ZAGREB, June 17, 2020 - Health Minister Vili Beros on Wednesday said that the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) election platform contained a solution that would enable the health system to become financially sustainable, noting that currently, it was neither sustainable nor good, particularly for patients.

"At the start of my term in office, I said that the health system was not in the best financial situation and that we have to define solutions that will enable it to be financially sustainable. The HDZ's election platform provides solutions that will regulate more adequately the health system's financial operations because now it is neither sustainable nor good, particularly for patients," Beros told reporters.

HDZ's platform oriented towards prevention, accessibility of primary health care 

"Our platform is oriented towards preventative activities. Part of those activities is the need for self-sufficiency in the production of vaccines and blood plasma derivatives," underscored Beros.

He announced digital solutions that will improve accessibility to health protection.

"We have to work on improving access to primary health care... it is necessary to introduce an emergency helicopter medical service," he said and added that water ambulances for the islands and coastal communities would soon be introduced. 

"We want to correct policies regarding the needs of the health system in the future so that we do not have a shortage of medical staff in certain areas of the country," he added.

Firefighters will receive instructions related to coronavirus during firefighting season

Commenting on the coronavirus pandemic, Beros said that the virus and the related measures would also have an impact on the fire season.

"The Croatian Institute for Public Health will issue firefighters with detailed instructions about what they should be wary of" during the firefighting season, Beros said.

ZAGREB, June 17, 2020 - The GLAS party said on Wednesday that in its election message, the Croatian Bishops Conference (HBK) was again prevailing upon voters who to vote for in the parliamentary election, i.e. the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ).

"The Croatian Bishops Conference has not disappointed in this election either, giving voters before the official opening of the campaign detailed instructions on who they should vote for," the party said in a press release.

The HBK is instructing citizens to vote for options that advocate marriage as a union between a man and a woman, "the culture of life" and education based on Christian morals, GLAS said, adding that this time bishops also pushed for non-working Sundays.

Given that the HDZ recently put up posters on that topic all over Croatia, "it's clear who the bishops mean. Just as we have warned, the HDZ used the coronavirus epidemic to curry favour with and accommodate the Church, and now, of course, the favour is being returned."

It was not by chance that the Sunday work ban was in force for all but religious gatherings nor was the fact that the government did not appeal to the Church for solidarity and savings, GLAS said, adding that the HBK should "stop being embarrassed and clearly tell voters what it actually wants to say - vote for the HDZ."

ZAGREB, June 16, 2020 - The leadership of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) has agreed on lists of candidates for the July 5 parliamentary election and they will be submitted to the Electoral Commission at 3 pm on Tuesday, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said late on Monday after a five-hour meeting of the party's presidency and national council.

He said that the meeting had taken so long because consultations had to be made on the 154 people on the lists.

Plenkovic confirmed that Miro Kovac, Bozidar Kalmeta, and Stevo Culej, who had opposed him at the last party election, were included at the bottom of the lists for their respective constituencies in order to show inclusiveness. "Regardless of the party election, this parliamentary election should mean synergy for the HDZ."

He added that this was also a message to other members of the HDZ who had voted for someone else who they thought should lead the party. "I think this is good for democracy, it is good both for Croatia and for the party's democracy."

Asked to comment on the statement by the leader of the Homeland Movement, Miroslav Skoro, that he would not be the prime minister, Plenkovic said that the HDZ was set to win this election and would not agree to any such blackmail.

Plenkovic said that the HDZ was looking forward to the forthcoming election competition. He said that with their five-point election platform they wanted to give voters a chance to vote based on the government's achievements so far and clear position on job, pay and pension security, the absorption of EU funding, and speedy economic recovery.

"I think we also acquitted ourselves well in the latest coronavirus crisis," the prime minister said.

ZAGREB, June 13, 2020 - Robert Pauletic of the Homeland Movement said on Saturday that the party's condition for a possible coalition with the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) was that Andrej Plenkovic should no longer be the prime minister.

"(Homeland Movement leader) Miroslav Skoro has already announced this saying that Plenkovic could be a good foreign minister but not the prime minister," Pauletic told the N1 television channel.

He added that Plenkovic's ego probably would not allow him to be relegated from the position of the prime minister to that of foreign minister. "He has saved his premiership several times, but he can't do it anymore."

"If the SDP (Social Democratic Party) emerges as a relative winner, will it agree to Plenkovic being the prime minister? A grand coalition is possible and I wouldn't rule out that possibility. Plenkovic is politically closer to the left than to the Homeland Movement," Pauletic said, adding that Plenkovic proved this by forming a coalition with the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) and the Croatian People's Party (HNS).

Asked if the next prime minister should be a non-party person or the Homeland Movement would insist on its own candidate, Pauletic said they first needed to see how many parliamentary seats they would win.

As for a possible coalition between the Homeland Movement and the SDP, he said that it was highly unlikely because of their ideological differences. He added that a coalition with the SDSS was also unacceptable because "Milorad Pupovac has been sucking money out of the state budget for decades" and his weekly Novosti is anti-Croatian.

