ZAGREB, March 1, 2019 - The head of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) parliamentary group, Branko Bačić, on Friday commented on the statement by Ivan Vrdoljak, leader of the Croatian People's Party (HNS), a junior partner in the HDZ-led government, that he would support a possible presidential candidacy of former Social Democrat prime minister Zoran Milanović, saying that "during talks between the HDZ and the HNS on the formation of the parliamentary majority there was no talk of a joint candidate for presidential elections."

"The HNS is therefore free to decide on its own who it will support. But if history is life's teacher, and it should be, for all of us, let me remind you that their joint participation in the last parliamentary election resulted in Zoran Milanović leaving politics. I believe they will both give it some thought before announcing a candidacy," said Bacic.

He added that the HNS could decide on its own who to nominate and "since Deputy PM (and HNS member) Predrag Štromar has said that they are not satisfied with the president's work, that's what the HNS's position is."

Asked if the HDZ would talk to other coalition partners to possibly secure their support for its presidential candidate, Bačić said that one should wait for the HDZ to state its position on the matter first.

He repeated that the HDZ would support incumbent President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović if she decided to run for a second term in office, recalling that she had said that she would announce her possible candidacy after elections for the European Parliament, set for May.

Asked about the political responsibility of Social Policy Minister Nada Murganić for a tragedy that happened on Thursday on Pag island, where a man threw his four underage children off the first-storey balcony of the house they live in, Bačić said that "the Prime Minister has stated his position on the matter" and that "there is no political responsibility on Minister Murganić's part."

"She promptly travelled to Zadar to investigate the circumstances of the case. I support her work, her ministry does an excellent job and she enjoys our full support," said Bačić.

PM Andrej Plenković said on Thursday that there was no political responsibility on Murganić's part and that all should fight against phenomena such as domestic violence, violence against women and peer violence. The best way to do it is through a strong family, good parenting and education, he said.

Asked if the functioning of the social care system should be checked given the frequency of cases of violence lately, Plenković answered in the affirmative, noting that the system should be continually improved.

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

ZAGREB, February 24, 2019 - Prime Minister and HDZ president Andrej Plenković said on Saturday the party's slate for the European Parliament elections would be ready by the end of March and that the HDZ would score a convincing victory as the candidates would be very competent and convincing.

He was responding to questions from the press in Gospić.

As for new legislative solutions concerning loans pegged to the Swiss franc and announcements of protests, he said banks, interested associations and the Finance Ministry were continually talking about the matter.

He also commented on the case of Frane Lučić, the only survivor of a 2007 tragedy in which 12 of his fellow firefighters were killed. Lučić has won a lawsuit against the town of Šibenik and the Republic of Croatia, which are to pay him 1.75 million kuna in damages, but the Šibenik prosecutor's office has appealed.

Plenković said he had discussed the case with the minister of justice and that he wanted an equitable settlement and equitable satisfaction.

Plenković also said on Saturday that no political party in Croatia's history had done more for Croatia's sovereignty, independence and freedom than the HDZ.

"No one else either had the opportunity or pushed so much for Croatia's strong position on the international scene," Plenković said in Ogulin at a ceremony marking the 29th anniversary of the HDZ's Karlovac County branch.

He said Croatia and all of Europe were in a complex international context, and that the HDZ's rivals on the far right in the upcoming European Parliament elections, by "preaching sovereignism," were targeting HDZ voters. Their concept of sovereignism is about 30 years old and shows their ignorance of the present and Croatia's position, he added.

Plenković said that when it joined the European Union, Croatia gathered part of is sovereignty at the supranational level in order to be stronger, not weaker. He recalled that a majority of the funding for projects came from the EU.

He went on to say that the HDZ had led reforms aimed at ensuring democratic institutions, high standards in the protection of human and minority rights, a functioning justice system, and press freedoms.

Plenković said the government was continuing with decentralisation. "The HDZ has set partnership, functioning decentralisation, fiscal decentralisation and joint projects as the four main elements for kickstarting the development of all of Croatia."

He said they had ensured 44 projects for Karlovac County worth over 2.5 billion kuna.

