ZAGREB, April 6, 2019 - The slate of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) for the European Parliament elections is headed by Karlo Ressler, a 30-year-old party official who coordinated the preparation of the HDZ platform for the upcoming European elections and whom the HDZ Youth unanimously nominated for the list which was presented to the public on Friday evening.

The second place of the 12-candidate slate is occupied by a Croatian MEP, Dubravka Šuica,and she is followed by MP Tomislav Sokol, while one more HDZ MEP, Željana Zovko, ranks fourth and she is followed by two members of the national parliament, Sunčana Glavak and Marijana Balić.

The slate which also includes the heads of Šibenik-Knin and Brod-Posavina counties - Goran Pauk and Danijel Marušić, respectively, Transport Ministry state secretary Nikolina Brnjac, Osijek-Baranja County Development Agency head Stjepan Ribić, Split-Dalmatia County Port Authority head Domagoj Maroević, and assistant HDZ secretary-general Stjepan Adanić was unanimously adopted at meetings of the HDZ Presidency, National Council, and the Main Committee which considered the party's platform for the EP elections called "Croatia for Generations".

Presenting the slate at a news conference on late Friday evening, HDZ leader and Prime Minister Plenković said that the party platform for the upcoming elections had five planks that concentrate on a successful European Croatia, growth- and enterprise-friendly Europe, a Europe pursuing values of Democrat Christians and solidarity, a new generation Europe, and a safe and globally strong Europe.

Plenković expressed confidence in a convincing victory of his party in the elections which will be held on 26 May.

Recent projections released by the European Parliament show that the party is set to win six of the 12 seats, allotted to Croatia in the next European Parliament, (EP), while the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) can expect three seats and the Živi Zid, the GLAS-led Amsterdam Coalition and the MOST party can win one seat each.

More news about HDZ can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, April 5, 2019 - The Amsterdam Coalition on Friday submitted its slate for the European Parliament elections, with Anka Mrak Taritaš saying the vote was important as citizens could choose between a Europe of barbed wire fences and the Brexit chaos and the open and free Europe they advocate.

The slate was submitted by the presidents of the parties making up the coalition: Krešo Beljak (Peasant Party), Mrak Taritaš (GLAS), Boris Miletić (Istrian Democratic Party), Silvano Hrelja (Pensioners' Party) , Darijo Vasilić (PGS), David Bregovac (Labour Party), Mirando Mrsić (Democrats) and the head of the slate, Istria County prefect Valter Flego.

Beljak said Croatia had been yearning for more than 30 years to be part of Europe, albeit not the Eastern Europe as offered by Poland and Hungary, but the real Central Europe. A vote for our coalition is a vote for a European Croatia and all other parties and movements are offering something else, he added.

He wondered where Croatia should go and if its citizens wanted to go west and have as models Germany, Scandinavian countries and Ireland, which he said had transformed over the past 30 years from a conservative and backward country into one of the most progressive in Europe.

More news about Amsterdam Coalition can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, April 2, 2019 - The Independents for Croatia (NHR) and the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) have signed an agreement on cooperation in the coming elections for the European Parliament and their joint slate will be presented next week.

The agreement on cooperation demonstrates our political will and readiness for cooperation with similar political parties, NHR political secretary and member of parliament Zlatko Hasanbegović told a news conference in the parliament on Tuesday.

The NHR and the HSP share the same Party-of-Right political legacy of Ante Starčević, a common vision about the status of the Croatian nation and state in the EU and a common vision of Europe as a community of free, sovereign and independent nations, said Hasanbegović.

Hasanbegović said the joint slate for European elections would be presented next week and would include, apart from himself and the other NHR member of parliament Bruna Esih, HSP leader Karlo Starčević and Kutina Mayor Damir Markuš.

The two parties' goal in elections for the European Parliament is to win at least one seat, the parties' leaders said at the news conference at which they would not answer reporters' questions.

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

ZAGREB, April 1, 2019 - The opposition Živi Zid party on Sunday presented its slate for the forthcoming European Parliament elections, with its leader Ivan Vilibor Sinčić calling on voters to go to the polls on 26 May in large numbers.

In his speech, Sinčić said that in that way voters would contribute to the struggle for the future of the Croatian people "within a huge European mechanism of centralised decision-making".

"We are here to decide on whether the future of Croatia and the Croatian people will be servility or freedom," said he.

The slate is headed by the party's secretary-general Tihomir Lukanić.

In mid-March the party presented a joint platform with a group of European populist parties for May's European Parliament election in Zagreb, when Sinčić said that they were a new generation of politicians who would build a new and better Europe.

The platform which Sinčić said is advocating an honest Europe that will be closer to citizens and that will fight against corruption and organised crime was presented by him and the leaders of kindred European parties - Luigi di Maio from Italy's 5 Star Movement, Pawel Kukiz from the Polish party Kukiz 15 and Evangellos Tsompanidis from Greece's AKKEL.

