ZAGREB, October 15, 2019 - The European Parliament rapporteur on Montenegro and Croatian MEP, Tonino Picula, said on Monday that the Western Balkans must not be left aside in planning the future EU foreign policy.

"What is encouraging and what should be shared with the Montenegrin public is that the new European Commission, aware of many problems it is inheriting from the previous Commission, has chosen as the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy a person who made it clear during a hearing before the European Parliament that the Western Balkans cannot be left aside in planning the future European foreign policy," Picula said in an interview with Montenegrin television.

Picula said he had visited Montenegro many times and was acquainted with the political reality in the country. He said it was not easy to predict Brussels' plans at a time when the EU was facing a lot of internal problems, but he encouraged Montenegro to continue on its EU path.

"Montenegro has made great progress. This is, first of all, some sort of not just a technical process but also a political process so that things in Montenegro would be better," Picula said.

Picula was appointed rapporteur on Montenegro on October 10.

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

ZAGREB, October 4, 2019 - A European Commission Vice President-designate, Dubravka Šuica of Croatia, has the necessary majority support for a positive assessment of her hearing, sources at the European Parliament said on Thursday evening.

The Parliament's Committee on Constitutional Affairs, expanded to include members of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality, on Thursday evening interviewed Šuica, the Croatian candidate for EC Vice-President for Democracy and Demography.

According to unofficial sources at the EP, members of Šuica's political group, the EPP, were satisfied with the hearing, as were the Socialists&Democrats (S&D), the Liberals (RE), and the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR). Those who were against were the far left, the European United Left–Nordic Green Left (GUE), the far right, Identity and Democracy (ID), and the Greens.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković congratulated Šuica on Twitter, describing her passing the hearing as a great success for Croatia.

The hearing, which lasted slightly less than three hours, was dominated by topics regarding a Conference on the Future of Europe in 2020, which is within Šuica's remit, and world-view questions.

She was also asked about her property.

In her introductory address, Šuica committed to improve citizens' participation in EU democracy and to address Europe's demographic change.

She also said that she would dedicate herself fully to the organisation of the Conference on the Future of Europe, which should start in 2020 and last two years.

The conference is expected to serve as a forum to connect European citizens, civil society and European institutions, its aim being for Europeans to say what kind of Union they want and how they want it to be run.

Questions from all seven coordinators of political groups were about that topic.

Some of the MEPs asked Šuica why she had voted against a report whereby a procedure was launched against Hungary under Article 7 for violation of the rule of law and European values.

She said that she had voted against the report because she believed that the EP should not be the one to launch the procedure and that the European Commission was in a better position for that as it was a neutral arbiter. She added that she believed in the rule of law and shared the concern about some serious cases of violation of the rule of law.

A representative of the Renew Europe Group, Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, said that Šuica had regularly voted against women's rights, notably sexual and reproductive rights.

French MEP Raphael Glucksmann (S&D) asked Šuica about her position on abortion and family planning and asked her to condemn Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's statement that there was a danger of the European population being replaced by migrants.

I will not condemn anyone and will not be in a position to do so. As I said earlier, I am for legal migrations, Šuica said.

As for abortion, she said that the issue was not within the remit of the EU but of member-states and that in her country, abortion was legal.

Swedish MEP Alice Kuhnke (Greens) said that Šuica had voted against women's right to decide about their own bodies and asked her if she could promise that she would advocate women's right to abortion.

I voted the way I did not because I am against gender equality but because the reports in question always contained something that was not related to women's rights, Šuica said.

I will promote human dignity, freedom, equality and minority rights, she added.

Spanish MEP Eugenia Palop (GUE) asked Šuica if a family other than the traditional one was acceptable to her.

She said that she was for the traditional family but that she did not have anything against the family being defined otherwise.

A German MEP, satirist Martin Sonneborn, who does not belong to any political group, asked Šuica about her property.

Can you reveal the concept of how you acquired a wealth of more than five million euros, he asked.

Committee on Constitutional Affairs chair Antonio Tajani reacted to this, saying that Šuica had received the green light from the Committee on Legal Affairs and that everything was in order with her declaration of financial interests and that this was not a topic of the hearing.

Šuica said that she would answer that question as well.

What you are saying does not correspond with the facts. You have read some articles that are simply not true. Twenty years ago, I lived in a family house with my husband who was a sea captain and had a decent salary. My financial statements have always been transparent and in line with the rules, my financial situation has always been clear and transparent. Everything is in line with the law, she said.

The heads of parliamentary committees will meet on October 15 to decide on the outcome of all hearings and they will submit their conclusions to a conference of EP presidents, which comprises the EP president and heads of parliamentary groups. They will make final assessments and decide which candidates have passed their hearing, for which a new hearing will be requested and for which alternative candidates have to be proposed.

