ZAGREB, June 16, 2019 - Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović said on Saturday that there was too much talk about elections and election campaigning, while Croatia should be concentrated on vital issues such as creating new jobs, keeping young people in the country and development of Croatian cities.

During her visit to Rijeka on the occasion of the Day of Saint Vitus, the patron saint of that Adriatic seaport, the president was asked by the press whether it would be now an opportune moment for her to announce in her hometown whether she would run for her second term.

Grabar-Kitarović, whose five-year presidential term expires in February 2020, answered "All in good time". "Let me perform my duty. We should not talk about elections six months," the president said.

"I think that we too much talk about elections and election campaigns in Croatia. Let us be focused on the vital issues: creating new jobs, keeping the youth in Croatia, and developing Rijeka and other our cities. If we keep incessantly thinking of campaigns, we do not have enough time to do our job."

The president then extended her best wishes to Rijeka residents for that local holiday, and joined a procession which takes place in the town centre on the occasion of Saint Vitus' Day, celebrated on 15 June.

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

ZAGREB, June 12, 2019 - President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on Wednesday said that she in no way regretted that she had invited Serbia's President Aleksandar Vučić to Croatia and that she would invite him again.

"Knowing even today that some people object to that and how many times have people complained and attacked me because of his visit, the easiest thing to do would have been to cancel the visit. If I had thought of myself and my rating then I would have certainly done that. But how could I embark on delivering on what I promised families throughout Croatia without taking the first step regardless of what the results and consequences might have been," Grabar-Kitarović said at a launch of the book entitled "The Missing in the Homeland War 2."

She recalled that the late president Franjo Tuđman spoke with Serbia's strongman and the then president, Slobodan Milošević in an effort to resolve the war and implement peaceful reintegration because "that was the only way."

She said that the issue of the missing will not be resolved by the EU but that we have to do that on our own and that requires the other side too.

Referring to the information that Vučić brought to Zagreb during his visit which turned out to be data on persons that had already been identified, Grabar-Kitarović claimed that he believed that that was credible information.

She apologised to the families of the missing because no progress had been made and announced that the search for them would not end.

The book "The Missing in the Homeland War 2" like its predecessor presents testimonies by parents, spouses, children and siblings of 45 people who went missing during the 1990s war with the aim of encouraging institutions and the public to resolve that tragedy and also to raise awareness among those who today might be hiding documents about the fate of the missing.

The book's authors Romana Bilešić and Danijela Mikola underscored that the book portrays some truly sad stories and now a quarter of a century since they have been looking for their loved ones, families are beginning to lose all hope.

More news about relations between Croatia and Serbia can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, June 6, 2019 - The heads of the Three Seas Initiative states said in Brdo Pri Kranju on Thursday they did not want red tape, a secretariat and only promises, reiterating that the goal was to equalise living standards in the eastern and western EU.

At the end of a two-day summit held in Ljubljana and Brdo Pri Kranju, the 12 heads of state signed a joint declaration which contains the general and repeatedly stated commitment to boosting the EU's economic development and cohesion by building an energy, transport and digital infrastructure.

Speaking at a press conference, they said they wanted concrete results. The conference was addressed by presidents Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović of Croatia, Borut Pahor of Slovenia, Andrzej Duda of Poland, Klaus Iohannis of Romania and Jean-Claude Juncker of the European Commission.

The presidents said the Three Seas Initiative was fully aligned with EU efforts, that countries of the Western Balkans and the Eastern Partnership were invited to join it, and that they wanted to encourage the Commission to include their conclusions in future policies.

Juncker said these were concrete projects aimed at improving the lives of people living in the region, so the Commission helped it from the start.

The presidents welcomed the fact that this was the second time the EC president attended a summit of the Initiative, which was earlier considered a US Trojan horse against Germany, Russia or the EU.

They said the Initiative was an opportunity to hear the voice of Central Europe as the fastest growing part of the EU and that concrete results were necessary. Grabar-Kitarović said they agreed that it was necessary to eliminate unnecessary red tape barriers, improve the investment climate and step up work permit issuance.

