the Minister of Agriculture (Tomislav Tolušić). I expect from the umbrella of war veteran associations to stand up for the legality of the election process in the Republic of Croatia, especially with the engagement of Mr. Josip Đakić as a parliamentary representative and as a war veteran.

I expect the support of the President of the Croatian Parliament, Mr. Gordan Jandroković, and especially the two vice-presidents Mr. Milijan Brkić and Mr. Božo Petrov because they know very well what I'm talking about and what I'm fighting for. I also expect the support of President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović to whom this issue must be in focus because it's in the interest of citizens, and all the citizens of the Republic of Croatia, and without whom we cannot even begin to talk about the rule of law as the basis for the survival of every single legal state,'' concluded Vlaho Orepić, MP.

Make sure to follow our dedicated politics page for much more.

A total of 3.719.182 voters are eligible to cast their ballots, 39.500 less than four years ago, at 6.618 polling stations, with over 12.000 observers monitoring the process