March the 24th, 2023 - This week in Croatian politics, we've had ongoing issues with post-earthquake reconstruction, more arguing between Plenkovic and Milanovic, and former President Ivo Josipovic thinks its time for the Constitutional Court to get involved.

Zagreb mayor Tomislav Tomasevic has openly discussed his relationship with Andrej Plenkovic, saying that "of course there is some tension..."

Tomislav Tomasevic recently appeared as a guest on Dnevnik N1, where he discussed, among other things such as the post-earthquake reconstruction process, his relationship with the prime minister. In his words, there are tensions, but the pair still need to work together.

"We have to work together, and we need to cooperate because of EU funds, I guess it is in everyone's interest that this money is spent. I think that so far, we've managed to cooperate in a good way, and yes, of course there are conflicts, one concrete example is the increase in water prices. Several dozen cities raised their water prices without any hype about it,'' Tomasevic said.

When it comes to Zagreb, he says they don't have a single affair to discuss.

"A new tram line is being built for the first time after 20 years, new buses and trams are here, some order has been introduced on the street terraces... Before that, not a single new tram had been bought for 17 years, we have trams running in this city that are even older than me,'' remarked the Zagreb mayor.

The European Commission is set to get a much more detailed insight into what's going on with Croatia's post-earthquake reconstruction process

I don't know about you, but I personally didn't think anyone would still be saying the words ''post-earthquake reconstruction process'' three entire years after the Zagreb earthquake of March 2020, and well over two years since the Petrinja earthquake struck in December of that same year. Alas, things move slowly in the world of Croatian politics, and we are still uttering those words. The European Commission is going to be getting a detailed look into precisely what's going on. 

Today, the European Commission will be informed of the review of the state of Croatian post-earthquake reconstruction, which is being financed from the EU Solidarity Fund, as well as Croatia's view of costs across all of its ministries.

This meeting was announced by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction, Branko Bacic, who, on the occasion of the third anniversary of the Zagreb earthquake (March the 22nd), assessed that the aforementioned segment of Croatian post-earthquake reconstruction is being implemented in full as planned, so this gives some hope that the money will be spent within the prescribed deadline.

You can read more by clicking here.

Has the much talked about Jarun bridge project been kicked into the long grass?

A large project which would have connected the western part of the capital city to Novi Zagreb appears to have stalled completely, with Tomasevic saying that he'd much rather strengthen the city's already existing bridges in case of another earthquake than build another. That all sounds alright, but there are people stuck in limbo because of this decision. People with properties situated along the route that would lead to the would-be bridge can't do anything to repair or reconstruct their houses which were damaged during 2020's earthquake. This issue affects 150 houses situated along this route which are awaiting demolition, but owing to only some things having been formally agreed upon and legalised by the state and other items having been simply disregarded, the situation sits stagnant. Experts say that the Jarun bridge is a classic example of the violation of various laws that ultimately put the City of Zagreb into a deeply unfavourable situation.

You can read more on that by clicking here.

Plenkovic claims that foreign leaders are set to come to Zagreb but none of them want to meet with President Zoran Milanovic

The trolling, mud slinging and arguments between Plenkovic and Milanovic have become somewhat iconic at this point. The pair were even depicted as part of the Rijeka carnival process this year. Endlessly taking swipes at each other, these two powerful figures in the world of Croatian politics can never resist a chance to throw each other under the bus.

In this case, however, Plenkovic has a point in the eyes of most when he says that Milanovic's often rather strange comments about the Russia-Ukraine war are simply not in line with Croatia's official position and that he is sending a very wrong message out to the rest of Europe and indeed the world with many of the statements he makes.

His politically damaging statements in regard to Russia and Ukraine have seen political figures from abroad question Croatia's official position, ask how he is ''being allowed to say such things'', and even had Russian media claiming Milanovic supports their country's disgraceful actions. A poor image for Croatia indeed, especially after the absolutely praiseworthy approach it has towards Ukrainian refugees and Ukraine's unfortunately all too familiar struggles.

Plenkovic went more deeply into the above during a recent official visit to Istria, where after initially emphasising everything the government has done so far, he once again referred to the strained relationship his government (HDZ) has with Zoran Milanovic (SDP), and why they refuse to cooperate with him. He enumerated the cases of him blocking the government's proposals for the appointment of various officials and representatives and said:

"This is just to make the general public aware of where the problem is and where the issues stand. Milanovic's views are completely opposite to the natural position of Croatia,'' he said bluntly, before touching on the beginning of Russian aggression against Ukraine back in February 2022, when Milanovic refused a meeting of the National Security Council.

"If there was a moment when we should have met because of serious security threats, that was the moment. After that came his distancing from Croatia's position and his repeating of pro-Russian positions that are completely contrary to what the stance of Croatia is as a European country, a country that is neither neutral nor non-aligned. We have diametrically different views," he said, as N1 reported.

He pointed out that foreign officials don't want to meet with or cooperate with Milanovic, who has isolated himself with his strange statements and views.

"To make you aware, the Spanish Prime Minister was here recently, he didn't meet with him, the Danish Prime Minister was also here as well, she didn't meet with him either, the President of the Canadian Senate came and he didn't meet with him, the Deputy Prime Minister of Italy was here and he did not meet with him. Do you understand what messages our allies and partners are sending him? They're saying; we hear what you've been saying for a year and we don't want anything to do with it,'' Plenkovic said.

Former president Ivo Josipovic says that Plenkovic and Milanovic are the only ones responsible for their poor relationship

Former Croatian president Ivo Josipovic was a recent guest of N1 Studio live, and during that appearance he commented on the constant conflict between President Milanovic and Prime Minister Plenkovic, as well as the elections that are coming next year.

"Both of them are responsible for their poor relationship and I'm sorry that it's happening," Josipovic said in regard to the constant arguing and insults being thrown around between the president and the prime minister. He says that he used to talk to Milanovic from time to time, but not about things going on in the sphere of Croatian politics.

"It's dangerous in a way even if there was a completely regular situation, and this isn't a normal situation [referencing the war in Ukraine]. This conflict creates a bad political climate and damages Croatia's international reputation, as well as the view of Croatian politics here at home,'' he added.

The war in Ukraine has implications for Croatia's immediate neighbourhood and our security, and it isn't a good situation when the two leading statesmen don't talk,'' warned the former president, reminding that both have responsibility for the functioning of the entire political system.

"I have the experience of being in a mandate with a government of the opposite political orientation as well. Did you ever hear such conversations between me and Jadranka Kosor? There was no idyll between me and Milanovic either, but it's important that everyone sticks to their political competence," said Josipovic, who believes that the Constitutional Court could declare this entire situation unconstitutional and force the president and prime minister to sit down and talk properly.

