ZAGREB, February 20, 2019 - The co-owner of a private hospital in which President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović was given a 20% discount on a preventive check-up said on Wednesday she was not extended preferential treatment because, under a management decision, all long-standing patients were entitled to discounts.

"All our so-called long-standing patients are entitled to that discount, whether they have been to the polyclinic or are long-standing patients of professor Dragan Schwarz," Miro Kovačić, co-owner of Radiochirurgia Polyclinic, told Hina. "The president didn't get anything more or less than others in that category."

The Conflict of Interest Commission today opened a case against the president because the discount exceeded 500 kuna, the maximum amount of a gift which, under the Conflict of Interest Act, a state official may receive.

Last Friday the president underwent a regular preventive check-up at Radiochirurgia in Sveta Nedjelja near Zagreb. The media reported that the check-up costs 7,700 kuna and that the president was given a 20% discount, paying 6,160 kuna.

Hospital director Dragan Schwarz said the president had been his patient for years now and that it was "normal" that patients undergoing frequent check-ups were given "certain discounts." He said he saw nothing contentious in this and that the president "wasn't extended any preferential treatment."

He said the public outcry over the fact that the president underwent a preventive check-up in a private hospital was unnecessary and that private hospitals were being brought into an unequal position in relation to public hospitals.

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

ZAGREB, February 20, 2019 - Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović concluded her two-day visit to Germany on Tuesday by meeting with representatives of the Croatian diaspora in the country, noting an important role of Croatian citizens in the German economic success.

"I take immense pride in what you do in Germany and in your contribution to Germany being among the strongest countries in world," Grabar-Kitarović said at the meeting in the Croatian Embassy in Berlin.

She said that meetings with Croatian emigrants were important to her because for the most part of her career she had dealt with the issue of Croatian emigrant communities.

"I understand your problems and will do all I can to have the obstacles to your return to Croatia removed," the president said, expressing hope that Croatian citizens would return to their homeland in large numbers.

Grabar-Kitarović said that her two-day visit was successful. On Monday evening she addressed an annual reception given by the German Association of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, and on Tuesday morning she opened a German-Croatian business forum. Later in the day she met with the parliamentary group Northern Adriatic and Bundestag President Wolfgang Schauble.

More news on the diaspora can be found in the dedicated section.

ZAGREB, February 19, 2019 - MP Tulio Demetlika of the Istrian Democratic Party (IDS) on Tuesday accused President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović of degrading the office of President of the Republic over her statement about the Ustasha salute "For the Homeland Ready".

Demetlika recalled that Grabar-Kitarović had said two years ago that "For the Homeland Ready" was an old Croatian greeting, that she had referred to members of the Nazi-allied Ustasha movement who had fled to Argentina after World War II as "patriots who have found freedom there", and that during her visits to Istria she spoke of her grandparents as Partisans who had participated in the WWII anti-fascist movement.

"The president adapts her statements and views depending on the occasion and the audience she is addressing," Demetlika said in parliament, adding that such behaviour lacked credibility.

He wondered "how a person who doesn't know basic historical facts or who deliberately distorts them depending on the occasion, can hold the office of President?"

"The President of Croatia represents the country at home and abroad. Unfortunately, we can say that the current President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović is degrading the office of President at home and abroad," the IDS lawmaker said.

On Saturday, President Grabar-Kitarović admitted that she was wrong to say that the salute "For the Homeland Ready", used by the pro-Nazi Ustasha regime in Croatia during World War II, was a Croatian historical greeting, adding that her point was that the salute as such was "compromised and unacceptable".

Grabar-Kitarović made the statement while responding to questions from the press after recapitulating the four years of her term in office so far. She said she was wrong about the controversial salute because her advisers had told her that it was a historical greeting.

"I accept what historians have said, that it is not a historical Croatian greeting. But the point of my statement was not that part of the sentence, but that it is compromised and unacceptable," the president said.

More news on Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, February 18, 2019 - Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović said in Berlin on Monday at an annual event organised by small and medium-sized businesses that she wanted to encourage German entrepreneurs to intensify their investments in Croatia.