A vote on the entire EC is set for October 23 at a plenary session in Strasbourg and if all goes well, members of the new European Commission will take office on November 1.

More news about Dubravka Šuica can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, July 17, 2019 - Croatian member of the European Parliament, Mislav Kolakušić, said on Wednesday that he had not supported the election of German politician Ursula von der Leyen for the European Commission President due to "the Germany supremacy" in the European Union.

"Instead of the equality and the rule of law we have the supremacy of Germany. I could not accept that in addition to all other posts allotted to German representatives, the job of the EC president is also going to Germany," Kolakušić told Hina the day after von der Lyen was confirmed as the EC President.

Kolakušić said that Ursula von der Leyen had understood that this practice was unfair and that she therefore announced that she would take into account central and eastern European member-states when nominating candidates for the heads of the influential departments in the Commission.

The European Parliament on Tuesday elected German Christian Democrat Ursula von der Leyen president of the European Commission.

She received the votes of 383 MEPs, while 327 were against and 22 abstained. One ballot was invalid. In order to become the new Commission president, von der Leyen had to win at least 374 votes.

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

ZAGREB, July 5, 2019 - Ursula von der Leyen has the full support of the European People's Party (EPP) to become European Commission President, but she has not yet secured votes from other parliamentary groups, Croatian members of the European Parliament said in Zagreb on Friday.

Dubravka Šuica, a member of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and deputy chair of the EPP group in the European Parliament, said she regretted that the concept of spitzenkandidat had failed, adding that the EPP did not want to "block the processes" agreed in Brussels and would support the Commission President nominee.

Tomislav Sokol (HDZ/EPP) said: "As far as the EPP is concerned, there will be no problem about the confirmation of Ursula von der Leyen."

After lengthy negotiations, the European Council on Tuesday nominated German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen (CDU/EPP) as the next President of the European Commission, after the lead candidates Manfred Weber of the EPP and Frans Timmermans of the Social Democrats were rejected.

"The point is that the strongest party has the right to nominate its candidate for the highest position. With the new candidate democratic legitimacy was preserved because the EPP is a relative winner" of May's European Parliament elections, Sokol said at a press conference held to introduce the newly-elected Croatian MEPs.

Attending were Dubravka Šuica, Karlo Ressler, Tomislav Sokol and Željana Zovko of the HDZ, Biljana Borzan and Tonino Picula of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), and Valter Flego of the Istrian Democratic Party (IDS).

Ruza Tomašić of the Croatian Sovereignists, Predrag Fred Matic of the SDP, Independent Mislav Kolakušić and Živi Zid's Ivan Vilibor Sinčić did not attend. Tomašić and Matić excused themselves, while Kolakušić and Sinčić gave no explanation.

Zovko said she is "very pleased with the choice of Von der Leyen" because she is advocating the EU's southeastern expansion, unlike Timmermans who is opposed to further enlargement. "We have the best possible solution," she said.

Borzan, a deputy chair of the Socialists group, said that their support for the EPP's candidate has not been agreed yet, even though Italian Socialist David Sassoli has become President of the European Parliament.

"Von der Leyen is facing a difficult task of winning a majority," Picula said, adding that those who did not honour the concept of spitzenkandidat contributed to a degradation of the European institutions.

Flego said that Von der Leyen would first have to present her platform to his Renew Europe group, formerly known as the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), as Sassoli had done, after which this group would decide on whether or not they would support her.

"It is less important who is at the European Commisson's helm and who the commissioners are, but it is very important that we know what these people will do," Flego said.

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

ZAGREB, June 20, 2019 - Croatian MEP Biljana Borzan (SDP) has been selected as one of the nine vice-chairs of the European Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group in the European Parliament. "I thank my colleagues and the new chair of the group Iratxe Garcia Perez for their support," Borzan said.

The other vice-chairs of the S&D group include Eric Andrieu (France), Miriam Dalli (Malta), Helene Fritzon (Sweden), Roberto Gualtieri (Italy), Bernd Lange (Germany), Claude Moraes (Great Britain), Kati Piri (the Netherlands) and Rovana Plumb (Romania).

"As I have until now, I will fight for Croatia to have a strong role at the table in European policies. I want the voice of our citizens to be heard when European decisions are made which impact their lives. There must not be big and small, significant and insignificant (countries)," Borzan said.

Earlier this month, Dubravka Šuica (HDZ) was selected as one of the ten vice-chairs of the European People's Party (EPP) group.

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

ZAGREB, May 27, 2019 - The ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the strongest opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) have won four seats each out of a total of 12 seats allotted for Croatia in the new European Parliament, according to the reports from the State Election Commission (DIP) after it counted ballots from 99.72% of polling stations when the voting for the EP ended in Croatia on Sunday evening

Thus, the HDZ candidates with the five-year MEP term will be Karlo Ressler, Dubravka Šuica, Tomislav Sokol and Željana Zovko, and the SDP will be represented by Biljana Borzan, Tonino Picula, Predrag Matić and Romana Jerković.