The situation with Croatia not moving quickly enough to absorb the EU cash given to it continues to be a burden

"Over the next 100 days, we must spend 403 million euros. A large number of projects are being implemented in the areas affected by the Zagreb and Petrinja earthquakes, and this gives us hope that we will be able to use this money. The works are now in full swing, the construction sites are filled with workers, and we keep receiving requests for reimbursement of funds daily", it was said by Spatial Planning Minister Branko Bacic.

As most people who have dealt with anything even remotely administrative here, Croatia tends to move at a snail's pace, and those of us who are better acquainted with this had our heads in our hands from the very day the earthquake struck. Of course, what Bacic is saying isn't good enough for most, and the University of Zagreb's rector claims that what Bacic has stated is simply not in line with previous forecasts. 

You can read more by clicking here.

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.

March the 10th, 2023 - This week in Croatian politics, we've had a rather poor response to Plenkovic making it illegal to leak information from active investigations, Milanovic has claimed that people are drowning in corruption, and pensioners have had some relief from paying certain health insurance contributions. Oh, and there's been talk of price increases, again.

Plenkovic made leaking information an act punishable by law last month, and it's proved wholly unpopular

Index writes that the Promocija plus agency recently conducted some research for RTL regarding the announcement of changes to the Criminal Procedure Act and the Criminal Code. These alterations to the law would make the leaking of information a punishable act, and a survey was conducted from March the 1st to the 3rd on a sample of 1,300 respondents with a standard error of plus or minus 2.7 percent and a confidence level of 95 percent.

Most respondents have indicated that they don't support criminalising the leaking of information from investigations, which is the government's plan. The majority, i.e. 51.4 percent of respondents are against this idea, while 34.5 percent support it.

14.1 percent didn't know or didn't want to answer. Among those who are in favour of making the leaking of information a punishable act, as expected, are HDZ voters (55.6 percent of them support it), followed by those who vote for HNS (80.6 percent of them support it), those who would vote for the Suverenisti (64.5 percent) and Bandic's party (59.1 percent).

While the Prime Minister is making little to no effort to hide that he is bothered by the political damage that results from the disclosure of information from investigations, the respondents see this very reason as the main trigger for changing the law. 51.1 percent of respondents think this is the sole reason for the idea. At the same time, 13.1 percent of them think that the reason is the protection of the rights of all persons involved in investigations, and even the protection of the investigative procedure, which is what 10.1 percent of respondents think.

People believe that the biggest victims of such a change would be journalists

Only 4.9 percent of respondents believe that the main reason for changing the law is the independence of the judiciary. According to Prime Minister Plenkovic's announcement, leaking information from judicial investigations will become a criminal offense, and the goal, as stated, is to prevent information and details from investigations from being released to the media.

The prime minister claims that he isn't trying to stifle any media freedom, but the main victims of this kind of judicial maneuver are precisely journalists, and this is what almost 37.5 percent of respondents believe. 8.9 percent believe that judges and court officials will suffer, and 8.4 percent of the survey participants believe that the public itself is the main victim.

President Zoran Milanovic says that the Croatian public is ''drowning in corruption'' and that the current situation is worse than it was during Ivo Sanader's reign

Milanovic is no stranger to simply blurting out whatever he thinks, with little to no regard for anyone he might offend, and the arguments between him and PM Plenkovic have become somewhat iconic. He has taken another swipe at Croatian politics as run by Plenkovic and stated that the Croatian public is ''drowning in corruption'' and in a ''worse state than when Ivo Sanader was in charge''. 

"When someone comes and tells me that they're ending their cooperation with the president of the republic [in reference to Plenkovic allegedly saying that to him], who was elected democratically, then that's a clear violation of the Croatian Constitution, I'm surprised that that person is still the prime minister, and that someone in the parliament supports that. Let's take a good look at ourselves because Plenkovic is now violating the constitution,''

Milanovic then went on to quote a list of names and positions within either the government or within society that he believes Plenkovic arranged for his own benefit, and even dragged members of his family into it all.

''You people are absolutely drowning in corruption, this whole situation is worse than the one Ivo Sanader caused. At least he only stole for himself,'' Milanovic stated, before continuing with more quite jarring statements about Plenkovic being arrested in Brussels.

Government session closes with the abolition of health insurance contributions for pensioners and VAT amendments

The amendments to the VAT Act proposed by the government at the most recently held session have resulted in the retention of lowest VAT rate yet on gas and some other energy products, and the amendments to the Contributions Act have abolished additional health insurance contributions payable by pensioners.

Amendments to the Law on VAT

According to Plenkovic, the government is proposing changes to the VAT Act, which will see it retain the VAT rate of five percent on deliveries of natural gas and heating from thermal stations. This includes fees related to these deliveries, as well as for deliveries of firewood, pellets, briquettes and wood chips even after March the 31st of this year.

"We're continuing with the reduced rate of VAT on gas, pellets, briquettes, wood chips, and we're going to extend this measure for another year. In this way, we're successfully enabling everyone to be supplied with these types of energy sources on time and at the lowest possible rate," Plenkovic said.

"We support pensioners"

When it comes to changes to the Law on [Health Insurance] Contributions, the proposal is to abolish the payment of an additional contribution for health insurance, which includes about one million pensioners, to whom the said contribution will be paid at the expense of the state budget. This will refer to around 32,000 such individuals.

"We support Croatia's pensioners, and another 32,000 of them will keep what they have been paying so far as part of their regular pension," Plenkovic said.

Freedom House says corruption continues to represent a very serious problem for Croatia

Political rights and civil liberties are generally respected in Croatia, but corruption and discrimination against certain minorities remains a very serious and real concern, Freedom House stated in its 50th annual report on the level of freedoms across the world.

Compared to last year, Croatia lost a point and now has 84 - 35/40 for political rights and 49/60 for civil liberties. Civil and political rights are generally respected in Croatia, but corruption in the public sector remains a serious problem, according to the Freedom House report.

As key events last year, they cited the arrest of various big names from the world of Croatian politics, the staggering INA affair and the fulfillment of the conditions for Croatia's entry into the Eurozone and Schengen despite these issues. The American non-governmental organisation warned that Roma, Serbian nationals, ethnic Serbs and members of the LGBTIQ+ community continue to face discrimination. It also noted the presence of far-right groups and people who promote discriminatory values in public spaces as a legitimate concern.

Irena Weber, the Croatian Employers' Association (HUP) president, talked about price increases and about Croatia's lack of competitiveness economically

Irena Weber from the Croatian Employers' Association (HUP) commented on various economic topics for N1 television, from tax policy to government measures to unjustified price increases and the issue of non-working Sundays.