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

ZAGREB, February 12, 2019 - The chairman of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union's (HDZ) committee on information, IT, media and digital society and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković's national security adviser, Robert Kopal, said on Tuesday that he did not take part in writing even one sentence of a controversial statement of confidentiality, adding that the statement sent to members did not reflect the party's stance and was sent as a result of "internal discrepancies."

HDZ sent its members a statement of confidentiality which, if they were to sign it, would oblige them to never disclose any information about the party without prior approval. The statement, among other things, noted the obligation not to disclose any information even before a court, which is contrary to the Criminal Procedure Act.

Responsibility for the wording of the confidentiality statement lies with the company hired by HDZ – Apicura Business Intelligence, which has subsequently said that it will alter the statement.

Kopal told reporters that HDZ did not take part in writing even one sentence of the statement nor does the statement in any way express the party's stance and opinion. "The statement is considered to be null and void. Members have absolutely no obligation under that statement. It was compiled by the company with which a contract was signed to support us and to monitor the process of alignment with the European directive and all relevant regulations regarding data protection. A new statement will be drawn up," Kopal said.

Asked how it was possible that the statement was sent to the party's members, Kopal said that was due to "internal discrepancies," and as far as responsibility for that mistake is concerned, "it will be resolved internally."

"A lack of coordination occurred at the lower levels," Kopal added and expressed regret that the incident occurred. "We will fix that and correct it," he added.

Asked why no one in the party's leadership read the statement before it was sent to the party's members, Kopal said that "if the party's leadership had to read every paper it planned to send and announce, that would lead to a problem in the party's leadership."

He claimed that no one from HDZ was involved in writing the statement and said that possible consequences could arise regarding further cooperation with the Apicura Business Intelligence company.

"Various consequences are possible, like cancelling the contract. However, for now we have called for urgent changes and we want to see a statement that truly reflects the HDZ's stance and opinion and complies with the directive," Kopal underlined.

Apicura Business Intelligence was selected because it has certain references in that area and several certificates of information security. It assists companies in adapting to the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).

Kopal added that the company had expressed its regret for this mistake. "They simply applied corporate rules to democratic rules, which is unacceptable," Kopal underlined.

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

ZAGREB, January 21, 2019 - Former Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) minister Božidar Kalmeta, who is on trial for siphoning money from road companies, is expected to present his defence before the Zagreb Country court on Wednesday, January 23, and according to his counsel, Kalmeta will once again reject all corruption accusations.

"A total of 90 witnesses and financial expert witnesses have been questions during 54 hearings and not a single witness accused Kalmeta as the perpetrator," attorney Krešimir Vilajtović told Hina.

The USKOK anti-corruption agency suspects Kalmeta of arranging with the Fimi Media marketing firm the production of the film "Croatia's Transport Renaissance" without a proper public procurement procedure, defrauding his ministry of more than 600,000 kuna (80,000 euro).

The indictment claims that in 2007 and 2008 Kalmeta used his ministerial position to arrange the production of the said film with a Fimi Media executive, avoiding the public procurement procedure and "knowing that there was no need to procure and pay for that film with the ministry's money".

USKOK also claims that Kalmeta brought together people from his transport ministry, HAC and the HC road operator and that they shared over 15 million kuna and 850,000 euro siphoned from road maintenance and construction companies.

Kalmeta dismissed all charges.

The other nine accused in this case are Kalmeta's former close associates and heads of national road companies.

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

ZAGREB, January 19, 2019 - The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) is not thinking about early parliamentary elections, as it believes that there is no need to waste money and time, however, the party is prepared for elections, the HDZ official and Parliament Deputy Speaker Željko Reiner said in Zagreb on Saturday.

"The HDZ is ready for elections anytime, particularly now when the HDZ approval ratings are two times higher than the first opposition party's ratings. However, we in the HDZ have not discussed an option of snap elections to date," said Reiner.

Commenting on the relationships among political parties making up a majority in the parliament, in the context of the announcement by Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić that he will send a letter of intent to Prime Minister Andrej Plenković which would outline "joint priorities", Reiner said that that it was normal that coalition partners talked with each other.

Reiner ruled out the media interpretations that Bandić was trying to make his support to the government conditional to the government's acceptance of his demands. "I can't see any form of blackmailing. It is normal that coalition partners talk with each other. We hold meetings on a regular basis almost each week and discuss all important matters," Reiner said.