ZAGREB, June 11, 2020 - The Democrats-Croatian Labour Party coalition on Thursday presented its parliamentary election platform and the first candidates on its slates.

Democrats president Mirando Mrsic said their platform "10 challenges and 10 solutions" was telling citizens that they were willing to make cuts that no political elite or party managed or wanted to make.

"Without cuts in the autumn and in 2021, we will not only lag behind in Europe but be Europe's appendix," he said.

"Both big parties, the HDZ, and the SDP, are offering us a beautified picture of Croatia in the autumn, yet a time of big changes lies ahead," Mrsic said, adding that "the HDZ is offering with its platform a safe smokescreen for even bigger plunder and the SDP isn't far behind with colourful and grandiose promises."

He announced progressive taxation of the wealthy, saying it is the only way to reduce the social differences between the enormously rich and the increasing number of impoverished citizens, the revocation of privileged and war veterans' pensions, a review of the Vatican agreements, and the ban of Nazi and fascists insignia, saying they promote a dark period of human history.

Labour Party president David Bregovac said they were pushing for adequately paid Sunday work and announced at least 50% higher wages and mandatory rest days after Sunday work as well as streamlined labour legislation.

As Novac/Dora Koretic writes on the 10th of June, 2020, where does one possibly start when it comes to HDZ's announcement about creating a domestic booking portal which, as some on the political scene belonging to a certain party have dreamed, should offer Croatian accommodation to foreigners for only five percent of the commission, and do it better and more successfully than the world's most well established platforms?

We should first look at the sheer absurdity of the idea that a state institution, possibly the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ), would have the financial means and work capacity to maintain a system in which the world's most famous booking platforms invest 10 billion US dollars a year in advertising, which is as much as 200 times more than the CNTB's annual budget. On top of that, as Emanuel Tutek from BlueRock explained, this astonishing initiative could best be described by the words “selling hot water”, by which we mean the designing of products that quite simply already exist.

''Here we have several perspectives: why offer a product that isn't new and innovative in any way shape or form, and that has been functioning better and more successfully across the world for many years, and then how would such a system be financed at all, do they know that international companies invest up to several billion dollars a year alone in the development and the research of such platforms!?'' Tutek wonders, doubting the skill of the Croatian state and the utterly dire public administration to maintain such a complicated system.

''Let's just remember how long we waited for our umbrella marketing agency to create a new website or launch an e-Visitor system that is far less complex than a booking platform that should have worldwide reach would be. If the idea behind this was to improve domestic accommodation, then it should not be done by encouraging its sale but by encouraging its improvement, which will then affect its better placement on foreign booking platforms,'' says Tutek.

The founder of the Rentlio application for the management of tourist facilities, Marko Misulic, said that this pre-election initiative from HDZ stands out primarily for its market unfoundedness, its total departure from reality and the (very) questionable quality of its performance.

''The strength of the global leaders among booking platforms lies precisely in consolidating and generating demand, in their global recognition and standardisation of the user experience. I don't see a way for one state portal to achieve all of this. It's difficult for me to assess how this state booking portal plans to generate demand that would compete with global platforms and offer it all for a much lower price of the service than the average market price. But what isn't difficult to assess is the outcome of such ideas,'' says Misulic, warning that HDZ has many other ways at its disposal to increase the competitiveness of the domestic tourism sector. This isn't one of them.

In addition, the world has already followed several similar national initiatives, and they all burned down before they came to fruition.

As Horwath HTL partner Sinisa Topalovic warns, national booking portals aroused a level of enthusiasm among political elites way back in the early 2000s when some countries started with such ideas and ingloriously ended their ''trip'' when entering into such deep entrepreneurial waters.

''This isn't merely a single project but a serious business venture that, in addition to investing in development, requires top quality customer service, support in key foreign languages, the most advanced technological infrastructure available and adequate marketing which, it turns out, should be financed from five percent commission,'' says Topalovic when referencing HDZ's truly bizarre idea.

In addition, the founder of thinktourism, Katarina Milicevic, points out that Croatia doesn't even have a unique system of analytics in tourism adapted to today's digital needs, let alone the strength to invest in something so complex.

''I assume that the creators of this idea aren't aware of how complex the system is, how much time and analysis it takes to create such a system and the weight of such an investment if it is meant to function according to the requirements of today's and future markets. There are currently many more important things in the Croatian tourism sector to deal with than this. In addition to so many global platforms that have been working for years on improving, adapting to market trends, credibility and the strength of their own brand, this idea just has no financial justification,'' claims Milicevic.

If all this has not been enough, skepticism should be expressed in the willingness of Croatia's plethora of private renters to entrust their business to a national platform...

Be it right or be it wrong, in a country where the infamous and often mysterious world of the zimmer frei, sobe and free rooms sign lives on hiding its earnings from the cruel scissors of the tax man - does anyone really believe that private renters, between Booking.com and Airbnb, will choose a platform that sits right in the hands of the state? Probably not.

For more, follow our business page.