We don't want red tape, a secretariat and a headquarters but concrete projects and opportunities to finance them, she said and Duda reiterated it.

On Wednesday, they were named the founding mother and father of the Initiative launched in 2015. Today it comprises 12 states and is supported by the US and, recently, by Germany. The Ljubljana summit was also attended by US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry and German President Franz-Walter Steinmeier.

One of the concrete results is an investment fund, led by Polish and Romanian banks, for building an energy, transport and digital infrastructure. It was launched at last year's summit in Bucharest but put into operation at this year's meeting. The European Investment Bank joined the fund today and negotiations are under way with other European banks as well as the World Bank.

The vision we have of erasing the differences between the so-called old and new Europe we are now turning into concrete projects which will be implemented not just with European funds, but also the investment fund we established, which I believe will be one of the more important investors in our region, said Grabar-Kitarović.

Pahor said sustainable development and preserving the environment, water resources and food were also important for the Initiative's 12 states.

Next year's summit will be held in Estonia.

More news about the Three Seas Initiative can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, June 3, 2019 - A Three Seas Initiative forum will be held in Slovenia on Wednesday and Thursday, and the event will be attended by heads of state of 12 central and eastern European countries, including Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, her office announced on Monday.

The Three Seas Initiative was launched in 2015 and comprises 12 EU member states located between the Adriatic, Baltic and Black Seas: Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Its objective is to bolster regional dialogue and connect the countries between the north and the south.

Emphasis is on cooperation in projects of common interest with a view to increasing energy security, strengthening road and digital connections, and developing the market and social cohesion.

Three summits have been held to date – in Dubrovnik in 2016, in Warsaw in 2017 and in Bucharest in 2018. This year's summit is taking place in Brdo Pri Kranju and Ljubljana, and will be supported by a business forum.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has been invited, although his country did not attend the previous summits at presidential level. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and a high US representative have also been invited.

The summit will discuss investment in the economy, transport connections, the energy infrastructure, environmental protection, research and development, and digital communications.

More news about the Three Seas Initiative can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, June 2, 2019 - Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on Saturday would not comment on conflicts within the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party, saying that her main task was to provide for the stability of state institutions and promote national and state interests.

"Even though I was the presidential candidate of the HDZ and some other parties, I'm now a non-party person and president of all Croatian citizens, and I never comment on the work of my predecessors or anyone who held the post of prime minister or any other high post, or on any political party's internal relations," the president told reporters after attending a special session of the Osijek-Baranja County Assembly.

Asked if she expected the HDZ's support in the next presidential election, she said "All in good time."

As for the possibility that singer Miroslav Škoro might run for president, which the media have been increasingly speculating about, Grabar-Kitarović said that "under the Croatian Constitution, anyone who meets the necessary criteria can be a potential candidate for president or any other political office."

Asked about a protest by the civic group "Sons and daughters of the Neretva" and the letter it sent to her, Grabar-Kitarović said that she had replied to the letter and written to Health Minister Milan Kujundžić about it, adding that availability of healthcare was one of the fundamental human rights.

The civic group "Sons and daughters of the Neretva" is dissatisfied with the inadequate level of healthcare in that region and seeks the establishment of a helicopter medical service and a regional hospital.

Grabar-Kitarović said that a few days ago she met with representatives of the Croatian Doctors' Union and the Croatian Medical Chamber for talks on the situation in the health system and that she would inform Minister Kujundžić of the talks as well as that she expected the minister and his associates to ensure the conditions doctors were seeking.

"I'm worried about many trends, both as regards the treatment of patients and the treatment of doctors. We must be aware that the number of doctors who are leaving is large, that we need to keep them and value their work much more," she said, adding that she would discuss the issue of emergency helicopters also with Defence Minister Damir Krstičević but that she was in favour of buying modern western helicopters that could also fly at night and in bad weather.