The Sovereignists, the independent slate led by former judge Mislav Kolakušić, Živi Zid and the seven-party Amsterdam Coalition have each won one seat. Other slates have not passed the election threshold of 5% of the vote.

The latest results show that the HDZ has won 22.71% of the vote, the SDP follows with 18.71%, whereas the Sovereignists' slate led by MEP Ruža Tomašić has mustered 8.51% of the vote.

The slate of Mislav Kolakušić, who is perceived by media as the biggest surprise of these elections, has won 7.89% and is followed by Živi Zid (5.66%) and the Amsterdam Coalition's slate (5.20%) which will be represented by Istrian Democratic Party (IDS) leader Valter Flego.

President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović congratulated all those who have won seats in the European Parliament at Sunday's EU election. "Congratulations to all those who will enter the European Parliament with wishes that on behalf of everyone they fight firmly for Croatian state and national interests and for a Europe of equals, not of those who are large or small but for those who are equal," President Grabar-Kitarović said.

Slightly more than 3.8 million Croatian voters in the country and abroad were eligible to vote in the EP elections to elect 12 Croatian deputies for a five year term.

A total of 396 candidates on 33 slates vied for the 12 seats in the European Parliament allocated to Croatia. Thirty-one slates are party and coalition slates while two are independent slates.

Of the 12 deputies to be elected, 11 will go to Brussels immediately after the elections while the 12th will go after Great Britain leaves the EU.

The elections were monitored by over 4,700 monitors from ten political parties and two nongovernmental organisations.

Only a smaller number of irregularities were reported during the voting process but they did not affect the process, DIP deputy chair Vesna Fabijančić-Križanić said.

The nongovernmental election monitoring organisation GONG stated on Sunday that the voting was proceeding in an orderly manner at polling stations throughout Croatia and that there was a small number of complaints from voters, and the majority of them referred to the breach of the ban of electioneering.

HDZ president Andrej Plenković said on Sunday night, after the State Electoral Commission (DIP) results showed that the party won four seats in the European Parliament, that he was not entirely satisfied because he had expected five seats, for which the party was short of about 1,000 votes, and that this was due to a big dispersion of votes and a big number of slates.

It's a relative victory, we will have four members in the European Parliament as of July 1 and I congratulate them, he said in the party's campaign headquarters.

Plenković said he was pleased with the higher turnout (about 30%) than in previous EP elections (20% in 2013 and 25% in 2014). He said it meant that Croatian voters identified with European topics and saw the EP elections as important for Croatian society.

He said it was important that the HDZ ran in the elections independently. We stand by that decision and I believe it was the right one, he added.

I believe our MEPs will continue to work on the achievement of our European ambitions. This is a very pro-European government, we lead a pro-European HDZ and I'm confident that we will slowly get to the point when voters will see which political forces are dealing seriously with the difficult problems of Croatia's transition, which is what the HDZ-led government is doing, Plenković said.

We will work with dedication, advocating European values in Croatian society as we have done so far, and which is what Croatian deputies will do also in the European Parliament, he added.

More elections news can be found in the Politics section.

At 7 pm, polling stations across Croatia closed. At 11.30 pm, the State Electoral Commission announced the results after 93% of precincts have been counted.

HDZ (centre-right, EPP) 23.04% - 4 seats

SDP (centre-left, PES) 18.46% -4 seats

Croatian Soverenists (right-wing) 8.35% - 1 seat

Mislav Kolakušić (independent) 7.73% - 1 seat

Živi Zid (populists) 5.77% - 1 seat

Amsterdam Coalition (left-liberal) 5.48% - 1 seat

Turnout: 29.57%

Slightly more than 3.8 million Croatian voters in the country and abroad were eligible to vote in elections in which Croatian deputies have been elected to represent Croatia in the European Parliament in the next five years.

A total of 396 candidates on 33 slates were vying for the 12 seats in the European Parliament allocated to Croatia. Thirty-one slates are party and coalition slates while two are independent slates. Of the 12 deputies to be elected, 11 will go to Brussels immediately after the elections while the 12th will go after Great Britain leaves the EU.

The nongovernmental election monitoring organisation GONG stated on Sunday, that it voting was proceeding in order at polling stations throughout Croatia for the election of 11 Croatian deputies to the European Parliament, that there was a small number of complaints from voters, and the majority of them referred to the breach of the ban of electioneering.

During the voting on Sunday morning, this NGO received reports from several voters about the violation of the ban on campaigning by political parties and candidates during the voting process.

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

ZAGREB, May 26, 2019 - The number of voters that went to the polls in Sunday's European elections is modest but better than five years ago.