HUP's salary taxation model

HUP has proposed an increase of salaries through tax relief in such a way that the non-taxable part of an individual's salary rises from 533 euros to 663 euros and that the tax bracket of 20 percent is reduced to 15, and that 30 percent of the income tax is applied only to salaries greater than 50,000 kuna. The amount that local self-government units would lose would be compensated by the introduction of a 10 percent tax on apartment rent. Commenting on the HUP initiative, Finance Minister Marko Primorac said that it was not particularly well thought out.

"The idea was to draw attention to the fact that the income tax burden in Croatia is very much an issue, while, on the other hand, income from other sources is practically not subject to taxation. The intention was to point out that in this country, in which we continuously swear by education, work and similar, work is heavily taxed while we have a large number of people who don't participate in payng income tax whatsoever,'' said Weber.

"The idea is to start discussing all of that. We're arranging a meeting with the Minister of Finance and we need to open this topic properly because there is a large amount of unfairness in the distribution of the tax burden from labour in relation to property tax. With this kind of tax burden on labour, low productivity and the like, we're quite uncompetitive as a country,'' she added

She also pointed out that the government has relieved the tax burden on wages in several rounds already, but also that this increase coincided with strong GDP growth. "Croatian GDP grew by over 20 percent, which is an excellent result even in European Union terms, but that also coincides with the increase in income into the budget."

When asked how much employers raised prices, Weber says: "The domestic labour market continually lacks the staff, employers are fighting to get their hands on every possible worker, there's a real struggle. The problem of labour shortage is also being solved by importing labour from abroad, which isn't efficient either. The State Bureau of Statistics (CBS) announced that wage growth stood at 9.3 percent. We have information from our survey that HUP members increased the wages they pay out by over 15 percent, and yesterday morning we had a meeting with the trade unions, the merchants had raised their wages by over 20 percent. We really must keep raising wages."

"There were no unjustified price increases''

Weber and other HUP members support the continuation of the government's measures to limit energy prices. However, she believes that the issuing of fines for retail chains and others in the trade sector that didn't send the government a list of their products and their prices for the so-called ''white lists'' will not come to pass: "I think all of that was nothing more than speculation.''

She added that inspections carried out showed that almost no irregularities were found even in several hundred checks. "In addition, the CBS published data on price growth in January and February - 1.3 percent in the beverage, food and tobacco sector, which confirms that there was no unjustified price increase there. Retail chains played perhaps the most significant role in the conversion of the euro as an important channel."

"It's not pleasant for me to see any kind of jump in prices either, but we need to look at the bigger picture, inflation is a global problem, we know how the prices of energy, the cost of labour, the price of packaging, and raw materials have risen. With such a price shock, it's logical that the price of the final product also rises. I think that prices will start to stabilise," added Weber.

At the end, she commented on the government decision on non-working Sundays: "We cannot support any ban. HUP is against any restriction of the right to work. This is not the time for that."

For more on Croatian politics, make sure to check out our dedicated section. For a weekly roundup of what's been going on, keep an eye out for our Week in Croatian Politics articles which are published every Friday.

February the 24th, 2023 - This week in Croatian politics, we've seen the marking of one year since Russia invaded Ukraine, messages of solidarity with the Ukrainian people, a deeper look into what makes Plenkovic tick, discussions around working Sundays... Oh, and some eggs.

An anti-war protest is held in Zagreb as the one year anniversary since Russia's horrific invasion of Ukraine is marked

An anti-war protest has been being held today here in the heart of Zagreb on the occasion of the anniversary of the shocking Russian invasion of Ukraine.

''Expressing solidarity with the victims of Russian aggression in Ukraine, we, feminists and peacekeepers from Croatia, alongside the rally "Stop the War Now" want to encourage those responsible to stop the suffering of the Ukrainian people as soon as possible. We'll send our requests to the addresses of the Prime Minister and the President of the Republic of Croatia, reminding them that Croatia, which itself survived the Homeland War with many scars, is morally and humanly obliged to make the maximum effort for peace.

On this day, demonstrations for peace are being held all over Europe and around the world. We're joining all the people who demand an end to the war in Ukraine, the arms race and the start of peace talks! Negotiating does not mean surrendering, arming yourself does not mean winning. As peacemakers and feminists, we especially support related peace initiatives and efforts in Ukraine, in Russia and around the rest of the world. We demand the following from the Croatian Government and the President of the Republic of Croatia, the competent bodies of the European Union (EU), the United Nations (UN), as well as international bodies in charge of security and cooperation:

- The immediate cessation of the war, killing and war-related destruction;
- Demilitarisation and serious diplomatic efforts to initiate negotiations and the peace process;
- The launching of a new security and peace agreement that would include all countries on the territory of Europe;
- The launching of a new global agreement on arms control, especially in regard to nuclear weapons;
- Systemic support for women in war zones because militarism and warrior machismo reinforce gender-based violence including rape, prostitution and trafficking in women;
- The ensuring of the rights of civilian victims, including victims of sexual violence in war, in accordance with international criminal law;
- Full respect for the rights and protection of all displaced persons and exiles, including conscientious objectors who refuse to participate in this or any other war.

We know that peace isn't just about stopping war. Peace is a long-term process in which women are the supporting actors of social healing and the normalisation of life and care for the most vulnerable groups in our society. Therefore, as feminists and activists, we oppose:

- The imperial division of the world, the global escalation of conflicts, any new arms race and the maximisation of the profits of the military-industrial complex;
- The current atmosphere that generates preparations for further wars on a global scale;
- Hate speech and warmongering media coverage;
- Increasing the budget for further armaments because this means less funds for education, healthcare and social services and the fight against natural disasters and climate change;
- We'd like invite the media to report responsibly and impartially, including reporting on peace activities while respecting the majority commitment of European citizens to peace.

Peace building processes take decades and must take place at all social levels. Therefore, we're asking all responsible political actors to act in accordance with international conventions on human security and peace and to prevent further destruction, human suffering, killing and forced displacement by starting peace negotiations," reads the call to protest signed by the Ad Hoc Feminist Anti-War Coalition, which is supported by the following organisations:

The Centre for female victims of war - ROSA
The Centre for Women's Studies in Zagreb
The Centre for Peace Studies
CESI
Documenta – The Centre for dealing with the past
Women's room - The Centre for victims of sexual violence
The Croatian Women's Network

Parliament speaker Goran Jandrokovic assures Ukrainians that they can count on Croatia's unwavering support until the very end

As we mark the solemn anniversary of the launch of the full scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Croatian politics turned to the topic of solidarity. Parliament speaker Goran Jandrokovic has made sure to assure Ukrainian nationals, be they displaced and living in Croatia and the rest of the EU or at home fighting in Ukraine, that they can count on Croatia's support until the end. A minute of silence in the Croatian Parliament then followed.