More HDZ news can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, June 1, 2019 - Osijek-Baranja County observed its day on Saturday, with President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović saying at a County Assembly session in Osijek that an even and polycentric development of Croatia was crucial for the demographic revival of the Slavonia region and all of Croatia, and that in the autumn her task force would present measures for fiscal and functional decentralisation and well as a more even regional development.

The president said Osijek-Baranja County had made noticeable progress in its development and that the government's Slavonia-Baranja-Srijem project was having a good and have an even better impact.

She said it was necessary to intensify agricultural development efforts, and that a resolute and swift state as well as local intervention was necessary to stop emigration.

The president said it was excellent news that GDP went up 3.9% in Q1 as it would facilitate debt servicing and real growth, and that it was even better news that the growth was based not just on consumption, but production and exports as well.

She voiced hope that investment and exports would help GDP growth to reach 5%, which she said was feasible, provided there is more unity, organisation and determination to effect change.

We must work fast as time is not on our side, the president said, adding that politics must facilitate work, education, creativity, enterprise, democracy and access to foreign markets.

Addressing young people who are not emigrating but "building successful enterprise and life stories," she said "We need your enthusiasm and optimism. To those who left, I wish to say that coming back does not mean failure. On the contrary, bring us your experience, be the creators of progress."

The prime minister's envoy, Agriculture Minister Tomislav Tolušić, said the government earmarked 19 billion kuna for the Slavonia-Baranja-Srijem project.

He said Osijek-Baranja Country had absorbed 1.5 billion kuna in Rural Development Programme funds over the past three years, and that over 250 projects were being drawn up to increase the competitiveness of its agriculture.

Prefect Ivan Anušić said the projects launched in the county were worth nearly 3 billion kuna and that the bulk of the money came from EU funds and in cooperation with the government. They include energy-efficient buildings, irrigation, a new hospital, new buildings, two new schools and a regional fruit and vegetable distribution centre.

More Slavonia news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, June 1, 2019 - Croatia aims to become an energy hub and a link between Central Europe and the Mediterranean, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović said on Friday at the "Energy Security for the Future" forum in Monaco, to which she was invited by Albert II, Prince of Monaco, the president's office said in press release.

This is the fourth edition of the energy forum at which the strategic vision of Europe's energy security is being discussed. In addition to Croatia's president, other speakers were the head of the European Liberals (ALDE), Guy Vehofstadt, former Italian prime minister and European Commission president Romano Prodi, former NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former Slovenian president Danilo Turk, and leading experts in the energy and finance sectors.

Addressing the forum, Grabar-Kitarović underscored that, considering Croatia's geo-political position, on the crossroads of Central Europe and the Mediterranean, its objective is to become an energy hub and a link between the two regions, the press release said.

The president announced that by 2030, Croatia would implement energy transition by satisfying its energy needs from domestic sources, primarily renewables, but also by opening new hydrocarbon sites, for which tender for fields in Slavonia and the Dinarides are under way.

Combined with strategic projects like the LNG terminal on the island of Krk and the Ionian-Adriatic gas pipeline, Croatia will round off its energy security concept in the best possible way, she said.

She underscored that Croatia would put energy connectivity and work on an energy union high on its list of priorities during its chairmanship of the European Union early next year.

Grabar-Kitarović believes that over the past decades the EU faced a series of problems in its energy policies, noting dependency on external suppliers, exposure to external shocks, high energy prices, an outdated infrastructure, and the existence of energy islands, all of which meant that Europe's energy security has to be primarily observed through one of the priority projects - the establishment of an energy union.

She added that not one country in the united Europe should be deprived of the benefits stemming from secure energy supplies, and underscored that Europe has to be a community of secure, prosperous and independent countries in every sense and everywhere.

With that in mind, four years ago Croatia launched serious political communication on the Adriatic-Baltic vertical corridor with the aim of overcoming development differences between so-called old and new Europe, she said and added that that process has in a very short time grown into the Three Seas Initiative as an informal platform for cooperation between 12 EU member states on projects of common interest.

