ZAGREB, 8 April, 2021 - Homeland Movement leader Miroslav Škoro said on Thursday that if elected Mayor of Zagreb, he would deal with the problem of the city's Jakuševec landfill and close it down.

"We should do all we can to ensure that the residents in this part of Zagreb no longer have to live near a landfill with an unpleasant smell in the air," Škoro said in Jakuševec.

He said that about 110,000 tonnes of biodegradable waste is disposed of in Jakuševec annually, including 60,000 tonnes of household waste that produces an unpleasant smell in the air. "There is no need for that," he added.

Škoro said that Zagreb had such potential for compost production that it could earn HRK 35 million from it annually. He also warned that Zagreb spent HRK 25 million on disposal of plastic waste, while with proper management it could earn HRK 100 million from it.

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ZAGREB, 17 March, 2021 - Some parliamentary opposition parties on Wednesday criticised amendments to the Act on the Rights of Homeland War Veterans, saying that they unnecessarily expanded rights for that group, while the ruling majority dismissed their claims.

Damir Bakić of the Green-Left Bloc said the bill was harmful as it introduced in more than one way additional and not necessarily needed benefits, both financial and non-financial, for war veterans and members of their families.

"That will additionally move them away from society and real life, as if we were creating a new caste for which special rules apply," said Bakić.

Under the amendments, members of the families of fallen war veterans that already have their housing problems solved will each be able to regulate their housing needs under the bill, obstacles to one-off financial aid are being removed, the scope of persons who are given priority in employment is being expanded, Bakić said, citing some of the examples.

Silvano Hrelja of the Croatian Pensioner Party/Croatian Peasant Party group said he had nothing against war veterans being first-class citizens but that he was against pensioners being second-class citizens, so he proposed amendment of the Pension Insurance Act.

"The existing law on war veterans is good and what is now being proposed should be scrapped. Too much is too much," said Hrelja.

He stressed that defenders and disabled war veterans were worthy of everyone and every generation's respect, without special privileges and benefits.

Social Democrat Martina Vlašić-Iljkić said it was not necessary to additionally expand veterans' rights.

"How long will this continue? 25 years after the war the status of war veteran and disabled war veteran is being recognised," she asked, noting that care for war veterans was good, especially if compared to care for other groups such as pensioners, the socially deprived and civilians with disabilities.

Marijana Balić of the ruling HDZ party said the amendments were not about additional rights but exclusively about technical organisation regarding the exercise of rights from a law adopted in 2017, expediting procedures for granting the status of disabled war veteran, housing provision procedures, social rights and adjustment of pension insurance-related rights.

Miro Bulj (Bridge) and Željko Sačić (Sovereignists) said that they supported amendments designed to expedite procedures but noted that they could not help but think that they were being proposed for election purposes, and their view was supported by Stipo Mlinarić of the Homeland Movement.

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ZAGREB, 10 March, 2021 - The Croatian parliament on Wednesday discussed a proposal by the Committee on the Constitution, Standing Orders and Political System to nominate attorney and judge Sandra Hančić and Deputy Public Ombudswoman Tena Šimonović Einwalter for the post of Public Ombudsman.

Several opposition party groups expressed dissatisfaction that Public Ombudswoman Lora Vidović's reports for 2018 and 2019 had still not been discussed.

Nino Raspudić of the Bridge party warned about what he called a huge increase in the budget of the ombudswoman's office, saying it had doubled since 2008, as well as about an increase in the number of staff.

He proposed reducing the term of the public ombudsman from eight to five years and that the official should be elected by a two-thirds majority in the parliament.

That way one would not elect a para-political person, said Raspudić, adding that outgoing Public Ombudswoman Lora Vidović had not dealt with issues she should have dealt with and that she made her views clear when she opposed the 2013 referendum on marriage as a union of man and woman.

Dalija Orešković (Centar, GLAS) warned about growing social inequality and what she described as the shameful treatment of the office of public ombudswoman, whose reports for 2018 and 2019 had still not been discussed by the parliament. The Public Ombudswoman has protected public interest and not the interests of the HDZ, Orešković said, accusing the ruling party of destroying the country and causing its people to emigrate.

She dismissed Raspudić's claim that Vidović was a para-political figure.

The declining number of applications for the post shows that candidates do not see any prospects there, she said.

Ružica Vukovac of the Homeland Movement warned that MPs were only given short biographies of the candidates, who were not presented in the parliament.

Vesna Nađ (SDP) said that her party preferred Šimonović Einwalter, noting that it was not good that the public ombudswoman's reports for 2018 and 2019 had not been discussed.

Damir Habijan of the HDZ said the office of the public ombudsman was undoubtedly important and that the candidates had answered all questions put to them by two parliamentary committees.