"Economic cooperation with Germany is very important to Croatia, as Germany is Croatia's fourth most important investment partner," Grabar-Kitarović said at the conference of the German Association for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses in the capital city. She underscored that Croatia's export to Germany had been growing following Croatia's EU entry.

Grabar-Kitarović said Croatia's priorities were entering the euro area and the Schengen zone, as well as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), thanking Germany for supporting Croatia's aspirations.

Grabar-Kitarović stressed that the next objective was to increase the annual economic growth rate to 5%.

She also said Croatia was strongly against the policy of protectionism and was completely sided with Germany on that issue.

The Croatian president also spoke about the construction of an LNG terminal in Croatia, saying it would contribute to the energy efficiency of the EU and its neighbours.

At the end of her speech, Grabar-Kitarović expressed hope her two-day visit to Germany and the announced visit of Germany President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to Croatia would contribute to the development of the two countries economic ties.

Addressing the press before the start of the conference, Grabar-Kitarović highlighted the objections which German investors doing business in Croatia have. "I think that red tape is the biggest problem," Grabar-Kitarović said, and also mentioned the changeability of the laws and a slow judiciary. "We change our laws and administrative rules too often," she warned.

"Corruption is not such a big problem as is the slowness of the judiciary. We must make judicial proceedings faster," the president added.

She is also due to meet representatives of the Croatian expat community in Berlin and Bundestag President Wolfgang Schauble.

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

ZAGREB, February 18, 2019 - Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on Sunday evening met a group of Turkish business people in Istanbul where she arrived for participation in a gathering of the World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF), the office of the Croatian head of state said in a press release.

"Throughout the years, Croatia and Turkey have nurtured a strong friendship, understanding and closeness in their ties, which is reflected in cooperation in the framework of international forums and especially in key areas of joint interest," the Croatian President was quoted as saying in her address to the Turkish business people.

"The economy is one of the areas of cooperation to which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and I have devoted a lot of attention at our meeting last month," Grabar-Kitarović said.

She invited Turkish business people to invest in Croatia and explore new business opportunities and projects that the country offers, and said that "Croatia highly appreciates the activities of Turkish companies in the country, lends its full support and respects Turkish investments in Croatian tourism, banking and energy – areas that have special importance for the development of the Croatian economy".

The Croatian president thanked executives of the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEIK) and the Croatian-Turkish Business Council for efforts in establishing cooperation between the companies of the two countries and developing new business projects.

Grabar-Kitarović is due to address the Grand Opening of World Congress of Angel Investors of WBAF in Istanbul on Monday morning.

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

ZAGREB, February 17, 2019 - The Office of President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on Saturday denied the claim by her former domestic policy adviser Mate Radeljić that she had promised to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic that she would not use the terms "Greater Serbia aggression" and "the Srebrenica genocide" in her public speeches.

"There is no need to again answer questions about which there is no doubt whatsoever. What happened in the 1990s was aggression on Croatia in the name of Greater Serbia policy, and an international tribunal has qualified the crimes committed in Srebrenica as genocide and no one with good intentions questions that," spokeswoman for the President's Office Ivana Crnić said.

Radeljić told the RTL commercial television channel that the Croatian president had promised to her Serbian counterpart that she would not use the terms "Greater Serbian aggression" and "the Srebrenica genocide".

RTL asked Radeljić who the president was referring to when she said at a press conference earlier on Saturday that she was wrong about the "For the Homeland Ready" salute because one of her advisers had told her that it was a historical Croatian greeting. "It turns out that the president was some sort of a puppet of her advisers. I don't know who she was referring to and it would have been nice if she had said who she meant," Radeljić said.

Radeljić then wondered if any of her advisers told her after Vučić's visit to Croatia last year to give an instruction that the two terms should not be used in any of her public speeches.

"She personally told me after Aleksandar Vučić's visit that she did not want the term Greater Serbia aggression or the Srebrenica genocide to be used in public speeches because she had promised that to Aleksandar Vučić. Let her deny this now and blame it on her advisers," Radeljić said.

Radeljić claimed that Grabar-Kitarović had not used the two terms in any of her speeches after the Serbian president's visit. However, some media have found that this is not true and that the Croatian president used the term "Greater Serbia aggression".