ZAGREB, June 10, 2020 - Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic said on Wednesday that MPs would not go on holiday following the July 5 election, but that the new parliament would immediately resume work as soon as a parliamentary majority is constituted.

"The situation is such that members of parliament will be required to seriously, responsibly and promptly start work, so there is no doubt that the parliament will resume work as soon as a majority is constituted," Jandrokovic said in Dubrava, where he attended Municipality Day and St. Margaret Parish Day celebration.

He decisively ruled out the possibility that having been elected, MPs could go on holiday.

"It is perfectly normal that once the new parliament is elected, it promptly starts work so that we can pass the new law on the reconstruction of Zagreb and prepare all the measures necessary for what awaits us in the autumn. We thus have to make a number of decisions concerning economic measures and I do not know who could possibly think that the parliament would go on holiday once MPs are elected," the Parliament Speaker said.

Jandrokovic was responding to a reporter's question about how he saw the message from President Zoran Milanovic's office that MPs should not take a break following the constitution of the new parliament.

ZAGREB, June 8, 2020 - Social Democratic Party president Davor Bernardic on Monday accused Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic of pursuing a policy which betrayed national interests because Hungarian PM Viktor Orban was laying claims on Rijeka and that in return, Plenkovic was delivering Croatian oil.

"Orban is Plenkovic's friend. He claims parts of Croatian territory and as a reward, Plenkovic delivers Croatian oil to Budapest," he said in response to questions from the press, calling this a "policy of betraying Croatia's national interests."

As for the announcement from Canada that Croatian citizens there would not be able to vote in Croatia's parliamentary election because of COVID-19, Bernardic said the key task of the government and the state was to make sure that every Croatian citizen could go to their polling station anywhere in the world.

That was one of the reasons why the SDP asked the COVID-19 crisis management team to ensure that citizens can vote, notably in care homes, he said.

Asked if he would sign a green-left coalition petition for the president to convene an extraordinary parliamentary session after the election so as to have a law on the post-earthquake reconstruction of Zagreb passed, Bernardic said that the SDP-led Restart Coalition, after winning the election, would pass that law at parliament's first session.

Our experts from various fields are working on that bill and our goal is that citizens return to their homes as soon as possible, that we activate the construction sector and stop the real estate brokerage currently going on in Zagreb because people have moved out and their properties have been devalued, Bernardic said.

Commenting on a public opinion poll according to which 42% of citizens would not go to the polls, he urged citizens to vote and "say no to the thieving government" because, he said, it concerned every citizen what Croatia would look like and if it would be free of corruption.

ZAGREB, June 6, 2020 - Prime Minister and HDZ president Andrej Plenkovic said in Pozega on Saturday that in the July 5 parliamentary election citizens would choose whether to vote for those who had ensured health, jobs and economic growth or groups which were an end in themselves.

He said over HRK 12 billion had been contracted as part of the government's Slavonia Project.

"In the last campaign, we announced the Slavonia Project as a priority. Over HRK 12 billion has been contracted. We are realising projects. The government and the ministers are present in Slavonia. I think voters, having learned from the presidential election, will think carefully about who to vote for. The choice is whether you will go for those for whom you know who they are, who have ensured health, jobs, economic growth," Plenkovic said in the Slavonian city of Pozega where he started his tour of eastern Croatia.

"Last night Fitch upheld Croatia's credit rating. That means they trust us, they see resilience, know-how, and trust to return, with the economic recovery measures, to the previous level as soon as possible."

Speaking of coronavirus, he said "Croatia took a very good position, which was no accident. The economic measures we provided were no accident. Specifically, more than 8,000 people in Pozega-Slavonia County received wages for March and April and will receive them for May solely because of this government's political will and the way to find the money for that."

"We are counting on the safe vote for those you can seriously count on in the next four years. You have those with whom you don't know what you will get, those whose topics have nothing to do with the future," Plenkovic said, adding that choosing those who were rational should not be too difficult, especially in Slavonia.

ZAGREB, June 4, 2020 - The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) court of honour in its Sibenik-Knin branch on Thursday afternoon decided to expel former state secretary Josipa Rimac and Knin councillor Marinko Tokmakcija from the party after it had earlier in the morning requested more information and an explanation of the entire situation.

Rimac and Tokmakcija were unconditionally expelled from the HDZ, the head of the county branch of the ruling party, Nediljko Dujic, told a press conference explaining that the court of honour did not decide on disciplinary measures this morning because he was not there to motion the procedure.

He added that the meeting however continued in the afternoon and a unanimous decision was reached to unconditionally expel Rimac and Tokmakcija from the party.

"The decision to unconditionally expel Rimac and Tokmacija from the party was adopted for well known reasons that have occurred over the past few days," said Dujic.

Zagreb County Court on Saturday ordered one-month investigative custody for Rimac and six other suspects in the wind park corruption case.

After an extensive police operation in a case involving the construction of a wind park, the USKOK anti-corruption agency on Saturday launched an investigation into 13 business people and state officials, including Rimac, suspected of influence peddling, abuse of office and authority, and bribery.