The State Election Commission (DIP) said that 9.93 percent of Croatian voters had voted by 1130 hours, which is 2.3 percent more than in 2015.

The turnout was the highest in Karlovac County where 11.36 percent of voters cast their ballots, and the lowest in Zadar County, 8.82 percent, which is still better than five years ago.

Slightly more than 3.8 million Croatian voters in the country and abroad are eligible to vote in elections in which Croatian deputies will be elected to represent Croatia in the European Parliament in the next five years.

A total of 396 candidates on 33 slates are vying for the 12 seats in the European Parliament allocated to Croatia. Thirty-one slates are party and coalition slates while two are independent slates.

Of the 12 deputies to be elected, 11 will go to Brussels immediately after the elections while the 12th will go after Great Britain leaves the EU.

The nongovernmental election monitoring organisation GONG stated on Sunday, that it voting was proceeding in order at polling stations throughout Croatia for the election of 11 Croatian deputies to the European Parliament, that there was a small number of complaints from voters, and the majority of them referred to the breach of the ban of electioneering.

During the voting on Sunday morning, this NGO received reports from several voters about the violation of the ban on campaigning by political parties and candidates during the voting process.

President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović voted in elections for the European Parliament on Sunday, when 12 Croatian deputies will be elected to represent Croatia in the European Parliament in the next five years.

Addressing reporters, the president expressed hope the turnout would be higher than at the last European elections five years ago, calling on citizens, notably young ones to cast their ballots because "this is the best way to help their political options enter the European Parliament."

"Young people, please, these elections are for you. Go to the polls, cast your ballots because it is important which option you represent and it is important who will represent you in the European Parliament," Grabar Kitarović said.

The president believes it is too early to introduce compulsory voting in Croatia, namely an effect of laws which require eligible citizens to register and vote in elections, and may impose penalties on those who fail to do so.

"Maybe in a few years," the president said, underlining that elections are the foundation of democracy.

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

ZAGREB, May 26, 2019 - The polls opened at 7 am on Sunday throughout Croatia for voters to cast their ballots for the election of 12 deputies to the European Parliament (EP) who will represent Croatia in that body for the next five years.

The State Election Commission called on voters to exercise their right and cast their ballots.

There are 3,832,000 eligible voters with residency status in Croatia and another 154,000 who have the right of vote but do not reside in Croatia (the diaspora).

Croatia is voting for MEPs through open slates which means that voters cast their ballot for a party slate and in addition they can vote for a particular candidate on that slate to whom they wish to give priority in relation to other candidates on the slate.

Croatians can choose between 33 slates, as against 25 slates registered for the EP elections in Croatia five years ago. Thus, a total of 396 candidates are running now for the 12 seats reserved for Croatia in the new European legislature.

Eligible voters can cast their ballots at 6,360 regular and another 70 special polling stations in Croatia which will close at 7 pm. Croatians can also vote in 46 other countries at 119 polling stations. The first polling stations for Croats outside Croatia opened in Australia at 11 pm Saturday according to Croatian time.

Elections for the European Parliament are held in all member states of the European Union between 23 and 26 May 2019, as decided by the Council of the European Union.

Polls opened on May 23 first in the Netherlands, then half an hour later the election began across the U.K., as both nations kicked off the four-day election process, marking the ninth occasion since the first direct elections in 1979. The current number of MEPs is 751, although those seats are set to drop to 705 when the U.K. leaves the bloc.

Latvia, Malta, and Slovakia voted on May 25, while the Czech Republic had two days to go to ballots on May 24 and 25. The remaining countries, including Croatia, are voting on Sunday. Final results from all 28 EU nations will be published after voting ends late Sunday.

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.

The results of the voting in Croatia will be announced after 11pm on Sunday.

More European election news can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, May 25, 2019 - Electoral silence started in Croatia at midnight on Friday and it will last until 7 pm Sunday, when polling stations in European elections will be closed.

Breaches of the electioneering ban carry fines ranging from 3,000 kuna for a physical person to 10,000-30,000 kuna for a candidate running in the election or a responsible person in a political party, and 100,000-500,000 kuna for a legal entity, including political parties.

The ban refers to any form of electoral promotion, publication of unofficial election results or their estimates, and the media release of candidates' photographs, statements or interviews with them.

Penalties will not be imposed by the State Election Commission (DIP) but by a misdemeanour court, DIP deputy chair Vesna Fabijančić-Krizanić said.

She confirmed that DIP would react to breaches of electoral silence on social networks but she could not rule out the possibility that some breaches might go unnoticed.

Billboards that voters can see out in the open will not be considered to be in violation of electoral silence, but a candidate's photograph on a media outlet's website will, she said.

Slightly more than 3.8 million Croatians, including those who live in 46 other countries, have the right to vote in Sunday's election at which 12 deputies will be elected from 396 candidates to represent Croatia in the European Parliament in the next five years.

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