The public ombudsman is expected to advocate and protect the rights and freedoms defined by the Constitution and international treaties, and the HDZ will make a decision on which candidate to support when the vote is taken, he said.

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ZAGREB, 6 March, 2021 - The Homeland Movement (DP) leader, Miroslav Škoro, on Saturday presented his agenda as a mayoral candidate in the Croatian capital city of Zagreb, and on that occasion he said if elected, he would provide free-of-charge services in the city's kindergartens as of this autumn.

"I assure you that the Jakuševac landfill will be closed and that waste management will be improved," Škoro said in Zagreb's Cvjetni Trg Square.

He also promised the construction of a state-of-the-art hospital and of a national stadium which could maybe named after the late footballer Zlatko Cici Kranjčar.

One of Škoro's promises is the reduction of the city surcharge by three percentage points.

"One epoch is over and it is high time we introduced a new model of managing Zagreb in accordance with the needs of its residents and the 21st century," said Škoro, who confirmed speculations that he would run for the Zagreb mayor a few days after the funeral of the mayor Milan Bandić.

Škoro also expressed his readiness to make a coalition with everybody provided that there is no trade-off or blackmailing. 

ZAGREB, 5 March, 2021 - Opposition MPs on Friday protested by turning away from members of majority lawmakers after the parliament rejected a motion put forward by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to have sexual harassment prosecuted ex officio instead of after it is reported, the deadline for it being three months. 

After the parliament rejected the SDP's amendments to the Penal Code, with 74 votes against, 51 in favour and two abstentions, opposition MPs stood up and turned their backs on the section of the parliament chamber where members of the parliamentary majority sit.

Before the vote, opposition MPs Sabina Glasovac (SDP), Marijana Puljak (Centar), Sandra Benčić (We Can!), Marija Selak Raspudić (Bridge) and Ružica Vukovac (Homeland Movement) called once again on the parliamentary majority not to "turn their backs on the victims" and to endorse the amendments for the sake of protection of victims of sexual violence.

"The statute of limitations on sexual violence will expire if female students, workers, housewives, all women who suffer sexual violence, fail to report it within three months," said Glasovac.

Puljak said that the parliamentary debate had shown that all 151 deputies were agreed that the victims should be helped, asking what was the harm of amending the law now.

Benčić said that the parliamentary majority's argument that work was underway on a new, more comprehensive law did not hold water.

"The procedure will last for the most part of the year and meanwhile the statute of limitations will expire on all cases of sexual violence about which we have been hearing in recent months," she warned.

"As far as the victims are concerned, it would be better to adopt the amendments now than later," said Selak Raspudić.

This is about whether we will support the victims or the abusers, said Vukovac.

HDZ MP Marija Jelkovac said that the HDZ was not against the goal of the SDP's motion but rather did not want to change the Penal Code twice in a short period of time.

Work on amending the Penal Code is under way and the amendments will cover all demands set by the SDP as well as other changes related to improving the protection of women against sexual harassment, Jelkovac said.

The parliament unanimously adopted, with 114 votes for, a conclusion by party groups making up the parliamentary majority entrusting the government with submitting to the parliament, no later than May 31, amendments to the Penal Code that will be in line with EU regulations and ensure stronger protection of victims of sexual harassment, by introducing ex-officio prosecution of such crimes.

Bošnjaković reassures opposition MPs that SDP Proposal will be added to amendments

HDZ lawmaker and former justice minister Dražen Bošnjaković said on Friday afternoon that the SDP-sponsored motion would be incorporated later, explaining that the relevant law is organic and it is not advisable to change it too frequently.

He also underscored the fact that the cabinet of Prime Minister Andrej had introduced harsher  penalties for sexual offences.

He also reassured the Opposition that he statute of limitations would not expire, as claimed by some opposition MPs.

The parliament did not support the Bridge party's proposal to abolish the mandatory membership fee in the Croatian Chamber of Trades and Crafts.

ZAGREB, 5 March, 2021 - The opposition Homeland Movement party on Friday confirmed that its leader Miroslav Škoro would be running for the post of Zagreb Mayor in local elections set for May this year.

Škoro won 465,704 votes in the 2019 presidential election and under his leadership the Homeland Movement won 16 seats in the 2020 parliamentary election, the party recalled.

Škoro will present his candidacy for Zagreb Mayor on Saturday, 6 March.

ZAGREB, 5 March, 2021 - The ruling HDZ party's candidate for Zagreb Mayor, Davor Filipović, said on Thursday he was confident of his victory in the May local election because his model of running the city was based on responsible financial operations, transparent post-earthquake reconstruction and capital projects.

"I enjoy the strong support of the HDZ branch in Zagreb, (HDZ) president (Andrej) Plenković and the entire HDZ," Filipović said after a session of the party branch on Thursday evening.

Plenković, too, attended the session and the subsequent news conference but did not make any statements.