"I'd very much like to begin today's session by recalling the events which took place back on February the 24th, 2022, as this marked the beginning of the brutal Russian aggression against Ukraine. We followed the news that reached us that morning in total and utter disbelief, deep concern and palpable anxiety. That day, war returned to our European continent, dragging the Ukrainian people into a bloody fight for their own bare existence. The defenders of Ukraine, despite many expectations, surprised their aggressors, they met the Russians with strong resistance, they showed and continue to show how to love their homeland even in the most difficult circumstances," said Jandrokovic at the beginning of the session.

"We in Croatia can very much identify with that, and memories of the sacrifices made in the Homeland War are the reason for our special form of empathy towards the Ukrainian people. The Croatian Parliament reacted extremely quickly and just one day after the Russian aggression we almost unanimously adopted the Declaration on Ukraine, which sent a timely and strong political message of condemnation of Russia's aggression and confirmed our support for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Ukraine," said Jandrokovic.

"The Ukrainian people can count on Croatia's undying solidarity and continued support in their righteous struggle for freedom. We will remain at Ukraine's side until their victory, because Croatia really does deeply understand the Ukrainian struggle. That's why Croats are obliged to stand by Ukrainians, and we must make sure we're on the same, correct side of history," said Jandrokovic.

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Goran Grlic-Radman also stated at the UN that Ukraine must not be forced to wait for years before it wins its freedom like Croatia had to.

In lighter news, a man has been arrested and fined for throwing eggs at HDZ's official building

One Zagreb resident decided to take out his frustrations with Croatian politics and the way HDZ does things by launching eggs at their Zagreb building. The Zagreb resident, known to the public solely as Boris B (44), now has to pay a fine after having been found guilty at the Zagreb Magistrate's Court for throwing the aforementioned eggs at the HDZ building during a protest back in September 2022.

According to the verdict, on September the 10th, 2022 at around 13:30 on Victims of Fascism Square, during a protest, he violated public order and peace as a protest participant.

"Arriving in front of the central office of the HDZ party, he took out the eggs, which he threw at the door of the aforementioned building, causing it to hit the front door and break, therefore, in a public place (the street), he disturbed public order and peace, thereby committing the crime misdemeanor from Article 13 of the Law on Offenses against Public Order and Peace, punishable under the same article of the same Law," reads the explanation of the verdict.

The egg-thrower apparently arrived on a bicycle, pulled out a Cedevita box, and the eggs were taken out of it.

A police officer identified as Marko S testified at the trial, and according to him, he says he saw a man who left his bike on the pavement and came to the protective fence in front of the front door of HDZ's headquarters.

"He took a Cedevita box out from his backpack, grabbed something from it and threw it at the front door, and then I saw that it was an egg that broke and spilled down onto the door, after which he walked away back to the bike," the policeman testified. He added that approached the man and asked him for his ID, which he provided without any problem. After that, he was taken to the police station for further questioning.

Boris B. was sentenced in absentia, considering that he didn't bother to respond to the summons of the court. He was ordered to pay a fine in the amount of 53 euros (which could buy a whole lot of eggs), and he must also pay 40 euros for the costs of the misdemeanor procedure, the judge decided. The verdict is final and can be appealed.

Political scientist Berto Salaj says it's important for PM Andrej Plenkovic to be the longest serving Croatian Prime Minister

''Say what you like about him, but he gets things done'' is one of the main messages taken from political scientist Bero Salaj's opinions on Plenkovic published by Index.

Berto Salaj, a political scientist and professor from the Faculty of Political Sciences in Zagreb, commented on Croatian politics for N1, more precisely on the opposition's initiative to impeach Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic due to the latest scandals revealed in the media. Answering the question of whether anything could shake the prime minister, Salaj said that this initiative to impeach the prime minister will certainly not succeed. 

"If we look at public opinion surveys, HDZ is still between 25 and 30 percent. Not a single opposition party exceeds 15 percent. It's questionable whether this way of pointing out corruption is a good way to fight against Plenkovic at all. It seems to me that we've already learned that when it comes to Croatian politics, this just isn't a good way of going about things. Now there would have to be an affair where the clues would lead to the prime minister himself, for the prime minister to be caught on the spot with his fingers in the till, as it were," Salaj stated.

"Neither Grbin, nor Bencic, nor Grmoja enjoy the trust of citizens like Plenkovic does"

The political scientist advised the opposition to start thinking about how to increase the turnout of citizens in the elections. He believes that this and this alone would be the key to their victory.

"It's simply illusory to expect that HDZ's rating could erode dramatically in the coming period. In the perception of the citizens, none of the current leaders enjoy the trust Andrej Plenkovic does from people. Say what you like about him, he is how he is, but he gets things done. On the other hand, we have all these corruption scandals and an attempt to control independent institutions," says Salaj.

"I think it's important for Plenkovic to be the longest-serving prime minister"

Salaj also believes that some changes could happen within Croatian politics only if Plenkovic fails to stop spiralling inflation, something that is affecting everyone and everything. He believes that it is important for Plenkovic to be the longesr serving prime minister of Croatia.

The Croatian Government has remained fixated on the topic of working on Sundays, and a document to reduce the amount of working Sundays has now been published

Remember when everyone in Croatian politics and beyond was going on about banning or severely limiting working Sundays? Well they still are. You can read much more about it here.

For more on Croatian politics, make sure to follow our dedicated section. Keep an eye out for our Week in Croatian Politics articles which are published every Friday.

February the 17th, 2023 - This week in Croatian politics, we've had everything from building permit issues for politicians and yet another change to the Law on Reconstruction (years after the earthquakes of 2020) to calls for Health Minister Vili Beros to step down in light of yet another alleged HDZ-fuelled healthcare scandal.

Lovro Kuscevic's former adviser is now the head of the Conflict of Interest Commission

Index reports that Aleksandra Jozic Ilekovic has become the new president of the Conflict of Interest Commission, and the previous chief, Natasa Novakovic is leaving that body. The above was decided via a secret vote of the Croatian Parliament.

Jozic Ilekovic received the votes of 78 deputies, her opponent Natasa Novakovic, the former president of the aforementioned commission, received 50 votes, while Nike Nodilo-Lakos and Ines Pavlacic failed to receive a single vote. Novakovic didn't compete for the position of a member of the Commission, which is why she's totally leaving that body.

Before joining the Commission, Jozic Ilekovic held a number of different positions, for eight years she was a member of the State Election Commission (SEC), adviser to the Minister of Justice, senior administrative inspector of the Ministry of Justice, and deputy head of the Government Office for Legislation. In addition to all of the above, Jozic Ilekovic spent two years as an adviser to no less than Lovro Kuscevic, Andrej Plenkovic's former minister and political secretary of HDZ, who is (rather unsurprisingly) a multiple-time USKOK (Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime) suspect.

