ZAGREB, April 7, 2018 - Ivan Vrdoljak, the leader of the Croatian People's Party (HNS), a junior partner in the ruling coalition, said late on Friday evening, after a meeting with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, that the coalition was stable and that in the coming days the prime minister would convene the commission whose task is to appoint the head of the expert task force for the implementation of the education reform.

Despite the conflict between coalition partners over the appointment of the head of curricular reform, the government will not collapse.

If HDZ political secretary Stier votes against the ratification in parliament, he will probably be dismissed.

HNS says it is ready to leave the government if its demands are not met.

The current government has 20 ministries.

“All options are being considered,” say HDZ sources. “We cannot allow Catholic bishops to dictate policy.”

ZAGREB, March 21, 2018 - Partners making up Croatia's ruling coalition support the planned ratification of the Istanbul Convention and the interpretive statement that will accompany the law on the ratification of the Convention is acceptable to them, reporters were told after a meeting of the coalition partners on Wednesday.

ZAGREB, March 21, 2018 - Long-standing Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) official and former Speaker of Parliament Vladimir Šeks said on Wednesday at the trial of former prime minister Ivo Sanader and the HDZ in the Fimi Media case that he had never heard about slush funds or cash payments in the party, and blamed the then party secretary general Ivan Jarnjak for the trial against the HDZ, saying that Jarnjak accused the party to "remove any and all responsibility from himself."

ZAGREB, March 21, 2018 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Tuesday evening that the Presidency of his HDZ party had supported the ratification of the Istanbul Convention by a majority of votes. "The vote was 19 to six. The government will continue the process of adopting the law to ratify the Council of Europe's Convention on preventing violence against women," Plenković told the press after a four-hour meeting of the HDZ Presidency.

ZAGREB, March 20, 2018 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Tuesday that the agenda of his cabinet this week would most probably include the item on ratifying the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence alongside with an accompanying interpretative declaration.