Announcing the letter of intent, Bandić recently cited the Immunology Institute, a children's hospital, 60 low-floor trams, tram connection to Zagreb Airport and the Zagreb on the Sava River project as the future joint priorities.

We have many proposals for the government, and the City of Zagreb is going in the coming days to forward a letter of intent to Prime Minister Plenković, Bandić said adding that five priorities would be defined for the purpose of the improvement of the city's economy and transport.

As for the five demands which the Zagreb mayor forwarded to the government, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković of the HDZ on Friday said he had not seen them. "We won't agree to any blackmail. Those who blackmail can't be part of the ruling coalition. If there is any blackmail, we will go to an early election," Jandroković said when asked by the press about Bandić's demands.

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

ZAGREB, January 17, 2019 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday he would not tolerate accusations about high treason, saying that deputies of the MOST party were continuously contributing to growing hate speech and that there was no scenario in which he would cooperate with them.

"Yesterday's debate in parliament resulted in a salvo of insults, lies, defamation and this time even slander, even accusations against the deputy prime minister and myself about high treason. This is a new formulation coined by a MOST MP. I believe this is absolutely unacceptable, this is the line that defines that we as politicians involved in a political struggle, in dialogue, can tolerate insults, lies and slander, but we cannot tolerate accusations of high treason," Plenković said at his cabinet meeting.

During a parliamentary debate on a report submitted by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković about his attendance at European Council meetings in 2018, Nikola Grmoja of the opposition MOST party said that Plenković and Foreign Minister Marija Pejčinović Burić were working in the interests of Serbia, which caused an uproar in the parliament chamber, prompting Speaker Gordan Jandroković to order a 10-minute break in a bid to defuse the situation.

During the break Grmoja told the press that Plenković had attempted to lunge at him, but was prevented by other MPs.

Plenković said at the cabinet meeting on Thursday that this was MOST's constant contribution to the spreading of hate speech, "a spiral of hatred that keeps spinning." "In my response I have clearly said that neither I as prime minister, nor this government or the ruling Croatian democratic Union (HDZ) party will tolerate the spreading of the kind of hatred that this party is spreading. We draw a line here. Under no circumstances will we cooperate with such political actors," Plenković said.

The political secretary of the MOST party, Nikola Grmoja, on Thursday commented on Wednesday's incident, saying that he would not take back a single word, on the contrary, he would further emphasise certain things.

MOST leader Božo Petrov said the prime minster had shown that he had a glass chin, while MP Miro Bulj said the prime minister acted like a bully. "Yesterday's incident in parliament during which the prime minister attempted to lunge at Grmoja and things almost became physical between the prime minister and an MP, tells us that all masks are off. The person who claims that it is his objective to 'de-dramatise' the events has made a drama like we haven't seen since 1990," Petrov told a news conference.

Petrov said he could understand if the prime minister was angry or nervous because "it is very difficult to explain why he and his government have enabled the opening of new negotiating chapters for Serbia, despite the fact that Serbia has not met benchmarks from Chapter 23."

"From all of this we can conclude that this government is working in the interests of Serbia and not in the interests of Croatia. Working in Croatia's interests would mean that former prison camp detainees would receive legal protection in Croatia and a possibility would be created for Serbia to pay out damages to Croatian detainees. This hasn't happened to this day," Petrov said, adding that yesterday's incident showed that the prime minister had a glass chin.

Grmoja said that, although Serbia had failed to meet benchmarks from Chapter 23 in its accession talks with the European Union, it had nevertheless opened new chapters. He accused Pejčinović Burić and Plenković of doing nothing to prevent such developments. He then reiterated several times that the Croatian prime minister and foreign minister were working in Serbia's interests.

"The truth is that the entire debate and questions were appropriate and I didn't get the answers to my questions," Grmoja told the press, adding he was standing by all his claims. "I will not back down an inch because this is high treason!" Grmoja said.

MP Bulj said that it was not true that Milorad Pupovac of the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS), who was present during Wednesday's incident in parliament, had tried to calm the situation down. On the contrary, the entire time he was saying 'You are provocateurs and you are spreading hatred,' Bulj said.