She allegedly showed leniency in cases involving members of the government

We mustn't forget that Lovro Kuscevic was indicted at the end of the year before last, having been accused of a series of embezzlements regarding some land on Brac from the time when he was in charge of the Municipality of Nerezisca, and he was also accused of preventing evidence coming to light.

In her four years already spent with the Commission for Conflict of Interest, Jozic Ilekovic showed what has been described as ''exceptional leniency'' in cases involving members of the current government.

This third convocation of the Commission will have weaker powers than the previous two, led by Dalija Oreskovic and Natasa Novakovic, and will also have a worse composition. Namely, Jozic Ilekovic is the only member of the current composition who is remaining within the Commission, while all the others have left that body.

Vinkovci's local administration is trying to avoid saying whether or not it granted Minister Mario Banozic a permit for the construction of a house there

Defence Minister Mario Banozic (HDZ) is currently in the process of building a house in Vinkovci. Index toured the parcel and found in the land registers an allegedly clear statement that there's no construction permit issued for it.

Andrea Topic reports that in order not to make a mistake and immediately conclude that Banozic is building his house there illegally, Index contacted the City of Vinkovci, more precisely the Administrative Department for Spatial Planning, Construction and Environmental Protection, which is the office that deals with issuing building permits. On Friday morning, Index sent an inquiry asking for information on whether construction is being done illegally on that lot.

But instead of providing a concrete answer like "yes, it's being built illegally, we didn't issue permits to the investor", or writing "no, everything is being done according to the law", the head of the office, Davor Mecanovic, decided - just five minutes before the end of his during working hours might we add - to copy and paste an excerpt from the Construction Act, send that, and then ignore any calls.

Here is the answer to the very specific question asked of the local authorities:

"Regarding your request about the issuing of a building permit and data on said building permit, we refer you to Articles 115 and 120 of the Construction Act'' before going into further details specified by those articles, which I won't go into now. They're readily available for those who want to read them, and it seems a strange, around-the-houses (quite literally in this case) response to a very straightforward question.

It should also be added that an inquiry was also sent out to the State Inspectorate. Maybe the City of Vinkovic will reveal the secret of Banozic's construction permit to them instead.

SDP wants Health Minister Vili Beros to step down from his position following recent scandals

SDP recently cited the tragic case of Lina Budak, a lawyer from Zagreb, who is claiming that she wasn't told that she had cancer for seven months. They are calling for the dismissal of Minister Vili Beros, who has been silent for two months now about the Budak case.

"We've been saying for a long time now that the healthcare system is falling apart, all because of the incompetence of Minister Vili Beros. The latest case in which an unfortunate woman was diagnosed with a malignant disease long after the acceptable time limit in which she should have found out further confirms this.

Ministers of health in HDZ Governments systematically ignore serious problems, they shift responsibility to other bodies and ignore all of the warnings, both from healthcare workers themselves and their patients. How many more situations like that of Mr. Matijanic and Mrs. Budak are needed for Minister Beros to realise that his policy of inaction is irreversibly leading to the collapse the once powerful Croatian healthcare system?" asked SDP.

"Cancer treatment outcomes are catastrophically bad, patients end up entering the system too late..."

"Less than two weeks ago, we warned of all the difficulties related to the treatment of oncological diseases across Croatia: treatment outcomes are catastrophically bad, patients are put into the system too late, making their prognosis even worse, and the treatment is much more expensive.

The Republic of Croatia has all the necessary documents to improve its level of oncology care, but Minister Beros isn't doing anything to improve it. Indeed, on the occasion of World Cancer Day, he said that he's painfully aware of the problems being faced within the oncology care system. Unfortunately, being "painfully aware" is insufficient comfort for all cancer patients, as well as for the healthcare workers trying to treat them.

The Croatian healthcare system is financially completely destabilised, and that's even without mentioning the lack of staff and continuous staff issues within a system in which an HDZ membership card is more important than expertise. Let's remind you that during the first year of Vili Beros' administration, public hospitals had a deficit of around 682 million kuna, and the total liabilities at the end of 2021 amounted to around 11.8 billion kuna. The mismanagement of the healthcare sector's finances just keeps on being repeated every year, and it seems that this is the only concrete health policy they implement," SDP writes.

"The time has come for Vili Beros to step down"

"The time for Minister Beros to step down came along time ago, and his media appearance recently only proves that he's completely incompetent for this position. The damage that HDZ has done to the healthcare system is absolutely enormous and will be felt by an increasing number of people every single day.

Healthcare cannot be managed by the enthusiasm and altruism of hard working medical professionals who continually try to replace the organisational mess by running around and putting out fires. It's perfecrtly clear who is responsible for the mess – Vili Beros and HDZ,'' concluded SDP's Health Council.

Croatian Parliament passes a new Law on Reconstruction, years after the Petrinja earthquake of December 2020

With a majority vote, the Croatian Parliament successfully passed the new Law on Reconstruction, which should simplify and speed up the reconstruction of the areas affected by the earthquakes (yes, those from back in 2020), with objections from part of the opposition to the reconstruction process carried out so far. 99 parliamentarians voted for the new Law, according to which the Reconstruction Fund and the Central State Office are attached to the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Construction and State Property, 15 were against, and 16 abstained from voting entirely.

HDZ's amendment was accepted, which simplifies the procedure for removing destroyed buildings that have lost their mechanical resistance and stability to such an extent that their restoration is not possible, and reduces the number of participants required during the procedure for removing said destroyed buildings.

Before the vote on the Law on Reconstruction, part of the opposition repeated its objections to the previous renewal and to the Law itself. "Until now, there's been no political will for the reconstruction to take place, it simply wasn't Andrej Plenkovic's political priority," said Sandra Bencic. She believes that the new Law finally provides a normal framework for the reconstruction to be carried out if there's political will to do so.

"Now there can be no more excuses, the only thing that can stop the reconstruction is the prime minister himself and you who hold the majority for him. If we see that the reconstruction isn't going forward, you must all resign," Bencic told the ruling party. "Four ministers, four laws, and you treat people as if they were mere potatoes," said Anka Mrak Taritas, who also added that the new Law could be called a law of self-renewal or self-deception, or of mere temporary care.

Predrag Stromar (HNS) said that the Law is extremely necessary and will speed up all processes. "The funds at our disposal of one billion euros need to be spent urgently," he pointed out.

Marija Selak Raspudic (Most/Bridge) told the authorities to stop renewing the law and actually start restoring people's homes in the affected areas. Nikola Grmoja called on the opposition not to lend their hands to such a law again. "It's bad enough that we're treating the people of Banovina this way, but this government and the majority are simply not able to restore Banovina," Grmoja said.