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

ZAGREB, February 16, 2019 - President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović admitted on Saturday that she was wrong to say that the salute "For the Homeland Ready", used by the pro-Nazi Ustasha regime in Croatia during World War II, was a Croatian historical greeting, adding that her point was that the salute as such was "compromised and unacceptable".

Grabar-Kitarović made the statement while responding to questions from the press after recapitulating the four years of her term in office so far. She said she was wrong about the controversial salute because her advisers had told her that it was a historical greeting. "I accept what historians have said, that it is not a historical Croatian greeting. But the point of my statement was not that part of the sentence, but that it is compromised and unacceptable," the president said.

Asked to comment on the fact that some people in Croatia have been sentenced to prison for what they said, as is the case with Zoran Erceg who called the first Croatian president Franjo Tuđman a war criminal, Grabar-Kitarović said that freedom of speech must be absolutely guaranteed and that no one should be punished for what they say.

"Freedom of speech must be absolutely guaranteed, and it must stop where hate speech begins. I respect President Tuđman immensely, but I allow that there are people in Croatia who do not share my opinion and they should have the right to speak and think freely and should not be penalised for that," the president said.

She said she was ready to attend the annual memorial ceremony in Jasenovac, the site of an Ustasha-run WWII concentration camp. "If a consensus is reached for all of us to go there, the government, parliament and everyone else, so that there won't be several ceremonies, I am ready to go to the official ceremony and make a speech if necessary, even though I think no speeches are necessary at places like that because victims speak for themselves. But for the sake of achieving unity and resolving problems of the past that still burden our reality, I am ready to take that step so that we can better dedicate ourselves to the future."

Grabar-Kitarović did not confirm that she would run for a second term as president, saying that she would announce her decision "when the time comes." She said that regardless of whether she would run or not, she hoped that the citizens would acknowledge what she had done during her term and that she would "not join any camps in that regard."

"I have my own specific ethic and convictions, but I am undoubtedly the president of all Croatian citizens and have acted like one in these past four years," she said after reporters asked her if the right would punish her for not being critical of the government any more.

Grabar-Kitarović said that during her term she had treated all three governments equally. "I praised them when praise was due, and whenever I thought I should draw attention to a certain problem, I would do so. That's my duty and I will continue to abide by it."

"Of course, I was the HDZ candidate, but I did not make any concessions to the HDZ and its governments because of that, nor do I think they expected me to," she added.

Reporters reminded the president of the promise she had made on the night of her election victory that Croatia would be among the most advanced countries of the world and asked her whether she would deliver on her promise.

The president said she still believed in what she had said then, but noted that she never said when that would happen. "I never said when because that is impossible to predict, but I did say that we have all the potential for it."

She said that economic indicators now were much better than four years ago, citing economic growth, lower public debt, a balanced government budget, and a better credit rating.

"All these are excellent indicators. However, what I want is for this to be reflected in the accounts of Croatian citizens and their standard of living. I want people to live better and to be able to plan more in advance," the president said.

Until progress has been made in shedding light on the fate of missing persons from the 1991-1995 war, there will be no reciprocal visit to Serbia, President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović said at a press conference in Zagreb on Saturday, emphasising that she did not think that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić's visit to Croatia last year was a mistake.

"I don't think it's a mistake to talk to anyone, even if at that time that was not productive," Grabar-Kitarović said of Vučić's visit to Croatia in February 2018. She added that after that visit a lot of things had been done that had improved the living conditions of the Croatian community in Serbia.

Grabar-Kitarović said that the issue of missing persons from the war was very important to her and that she had believed before Vučić's visit that more would be done about it, but that in the end no results were achieved. "Until progress has been made in resolving the issue of missing Croatian soldiers and civilians, there will be no reciprocal visit to Serbia," the Croatian president said.

More news on President Grabar-Kitarović can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, February 14, 2019 - Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on Wednesday received a delegation of 17 generals and high ranking civilian officials from the United States Armed Forces who are in Croatia as part of the Capstone programme, a joint service professional military education course for newly promoted brigadier generals and rear admirals serving in the United States military, the Office of the Croatian President said in a press release.