More news on the incident in the parliament can be found in the Politics section.

Popular radio host Davor Dretar will no longer be heard on the Croatian Radio, Croatia’s national radio broadcaster. According to unofficial sources, his contract has not been extended. On its own, that would not be a particularly interesting decision; however, the firing happened just a few days after Dretar was covered by the Croatian media because he used an event in Križevci to criticise HDZ member of Parliament Josip Đakić, reports Večernji List on January 15, 2019.

Dretar was the host for an event marking the 70th anniversary of the Radnik company in Križevci. At one point, he said that, in addition to being an entertainer and comedian, he has had a private company for 25 years, but is struggling daily with “the slow and completely uninterested state bureaucracy.” He also added that he had to care for two children, the wife and the mother, and stated that "nobody asks how ordinary people feel like.”

Đakić was in the audience but was looking at his mobile phone the whole time. Dretar complained about it and then left the event. Although everyone thought he was joking, Dretar did not return.

“Many people wonder what I said in Križevci. I said what is clear to everybody among the honest and hard-working people in Croatia. And when comedians do not feel like laughing...” wrote Dretar in a post on Facebook.

When asked to confirm the information that he was not offered a new contract with the Croatian Radio-Television, he answered he could not say anything about the topic for the moment. As expected, the HRT also did not comment. “As usual, the Croatian Radio-Television does not comment on labour issues,” responded the HRT.

As for the radio, it was decided that the morning show, which Dretar was hosting together with Frano Ridjan, would be anchored by just one host in the future. After 17 years of working for Narodni Radio, Dretar moved to the second programme of the Croatian Radio in 2015. From March last year, he hosted the morning show on Tuesdays and Fridays. Also, he occasionally hosts shows on Nova TV, the most popular TV station in Croatia.

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

Translated from Večernji List (reported by Samir Milla).

Two months have passed since the disputed flight of an HDZ delegation to Finland for a political meeting of the European People’s Party, but the government has still not provided clear answers to questions who went there for a party political event and which expenses were paid by the taxpayers, reports 24sata.hr on January 8, 2019.

On 7 November, the HDZ delegation flew to an event of the European People’s Party in Helsinki, where the political group elected its candidate for the European Commission president if they win the majority in the European Parliament. The trip was described as an official visit to Finland because Prime Minister Plenković met before the convention with Finnish Prime Minister Juho Sipila, while Speaker of Parliament and HDZ secretary general Gordan Jandroković spoke with Finnish Parliament Speaker Paola Risik.

The problem is that a number of ministers flew as party officials and, apart from the EPP’s Congress, had no other obligations, such as Administration Minister Lovro Kuščević, who is HDZ’s political secretary. The aircraft was also used by HDZ vice-president and Agriculture Minister Tomislav Tolušić and party international secretary and Interior Minister Davor Božinović. Also, the airplane and its crew waited for the party meeting to finish the next day, and only then did the prime minister and the delegation return to Croatia.

Since the official state aircraft cannot be used for private purposes, and a party event is not an official engagement, the Conflict of Interest Commission has initiated an investigation. Nataša Novaković, chairwoman of the Commission, said she would also demand answers to the questions of who paid for the daily travel allowances and accommodation and in what capacity did the officials use the aircraft. Before the New Year holidays, replies from the HDZ and the government, as well as from some of the ministers, arrived.

Besides, Plenković and the ministers were not the only ones who travelled to Finland. HDZ’s members of European Parliament also went there, as well as some of HDZ’s MPs, such as Miro Kovač and Davor Ivo Stier. Did the HDZ pay for expenses, the daily travel allowances and the accommodation for all those who went there? What engagements did party and government officials like Kuščević, Božinović and Tolušić had in Finland? Who was on the plane? These questions have not yet been answered.

“After we received the replies, additional information from the government and the HDZ were requested on Friday,” confirmed a source from the Commission. In their responses, the HDZ and the government did not provide answers to the questions that the Commission had specifically asked them. It is surprising that it takes them so much time to do it.

HDZ secretary general Gordan Jandroković said last week that everything was clear and that the Commission wanted to find a violation but would not succeed. Government spokesman Marko Milić said they did not yet complete the reply to the latest request. But the message is that everything is clear. “HDZ paid for accommodation and daily travel allowances to all those who travelled to Finland, either by a government plane or by a commercial flight. There is also a decree which allows the prime minister to use the official aircraft and decide who will join him,” said Milić.