A new approach to reconstruction and a simpler procedure

With the new approach to reconstruction, people will be paid the entire amount needed for the renovation or construction of a replacement house before the works on it begin. The creation of an analysis of the current state of the necessary renovation, the obligation to create a removal project for family houses, the technical and financial control of the project, and the need to meet special conservation conditions for structural renovation of buildings within a cultural-historical unit have now all been abolished.

The model of replacement of ownership rights instead of renovation and construction of replacement houses has been introduced, and the circle of persons with the right to renovation has been expanded to include relatives, spouses, common-law partners and life partners. The Agency for Legal Traffic and Real Estate Brokerage has been given the authority to build multi-apartment buildings and acquire real estate for temporary accommodation

Those affected will be given financial assistance for the removal of all destroyed buildings, including auxiliary and commercial ones, as well as assistance for project development costs. A more efficient and appropriate public procurement process is being introduced, and the highest prices for services and works will be determined by bodies that will be decided by the government. The transparency and visibility of the renovation process will be strengthened by creating a complete interactive online GIS application.

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

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.

October the 28th, 2022 - This week in Croatian politics, we've had everything from insults, Slovenia's opinions on Croatian Schengen entry and wage increase proposals to healthcare reforms, Milanovic's latest actions, and Nancy Pelosi.

The Croatian Health Insurance Fund's HDZ boss referred to Croats as arrogant in his speech about healthcare not being free

The director of the HZZO, HDZ member Lucian Vukelic has referred to Croats as arrogant because "they think healthcare is free". The HDZ member at HZZO's helm also made sure to refer to himself as somewhat arrogant, too, just for good measure.

"We have a lot of relatives in America, as soon as you see them, they say: 'Thank God I'm healthy'. They say that because healthcare costs serious money in America. In America, you pay for your healthcare out of your own pocket. Our people here are arrogant, and I must say that even I was arrogant, people in Croatia say 'it's free'. It's not free. Healthcare in Croatia isn't free, healthcare in Croatia also costs money," he said.

Vukelic failed to really explain what the point of saying any of that actually was, but he seemed to imply that there is a widespread opinion across Croatia that healthcare somehow doesn't cost money. Moreover, Vukelic himself said that a third of Croats who work annually pay 26 billion kuna from their wages for basic health insurance, so they certainly know that healthcare isn't free.

Of course, there's also the question of what we actually get out of this healthcare we're paying for, which HDZ member Vukelic claims is expensive. It would perhaps be okay if, given that Vukelic is already more than happy to admit that we all pay dearly for our healthcare, he explained why every now and then people are forced to collect money for their treatment, why pregnant women sometimes have to take their own toilet paper to maternity hospitals with them, why the waiting times for often basic examinations are so long and why medical staff are leaving Croatia.

Only later, when asked by a journalist about his statement, did the HDZ member try to justify himself by calling himself arrogant as well, which is absolutely true, but it is also true that he called other people arrogant with the thesis that "our people say that healthcare is free", which honestly, they don't. When they see how much of their wage is shaved off for it each month, they definitely do not.

A man who takes home a monthly salary of over 18,000 kuna, who drives a 300,000 kuna Mercedes, who has an official car, who owned a 150,000 kuna 2001 Harley Davidson until 2019 and who claims his ''communication skills are excellent'' but makes sexist remarks on a TV show (Otvoreno) about women talking a lot should perhaps quiet down before calling others arrogant.

On the topic of healthcare, Health Minister Vili Beros has announced reforms to the system

Beros has presented his healthcare reform package, and it's extensive. Preventative examinations will be introduced, with pilot projects beginning next year in two Croatian counties, the number of specialisations in primary healthcare will be widened, there will be revisions for national preventative programmes for malignant diseases, a focus will be placed on melanoma, hospital system changes are set to come in, and there will be an emergency helicopter service fully established and up and running (or flying) by 2024.

This is just a little bit of what was presented and discussed. You can read more details in this article.

Are Croatia and Slovenia set to start falling out over Schengen entry?

The topic of Croatian Schengen entry is hotting up as the country's Eurozone accession rapidly approaches, but is neighbouring Slovenia ready to throw yet another spanner in the works? 

An expert in European Union law from the Faculty of Law in Maribor, Janja Hojnik, was a recent guest of Novi Dan on N1 where Croatia's entry into Schengen, among other things, was discussed. Hojnik noted that, as far as it seems, the Slovenian Government has not decided to block Croatia's entry into Schengen in any way.

"It has been determined that it is a mutual benefit for Croatia to enter the Schengen zone. The plan is for Slovenia to also ratify the agreement on Croatia's entry into Schengen," she said. She also commented on the announcement, which was published yesterday in the Ljubljana-based newspaper Delo, that Slovenia will issue a unilateral note stating that Croatia, by entering the Schengen area, accepts the arbitration ruling which was reached in the past regarding a territorial dispute.

"Recently, I was on Slovenian television and they asked two ministers for their comments on those statements and one minister said that it was all misinformation, and the Minister of Justice said that the Government hadn't even commented on it and that she knew nothing about it, that this statement should be confirmed in parliament, and there is no information from the Foreign Policy Committee about it. We can only speculate whether it will be brought to the Slovenian Government itself or to parliament. I think it would be a little unusual if it were inserted into the Act on Ratification. This is not the norm and the European Commission would probably ask Slovenia what it all means. I don't think that ratification with this condition is possible. I don't see any legal consequences to this. Such a statement can't be part of European Union law, and it doesn't have any legal consequences even in international law,'' explained Hojnik.

When speaking about the arbitration agreement between Slovenia and Croatia, she said that the task of politics is to resolve relations between neighbours, not to deepen them.

"I'd like Slovenia and Croatia to solve this problem themselves, without any external factors getting involved. Schengen is probably the last thing where Slovenia could have a veto. It is in Slovenia's interest that they aren't on an external border. I see it as the responsibility of politics to find an agreement,'' she said.

Plenkovic says he's going to regulate work on Sundays and raise the minimum wage. Again.

PM Andrej Plenkovic recently discussed the state of the economy, ongoing inflation, the consequences of the global coronavirus pandemic and of course, Russian aggression against Ukraine. Digitalisation and the green transition, two topics that keep coming up, were also touched on. Perhaps what attracted the most attention of all, however, were the discussions on banning (or should I say regulating) work on Sundays (remember that?) and of course, talk of raising the minumum wage. If you've spent any time following the domestic political scene, neither of the aforementioned and farily worn out topics will come as a surprise to you.

"We're going to regulate work on Sundays and the minimum wage will go up,'' says Plenkovic, who announced that his government would make several steps forward in both this and in other regards in the coming weeks. "We'll regulate work on Sundays and we've come up with a rational, well-balanced proposal," Plenkovic assured, adding that the minimum wage will also increase from next year to 4,220 kuna net, and a proposal for an additional tax on extra profits is being prepared in order to more fairly share the burden of the ongoing crisis. He also announced the continuation of the social dialogue with the trade unions, with whom intense conversations have been happening of late.