"All of the recent attacks against me are due to my political rivals being very nervous. I am confident that the new model of governance that I will offer, which puts emphasis on responsible financial operations, transparent reconstruction and capital projects, will be recognised by voters and that I will be elected mayor in May," said Filipović, adding that he would present the key elements of his platform in the next few weeks.

He went on to say that all information on how city budget funds are spent would be made available on the city administration's website, that the process of post-earthquake reconstruction would be fully transparent, and that heads of city departments and directors of city-owned companies would have to make their declarations of assets public.

Filipović also said that "all members of the Opposition" would be included in the supervision of public tenders for major projects.

Škoro will go down in history as the bravest Croatian politician

Commenting on reports that Homeland Movement leader Miroslav Škoro would run for Zagreb Mayor, Filipović said that "Škoro will go down in history as the bravest politician in our country."

"After summoning courage for months to announce his candidacy, it was only (on Wednesday), after he saw for himself that the late mayor Milan Bandić was buried, that he did so," said Filipović.

"Škoro is also known for having run stalls at Zagreb Advent, and we all know what one had to do to be allowed to operate stalls at the Christmas market. Having one stall is evidently not enough any more, one needs to run five, six or ten stalls. Zagreb residents know who charged the most expensive parking tickets by a hospital," Filipović said, an allusion to Škoro's having had a stake in a company operating a parking lot by Zagreb's Merkur hospital, which he eventually sold.

ZAGREB, 3 March, 2021 - Leader of the Homeland Movement and Deputy Parliament Speaker Miroslav Škoro will run for mayor of Zagreb in the coming local election, sources from that party unofficially confirmed for Hina on Wednesday evening.

More information will be known in a few days time and Škoro will not be making any statements to the media today.

Ove the past few days Škoro has made vague statements about his candidacy. On Saturday he said that everyone in the Homeland Movement is in the game when it comes to running for Zagreb mayor, including himself.

"Each member of the Homeland Movement has to be prepared to be in the game and that's the principle we function by," Škoro said then.

Attending late Mayor Milan Bandić's funeral today, Škoro said that the candidate from his party would be announced in a few days' time.

ZAGREB, 18 January, 2021 - The chairman of the parliamentary group of the opposition Homeland Movement party, Stephen Nikola Bartulica, said on Monday that the government was living in a parallel world, the government's earthquake response was late and coronavirus vaccination was going too slow.

"The public administration, headed by the government, is living in a parallel world, as shown by the response to the earthquake in Petrinja and Sisak. Everyone could see that citizens privately organised themselves faster and better than many of the state services," Bartulica told a press conference in the parliament building.

"The services were late and the entire response by the government was lame, while reproaching volunteers was insane," he added.

Substantiating his claim that the government was detached from reality, he cited the case of Zagreb where owners of properties damaged in the 22 March 2020 earthquake were required to submit over 90 documents. 

Bartulica went on to say that vaccination against coronavirus was going too slow and that MPs should not be given a priority during the vaccination process.

"We do not think that the MPs are a vulnerable group compared, for example, to health workers," he said, adding that the Homeland Movement lawmakers would not undergo vaccination today.

ZAGREB, 9 January, 2021 - Homeland Movement leader Miroslav Skoro on Saturday supported the Voice of Entrepreneurs association in criticising the extension of coronavirus restrictions which were affecting businesses, notably bars and restaurants.

"We are talking a billion kuna in revenues which could have been generated in the last month alone. Advent is the time when people spend more. It was an irrational decision because people working in this sector are now out in the field cooking and handing out thousands of meals to earthquake victims and they are in direct contact. On the other hand, the government, who imposed these rigorous epidemiological measures on movement, lifted these measures at the time of this disaster," Skoro told the press during a visit to the earthquake-hit Banovina region.

It is normal that bar and restaurant owners are angry over "double standards" used by the government and the national coronavirus response team, he said.

The Voice of Entrepreneurs appealed to the government on Friday to say what businesses could expect after January 8 when the coronavirus restrictions imposed for the Christmas and New Year holidays expired. The restrictions have in the meantime been extended until the end of the month. 

Before his tour of Banovina, Skoro had visited a warehouse in Kutina where Homeland Movement volunteers were distributing parcels with food, clothing and other necessities for earthquake victims. 

He said that the Homeland Movement had distributed about 1,200 tonnes of food and hygiene products. He added that aid was still coming in and that some donors wanted to distribute aid only through the Homeland Movement, citing an aid delivery worth one million euro that recently arrived from Austria.

Skoro also said that his party would support an initiative to set up a commission of inquiry into post-war reconstruction, after it emerged that many of the houses repaired after the 1991-1995 Homeland War had collapsed in the 29 December earthquake that struck the Banovina region. He, however, recalled that previous such commissions had worked along the lines "if you don't want to establish facts, set up a commission."