The cost of the travel was 85,000 kuna.

For MOST’s MP Nikola Grmoja, this is a clear case of misuse. “It is obvious that they cannot justify this party political trip since otherwise they would have already given clear answers. HDZ behaves towards the budget as if it were their own, and the prime minister himself has said that he could do whatever he wanted,” said Grmoja.

More news on the conflict of interest issues in Croatia can be found in our Politics section.

Translated from 24sata.hr (reported by Ivan Pandžić).

ZAGREB, December 31, 2018 - Parliament Speaker and Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) secretary-general Gordan Jandroković said on Monday that currently nothing hinted at a possible government reshuffle and underscored that the scandal dubbed text messages had nothing to do with the ruling HDZ party.

Considering the text messages affair, individuals worked outside the system and used the methods of work which can be considered inappropriate and perhaps contrary to law, Jandroković told the reporters who covered his New Year Eve walk through the centre of Zagreb. Jandroković said that the current leadership had nothing to do with that scandal.

Asked by the press what was about HDZ deputy president Milijan Brkić and his alleged connections with the suspects in the scandal, Jandroković said that he "is speaking about the people who now run the HDZ. All who are possibly implicated will have to be held to account." Jandroković declined to specify the names of those possibly implicated in the scandal.

As for the HDZ, he said that the party would prepare for the European Parliament elections, set for mid-May 2019.

Regarding the HDZ's position on the support to the incumbent president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović for her second term, Jandroković reiterated that he expected Grabar-Kitarović to first say whether she decided to rerun for the presidency. "If she decides so, the HDZ will support her."

He also admitted that there was no hurry for Grabar-Kitarović to outline her plans given that "no serious counter-candidate" has yet appeared.

Jandroković rejected media interpretations that the president replaced her advisers after caving in under the pressure from the HDZ leadership.

Commenting on the reporters' observations on fence-mending between President Grabar-Kitarović and Prime Minister and HDZ leader Andrej Plenković, Jandoković said that "the time has shown who were those people who stood behind occasional straining of the relations along the lines of the president and the government or the HDZ."

I expect cooperation and exchange of information as well as fixing of what ought to be fixed in the coming period, Jandroković said.

More news on the HDZ can be found in our Politics section.

ZAGREB, December 22, 2018 - Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Davor Bernardić has said that accusations by Mate Radeljić, who was relieved of his duties as President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović's domestic policy advisor, again give rise to suspicion about the abuse of the intelligence system by the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ).

In a statement issued on Friday, in which he described the circumstances of his dismissal, Radeljić said that he was threatened by the Security and Intelligence Agency (SOA) and that the president told him he did not fit her plans as he was an obstacle in her relations with the prime minister.

Radeljić said that he was informed of the decision on his dismissal by Davor Franić, the chief of staff of SOA head Daniel Markić, and that Franić said he had to let him know that SOA "will protect the president in every way from my possible negative activity after leaving the president's office and that he was ready, if so instructed, to run into me with a car."

"Radeljić's accusation is serious and gives rise to serious suspicion that the HDZ has abused the intelligence system. If the President really used SOA to settle scores with Radeljić, then she must leave because she has violated the Constitution. If she did it in agreement with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, in exchange for getting the HDZ's support in presidential elections, then Plenković, too, has to leave. The ruling structures are evidently prepared to do anything to stay in power," Bernardić told reporters during a visit to Sisak.

"I can only call on the Office of the Chief State Prosecutor (DORH) to respond promptly and interview all those involved, primarily the president and the prime minister. It never happened before in our 27-year-long history that the intelligence community, which is controlled by the prime minister, is faced with such serious accusations of death threats. That's why this should be investigated," Bernardić said.

He said that he expected DORH to act as its failure to respond in earlier scandals was the reason why people were losing trust in state institutions.

Bernardić said that Social Democrat Ranko Ostojić, who chairs the parliamentary committee on home affairs and security, would give a statement on the matter during the day and request an extraordinary session of the committee.

More news on the Mate Radeljić scandal can be found in our Politics section.