He noted that in just two months, the Republuc of Croatia will be among the fifteen countries in the world that are in NATO, the European Union, Schengen and the Eurozone, and that negotiations with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have been launched.

Plenkovic uses yet another opportunity to troll President Zoran Milanovic (SDP)

If you've spent any time in the City of Zagreb over the last few days, you'll have noticed that getting anywhere by road proved impossible for about 48 hours. The Crimea Platform Summit was being held right here in the Croatian capital, and for road users, the problems were very much in evidence. Plenkovic recently discussed how this extremely significant summit went, making no effort to hide his satisfaction with how it unfolded, and once again offering words of support to Ukraine.

It didn't stop there. If you follow Croatian politics, you'll know that Andrej Plenkovic (HDZ) and Zoran Milanovic (SDP), the Prime Minister and the President of Croatia, make sure to miss no chance to insult or troll each other, and this was no exception. Plenkovic made sure to make his feelings clear on Milanovic's earlier comments about Nancy Pelosi and the aforementioned summit.

"I think you're more than aware of just how important, useful and excellent an event like this that we organised actually is for the courageous, correct and moral foreign policy of the Croatian Government. This topic of whether or not someone went to Makarska just isn't the subject of my interest. He can explain that one himself,'' Plenkovic said, referencing Milanovic having gone to the aforementioned part of Central Dalmatia.

''I guess you can see who has been saying what over the past few years. I don't know what sort of rally he'll decide to go to, maybe he'll go to one Russia organises. Mrs. Pelosi didn't waste her time on irrelevant things, and neither did we," Prime Minister Plenkovic concluded, having made a very clear jab at Milanovic with the Russia comment. Gordan Grlic Radman, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, also touched on the topic of Milanovic, claiming that ''people are calling and asking what Croatia's position actually is'' in regard to the Russia-Ukraine war.

Nancy Pelosi praises Croatia for its humanity towards Ukraine and refers to the country as a leader in the diversification of energy sources

Nany Pelosi said that Croatia could offer Ukraine a lot owing to its relatively recent experience of war, and she also said that this country is a leader in the diversification of energy sources. Pelosi issued a warning that energy has become a means of blackmail in Russia's horrendous aggression against Ukraine, before thanking Croatia and Plenkovic for their leadership in the field of energy.

"Croatia is a small enough country to be resilient, but big enough to be significant in terms of security, democracy, peace and values," Pelosi believes, adding that the diversification of energy sources is helping to save planet Earth. Plenkovic said that with the construction of the LNG terminal on Krk, Croatia has now ''finally resolved" a four-decade-long debate in energy circles and that by deciding to increase its capacity, the government has "enabled Croatia to become an energy hub'' for natural gas.

Pelosi also said that the Croatian capital is the "perfect" place for the summit to be held, emphasising the very strong Croatian-Ukrainian friendship and the help that Zagreb continually provides to Kyiv as it goes through such terrible times.

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

October the 14th, 2022 - Let's have a look at the past week in Croatian politics with just some of the stories from the political stage, the bad, the embarrassing, and the just plain weird.

HDZ earns its second worst rating since Andrej Plenkovic has been at the helm of the party

HDZ hasnt done brilliantly in its latest rating, with it being the second worst one since Plenkovic has been top dog. Index reports that in cooperation with Promocija (Promotion) plus, RTL published the CRO Demoskop for the month of October 2022. The survey was conducted from October the 3rd to thr 6th on a sample of 1,300 respondents. The standard error of the sample was +/- 2.77 percent with a confidence level of 95 percent.

For most people, the INA situation is the most important issue within Croatian politics and in the country at this moment in time, and this continues to affect the rating of the ruling party and of the prime minister himself.

Although HDZ is still the first choice when it comes to political parties for almost a quarter of respondents, this is HDZ's second lowest rating since the arrival of Andrej Plenkovic at as head of the party (October 24.4 percent - September 24.2 percent). SDP (October 16.7 percent - September 16.6 percent) and Mozemo! (We Can!) also have similar support as they did back in September. (October 10.6 percent - September 10.6 percent.

With a slight drop, the fourth choice of the respondents was Most (Bridge), slightly above 9 percent (October 9.2 percent - September 9.4 percent), and another right-wing option, Domovinski pokret (Homeland Movement), which is growing when compared to September (October 6 percent - September 5.5 percent).

The Croatian Government apparently wants to go ahead with the much talked about plans to build the country's national stadium in Zagreb, the Ministry of Tourism and Sport says no, and the City of Zagreb has been left in the dark

If you follow the world of sport, particularly football, you've probably wondered why a country so famed for its sportsmanship and for churning out top class athletes doesn't actually have its own national football stadium. You wouldn't be the only one who has asked that question. It is a subject that people have gone back and forth on for years now, and it appears that the situation is as clear as it has ever been (clear like mud, that is), as the government says we're set to go ahead with the stadium's construction, but the Ministry of Tourism and Sport says no.

A spokesperson for the Croatian Government, Marko Milic, has said that a stadium is going to be built, finally, and that it is a priority, but in just as much time as it took him to make the statement, the aforementioned ministry said that wasn't going to be the case. To say he is a government spokeperson, Milic doesn't take the stand as it were very often, and his confidence surrounding this matter has obviously confused some.

"Soon it could be a reality. And yes, I can tell you that we are going to build a stadium in Zagreb," said Milic, adding that addition to the state, other stakeholders will participate in the work, without specifying who exactly those stakeholders actually are.

Milic also said that preparations and consultations for the new budget year are currently underway, and that investments for the apparently upcoming stadium are also being taken into account in these calculations. Hr also noted that a financial framework is being sought for the construction of a stadium in Zagreb where Dinamo would play. Milic later mentioned other larger cities such as Rijeka and Split, where there are stadiums that have "national significance".

"The priority is to build the stadium in Zagreb, which is in a bad condition," said Milic, adding at the end that both Dinamo and the Croatian national team have shown that they deserve an adequate stadium.

The Ministry of Tourism and Sport was quick to deny what Milic had stated. 

"The state isn't building the stadium, nor is it financing the stadium independently, nor is this the model we're thinking about, but the state could potentially co-finance the construction and equipping of sports buildings, according to clearly developed criteria and based on the conducted tender," the Ministry led by Nikolina Brnjac stated in response.

As she explained, the draft Law on Sport will give the government the opportunity to declare certain sports buildings as buildings of national interest, but it is, in typical Croatian style, entirely unclear what the criteria for something to be of national interest actually are. Also in typical Croatian style, the City of Zagreb apparently has absolutely no idea of any of these plans. ''We know absolutely nothing about any of these government plans,'' Mayor Tomislav Tomasevic's office stated.