According to the latest projections released by the European Parliament on Friday, Živi Zid can expect one out of 12 seats in the EP allotted to Croatia, whereas the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) is set to win six seats, the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) three seats and the GLAS-led Amsterdam Coalition and the MOST party could win one seat each.

It was the third such projection of the composition of the next EP released by the Parliament and based on polls on voting intentions in the EU member-states.

Initial projections of the composition of the new European Parliament indicated that of 12 seats reserved for Croatia the HDZ would win six, the SDP three, Živi Zid two and MOST one.

More news about Živi Zid can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, March 31, 2019 - The Work and Solidarity Party of Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić on Saturday marked the fourth anniversary of its establishment and presented its slate for the coming elections for the European Parliament, set for May 26.

Bandić said that the slate consisted of 11 reputable individuals from various walks of life, none of whom were members of his party, and that only Jelena Pavičić Vukičević, vice-president of the Solidarity and Work Party, was a party member.

He said that the final order of the candidates on the slate would be determined in the coming days.

"Of the 12 candidates on the Work and Solidarity Party slate, 11 are people who are very successful in their field of work, from tourism to economy and from architecture to biochemistry," said Bandić.

He said that he was confident Croatian voters would notice this and called on them to take part in elections for the European Parliament.

"I believe that Croatia needs a change and that national interests should be represented in the European Parliament, that economic growth should be strengthened and that Croatia should be a partner to the EU to a greater extent."

Asked how many seats he expected his slate to win, he said that voters would be the ones to decide.

More news about Milan Bandić can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, March 29, 2019 - The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) is set to win six of the 12 seats, allotted to Croatia in the next European Parliament, (EP), while the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) can expect three seats and the Živi Zid, the GLAS-led Amsterdam Coalition and the MOST party, can win one seat each, shows the latest projections released by the European Parliament on Friday.

This is the third such projection of the composition of the next EP released by the Parliament and based on polls on voting intentions in the EU member-states.

Initial projections of the composition of the new European Parliament indicated that of 12 seats reserved for Croatia the HDZ will win six, the SDP three, Živi Zid two and MOST one.

The projects are compiled in collaboration with Kantar Public, Parliament’s Public Opinion Monitoring Unit.

These projections of the composition of the next European Parliament are based on the structure of the outgoing Parliament and should be seen as a snapshot of the current political situation as represented in the voting intention polls.

The poll in Croatia was carried out by Promocija Plus. According to the poll taken, HDZ will win 30.7% of the vote or 6 seats. SDP would win 19.2% of the vote or 3 seats, followed by the Živi Zid (10.2%) Amsterdam Coalition (7.7%) and MOST (6.8%) and would win 1 seat each.

The next European Parliament will have fewer MEPs then the outgoing parliament, 705 compared to the current 751 seats. The new division of seats will apply only if Great Britain exits the EU before the elections which are set for May 23 - 26.

Based on current voting intentions in the EU27, the European People's Party group (EPP) would have 188 seats, followed by the Socialists and Democrats (142), Liberals (72), Europe of Nations and Freedom (61), European Conservatives and Reformists (53), European United Left (49), and the European Freedom and Direct Democracy group (30).

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

ZAGREB, March 27, 2019 - The MOST party on Wednesday presented its slate for the coming European Parliament election, and the party's leader, Bozo Petrov who heads the slate, said that they were aiming for two seats.

Petrov explained that he would not go to the European Parliament but would pass on the seats won to MOST members with the most preferential votes.

The slate consists of Petrov followed by Sonja Čikotić, Ivan Prskalo, Ines Strenja, Ružica Vukovac, Robert Podolnjak, Ljubica Ambrušec, Nizar Shoukri, Ivan Bekavac, Mato Tomljanović, Ivan Matić and Miro Bulj.

"Candidates with the most preferential votes will go to the European Parliament regardless of whether they passed the preferential threshold. I consider that to be fair toward citizens and the candidates on the slate," Petrov said.

He explained that his name was on the slate regardless of the fact that he would not take a seat in the EP, because MOST wants to send a message that the European election is important for Croatia. "My name will be the first on the slate but I won't take a seat in the European Parliament because I believe that we are faced with certain important battles. I want to send a message that this election is essential for Croatia's political future and that is why my name is at the top of the slate," he said.

He called on Croatian citizens to go to the polls because "with going to the polls or not, they are showing what kind of Croatia they belong to and what kind of Croatia they want."

This opposition parliamentary party plans to spend 1.2 million kuna (162,000 euro) in the election campaign.

Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on Tuesday called the election of 12 Croatian deputies to the European Parliament for 26 May and the State Election Commission said on its website that the deadline for the nomination of candidates was midnight, April 9.