In that regard, Grabar-KItarović underlined that priority energy projects, like the gas connection between Poland and Lithuania, the development of a gas transport system along the corridor from Bulgaria to Austria, the Eastring or Ionian-Adriatic gas pipeline and the LNG terminal in Croatia, once they are built will once and for all end the energy uncertainty and insecurity of the entire central European area, the press release said.

The participants of the Three Seas Initiative have the undivided support of EU institutions and the US as a reliable friend, ally and energy partner, she said.

The fourth summit of the Three Seas Initiative will be held next week in Slovenia. In addition to Croatia's president, seven other presidents and foreign ministers will attend, including US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry and outgoing European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

More energy news can be found in the Business section.

ZAGREB, May 31, 2019 - Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on Thursday held a meeting with Albert II, Prince of Monaco, expressing hope that the two countries' shared interest in the fields of tourism, high technology and green industries would result in successful cooperation and conveying Croatia's interest in the transfer of know-how and best practices in water purification, a statement from the Croatian president's office said.

Grabar-Kitarović met with Prince Albert II on the margins of the "Energy Security for the Future" forum, and the two officials discussed ways of strengthening and expanding cooperation in areas of mutual interest.

President Grabar-Kitarović stressed that Croatia continued to invest effort into further promoting its investment climate in order to attract foreign investors and welcomed the high standards Monaco has been applying in the field of environmental protection and conveyed Croatia's interest in transferring know-how and best practices in water purification.

Speaking of the Mediterranean cooperation, Grabar-Kitarović stressed that it was one of the most important topics for Croatia, including efforts to protect the Mediterranean from further pollution and excessive exploitation.

More news about relations between Croatia and Monaco can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, May 30, 2019 - President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on Wednesday attended a meeting of the Council for Economic Issues and underscored the importance of creating an attractive investment and business climate in Croatia, expressing hope the government would continue with active policies in that regard.

Attending the 39th regular meeting of the council, Grabar-Kitarović underscored that entrepreneurs often warn of the necessity to improve the investment climate. They complain about the red tape, legal insecurity, frequent changes to regulations and complicated legislation overall and point out the high costs of doing business and having to pay state surcharges, according to a press release issued by the Office of the President

Grabar-Kitarović expressed hope that the Croatian government would continue with active policies to improve the business and investment climate in Croatia.

The Minister of the Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts, Darko Horvat, presented measures for the improvement of the business climate, for increased investments and innovation, simplifying and abolishing administrative procedures and the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises.

Horvat underlined the importance of further training aimed at gaining knew skills and know-how and motivating vocational professions as well as adapting the education system with the needs of the labour market.

More news about doing business in Croatia can be found in the Business section.

ZAGREB, May 28, 2019 - Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović met President of Portugal Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa outside Lisbon late on Monday evening, after which she said that the two countries' relations were excellent.

Grabar Kitarović, who arrived in Lisbon on Monday morning, met her Portuguese counterpart in the town of Carcavelos, about 20 kilometres outside the capital, where she and de Sousa gave talks at the "Estoril Conference 2019" dedicated to global challenges such as justice, human rights and women's equality.

"It is nice to see you a year after my state visit to Portugal. The visit, just like your visit to Croatia in 2017, confirmed our excellent bilateral relations as well as relations as part of the EU and NATO. The visits gave an impetus to the further strengthening of our cooperation, notably on the economic front," Grabar Kitarović said after the meeting.

Portugal is one of the few countries with which Croatia has a trade surplus. :last year, Croatia exported to Portugal 54.4 million euro in goods and services, while imports from that country amounted to 33.6 million euro.

Grabar Kitarović thanked de Sousa for the support Portugal gave to the election of Croatian State Secretary Maja Marković as the executive director of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), headquartered in Lisbon.

Grabar Kitarović is expected to return to Croatia on Tuesday morning.

More news about relations between Croatia and Portugal can be found in the Politics section.