It also begs the question as to why this is even a topic within Croatian politics when parts of Zagreb and particularly Sisak-Moslavina County are still waiting for renovations and reconstruction following the earthquakes of 2020.

Most tries to twist the knife with HDZ by publishing a list of the party's apparently ''forgotten'' ties with Russia

Most took to good old Facebook to respond to PM Andrej Plenkovic, who, just to quickly remind you, rejected the opposition's claims that the government and HDZ were to blame for the catastrophically embarrassing and expensive INA affair, and said that the opposition is attempting to come together and overthrow the government in a joint operation.

"There are no doubts about any of this, it's all just an orchestrated operation and the actions of very clearly visible and recognisable actors, we just have to see how much of it is internal, and how much is external. That's the only question we still need to look at in a little more detail, but we'll examine that too," Plenkovic said.

Most then made a list of links between HDZ and Russia.

"Here are all of HDZ's ''forgotten' connections with the Russians. Since HDZ is trying to move away from the topic of its corruption and high treason in regard to INA to the topic of Russian players, mercenaries and Russian influence, we'll be very happy to oblige and remind them a little about their own connections:

- HDZ borrowed 4.2 million kuna from the company Gas trading d.o.o., owned by PPD, which in turn created its wealth from the sale of Russian gas.

- HDZ negotiated for a long time with Ivan Vrdoljak about ousting Most so that HNS, which was connected to Russian capital through Vrdoljak, would take its place. By the way, Ivan Vrdoljak asked the Ministry of the Interior (MUP) in a written document to give the Russian tycoons Grigory Edel and Mihail Zhukov Croatian citizenship, which they needed to break through Russian capital of dubious origins, which was, strangely enough, linked to Oksana Dvinski, HDZ's great "benefactor".

- HDZ minister Zdravko Maric came into his job [as finance minister] from Agrokor came and stayed with the government after securing Russian money from Russian banks for Agrokor. At the same time, Agrokor was a donor to HDZ through various different companies.

- HDZ's Minister of Construction Ivan Paladina has business ties to Russian tycoons, especially to Sergey Glyadelkin, who is connected to the Russian secret service.

- The Russian Foundation called ''New Generation'', led by the already mentioned Russian citizen Oksana Dvinski, the wife of Maksim Poletaev, was a donor to HDZ with 2.6 million kuna after completion.

- The HDZ government awarded the contract for the overhaul of the Mi-171Sh helicopter worth 206.9 million kuna to the Russians, and that overhaul turned out to be very problematic.

As you can see, HDZ members are the last ones who should be talking about Russian mercenaries," Most concluded in their rather damning Facebook post.

An HDZ parliamentarian claims that his role model is Sylvester Stallone

What does the world of Croatian politics and Hollywood have in common? Apparently more than you'd think, and not just because of the endless drama. HDZ Parliamentarian Ante Bacic Baco, who is enrolled in military school and attends it with HV officers, once told Dalmatinski portal that his role model is actor Sylvester Stallone.

"I like such people who don't really have the prerequisites to succeed, but still succeed with motivation and persistent effort," Ante explained, saying that Stallone inspires him because of that fact.

His life motto is, as he said in an interview: "Keep punching" - a statement from the classic Stallone movie, Rocky.

Aside from idolising Rocky, Baco has been quite the hot topic of sorts over more recent weeks. President Zoran Milanovic commented on his enrollment in the "Ban Josip Jelacic" War School, judging that it was "a criminal offense because there's no place in the war school for parliamentarians, who by definition are state officials".

"If they don't withdraw, we'll report them and I will personally forbid the entry of such people into the premises of the Croatian Army,'' Milanovic said of the matter.

Following Ivo Sanader's acquital, President Zoran Milanovic wasted no time in claiming that while Sanader was a thief ''solely for his own gain'', HDZ has advanced its tactics of theft

Zoran Milanovic and Andrej Plenkovic make very little effort (if any) to hide their utter disdain for each other. The pair frequently come to blows (not literally of course, Sylvester Stallone isn't involved in this particular feud), and Milanovic has quite the way with words when it comes to insults and being a troll. One may hope the pair would have more pressing issues to tackle, but I digress.

Milanovic was quick to hop on the band wagon in regard to the massive INA scandal, of course blaming HDZ entirely, and claiming that while Ivo Sanader was indeed a thief, he was in it for himself, unlike HDZ which he claims has ''improved its methods'' of theft.

"The story surrounding INA is the story of HDZ. All these slurs about Russian people are attempts by Plenkovic's martyrs to bury that story with whitewash. But that isn't going to work, it doesn't work because these things are just obvious. Did HDZ set up people there? Is Skugor connected to the top people within HDZ? Yes. Was he going to get rich in this underhanded way? Did he panic because he got too rich? Was the gas sold through the county company where Banozic is? Those are the facts," he said.

"Ivo Sanader fell like the greedy private thief he was, but he stole for himself. He was accused in the way in which he stole. HDZ was declared to be an organisation of robbers. They didn't learn anything [from matters involving Sanader], they just improved their techniques when it comes to robbing. Plenkovic ignores it all, but to me that just means he supports it," Milanovic said.

For more on Croatian politics, keep up with our Week in Croatian Politics articles which will be published every Friday.

September the 9th, 2022 - Ongoing inflation is continuing to spiral, and with countries across Europe making various arrangements and creating measures to help citizens and companies through this extremely difficult period, Croatia's PM Plenkovic has now spoken out, confirming that the Croatian Government will cap electricity prices as energy bills are set to soar.

The Croatian Government was very quick in stepping in with a package of various measures when the global coronavirus pandemic reached the country and began disrupting life as we've never known it before. Many sectors across the economy are hoping for the same rapid response as inflation rises, taking the cost of energy with it.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, PM Plenkovic stated that this recently held session was entirely dedicated to the autumn package of measures the government intends to put into place to protect households, companies and the domestic economy from continually rising prices.

''We've dedicated as many as the first twenty points of the government session solely to this," PM Plenkovic assured.

"We are going to be opting for a very strong intervention, as we've always done until now for the benefit of the Republic of Croatia and for our citizens," he said, adding that ''we are in a time of global disruption," before showing a presentation in which the graphs clearly show an extreme rise in oil, gas and electricity prices.

"The first part of the package we're going to introduce will be to mitigate the rise in energy prices, and we've primarily concentrated on electricity costs. When it comes to households, we're going to be capping electricity prices. This measure will be fixed for the period from October the 1st to March the 1st, and as such it will cover the autumn-winter period," he said.

"Whoever spends less will of course pay a lower price. Those who use more will be put into a higher price class," Plenkovic said.

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