Elections for the European Parliament will be held in all member states of the European Union between 23 and 26 May 2019, as decided by the Council of the European Union. Every five years EU citizens choose who represents them in the EP.

More news on the European elections can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, March 26, 2019 - Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on Tuesday called the election of 12 Croatian deputies to the European Parliament for 26 May.

The decision on calling the election will go into effect after it is published in the National Gazette.

Elections for the European Parliament will be held in all member states of the European Union between 23 and 26 May 2019, as decided by the Council of the European Union. Every five years EU citizens choose who represents them in the European Parliament.

The EP is elected by direct universal suffrage and elections must be based on proportional representation and use either the list system or the single transferable vote system. In some countries including Croatia, the order on the list may be changed using the transferable (preferential) vote system.

Slates may be submitted by all political parties registered in Croatia that can run in the election with their own slates or in coalitions. To participate in the election independent candidates must collect at least 5,000 signatures of voters, and submit them to the State Election Commission within 14 days after the president calls the elections.

Jean-Claude Juncker is the current president of the European Commission but a group of hopefuls are jostling to succeed him after the May poll.

Political groupings in the European Parliament have named their spitzenkandidat, which is German for the lead candidate of a party.

Voters across the European Union will go the polls to select the 705 MEPs to serve in the European Parliament for the next five years.

The number of MEPs for the next five-year is reduced to 705, down from 751 during the 2014-2019 period.

The biggest beneficiaries have been France and Spain, who will both have five extra members in the chamber.

Croatia's number of seats went up from 11 to 12.

Croatia held its first EP elections on 13 and 14 April 2013, just before it entered the Union on 1 July that year.

More news on the elections in Croatia can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, March 24, 2019 - Prime Minister and HDZ president Andrej Plenković said on Saturday that the European Parliament election would be called on March 26. "If the United Kingdom leaves, it means the election of 12 Croatian MEPs. In the event of some unforeseen circumstances, a possible extension of the Brexit deadline we set for May 22, then legally, in the first stage, we would elect 11 MEPs, and if (the UK) leaves, not just we but other countries too would have 12 MEPs."

Asked about a meeting of the state leadership in the president's office earlier on Saturday, Plenković said he met with President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković every four to six weeks and that they discussed all current matters.

Speaking to the press in Krapinske Toplice, where he attended a ceremony marking the 29th anniversary of the HDZ party's Krapina-Zagorje County branch, he said Croatia was prepared for both Brexit scenarios.

Asked about Social Democratic Party president Davor Bernardić's claim that the HDZ needed the law on the financing of political activities to legalise its slush funds, Plenković said "this degree of disastrous statements is below every level of rude, even slanderous statements" and that they were put in the context of a rational decision to give citizens more benefit from electioneering.

The campaign for the EP election "will last 45 days and you have only 1.5 million kuna per slate. A party can invest its own funds or seek contributions, and we raised the limit," he said, adding that even with the increase Croatia "is one of the countries with the smallest funds for campaigning."

He said it was important that Croatian citizens understood that as those spending more in the campaign would motivate people to vote in the EP election. He said the "anti-European sovereignists are clueless and it's important the public knows that, and they didn't lift a finger for Croatia to join the European Union."

Asked about the government's position on a Slovenian court's non-final jail sentence against Croatian fishermen for fishing in Savudrija Bay, Plenkovic said the government supported all Croatian fishermen who were being fined by the Slovenian authorities.

He reiterated that Croatia did not recognise the "compromised" arbitration procedure and ruling on the border with Slovenia and that it wanted to discuss and resolve the problem with Slovenia.

More news on the European elections can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, March 22, 2019 - The Croatian member of the European Parliament, Marijana Petir (EPP), is the recipient of this year's MEP Award for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries, presented by The Parliament Magazine.

Petir was nominated by the European State Forest Association (EUSTAFOR) at the proposal of the Croatian Wood Cluster and the Croatian Exemplary Rural Women association, her office said in a press release on Thursday.

"It is with great honour and gratitude that I receive this award that represents the crowning of my work in the AGRI Committee in the past five years. I would like to dedicate this award to the Croatian farmers, the young ones who represent a real inspiration for me with the creativity and innovation they bring to agriculture," Petir said at the award-giving ceremony in Brussels on Wednesday evening.

The awards, also known as EU Oscars, were also presented for development; digital single market; economic and monetary affairs; education, culture and media; employment, social affairs and regions; energy; environment; health; industry, research and innovation; internal market and consumer protection; international trade; justice and gender equality; security and defence; and transport and tourism.

This year's Outstanding Achievement Award went to Guy Verhofstadt, the chairman of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) group in the European Parliament.

"I think these awards are very important as they are proof of the existence of something that populists and nationalists always deny - the existence of a real, true, trans-national, pan-European democracy," Verhofstadt said at the ceremony.

More news on the European Parliament can be found in the Politics section.