The participants of the programme were led by retired US general Philip Breedlove and US Ambassador to Croatia Robert Kohorst.

Addressing her guests, Grabar-Kitarović focused on bilateral relations between Croatia and the United States as a key strategic partner in the defence sector, key security challenges Croatia was faced with and the importance of a trans-Atlantic alliance in maintaining Europe's security architecture.

The talks also focused on possibilities to further promote defence cooperation, support the development of Croatia's defence abilities and joint initiatives aimed at facing some of the key challenges to European and global security, such as terrorism, hybrid threats and energy security, the press release said.

More news on the relations between Croatia and the United States in the military and other sectors can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, February 13, 2019 - Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on Tuesday wrote to her Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella, dismissing as inappropriate and unacceptable European Parliament President Antonio Tajani's statement about "Italian Istria" and "Italian Dalmatia", and in a separate letter to Tajani she requested an "unambiguos apology".

Grabar-Kitarović on Monday commented on Tajani's statement, made at the Basovizza pit near Trieste this past Sunday, saying that the European Union was not founded on principles of revisionism and irredentism.

Addressing an event commemorating victims of the foibe, karst pits in Istria, Croatia, and part of northern Italy, into which the bodies of Italians, killed by Yugoslav Partisans in the aftermath of WWII, were dumped, Tajani said "Long live Trieste, long live Italian Istria, long live Italian Dalmatia."

"I reject in the strongest terms and condemn attempts to change history and lay claims on Croatian territory," Grabar-Kitarović said in a press release on Monday, adding that she would notify Italian and EU institutions about this issue.

"I am deeply appalled and disappointed (...) as is the entire Croatian public, at the statement about the so-called 'Italian Istria' and 'Italian Dalmatia' the European Parliament President made at the commemoration for the foibe victims in Basovizza," the president wrote in the letter to Mattarella.

The statement is contrary not only to the spirit of good neighbourly relations between the two countries and international agreements, but unfortunately revives the spirit of expansionist policies that were the root of many evils in the 20th century, "which, to my knowledge, you, too, have condemned," Grabar-Kitarović says in the letter to Mattarella.

Croatia and Italy are two friendly neighbouring countries and allies sharing common EU values which Croatia wants to promote to the benefit of both nations and the entire EU, she says.

In her letter to Tajani, Grabar-Kitarović said that his words had personally insulted her because she came from a region which in the 1920s and 1930s and in World War II was affected by Italian fascist occupation and where traces of fascist crimes were still visible everywhere.

Any totalitarianism should be condemned and every victim of "fascist, Nazi and communist crimes" should be honoured, she said, expressing regret about all those who had to leave Croatia during and after WWII due to opposition to the communist regime.

That fate befell also many Croats, as well as members of other peoples, including Italians, she said, adding that with his statement, Tajani disregarded the historical context and insulted all Croatian citizens, notably those whose family members were killed during the fascist occupation of parts of Croatia.

Grabar-Kitarović added that Tajani's statement had also caused unease among members of the Italian ethnic minority in Croatia which she described as "a constructive stakeholder" in the Croatian society.

The Croatian and Slovenian members of the European People's Party (EPP) group in the European Parliament wrote to Parliament President Antonio Tajani on Tuesday asking him to apologise and retract his statement about "Italian Istria and Italian Dalmatia" because it can be understood as a territorial claim and revisionism.

"Your statement from Basovizza, which we condemn, has unfortunately opened long healed wounds. Your statement can be understood as territorial pretensions as well as revisionism and unfortunately leaves no room for a different interpretation. We take note that you felt sorry but we expect your clear apology and withdrawal of your statement," the Croatian and Slovenian MEPs said in their letter.

Tajani addressed a memorial ceremony for Italian victims of the Second World War in Basovizza, near Trieste on Sunday, concluding his speech by saying: "Long live Trieste, long live Italian Istria, long live Italian Dalmatia."

"Your statement has deeply offended the citizens of Croatia and Slovenia and it goes against the spirit of the duties you perform in your function as President of the European Parliament," the letter said.

The MEPs said that the victory over Fascism "is a civilizational fact, as is commemorating all the innocent victims," regardless of whether they were the victims of Communist or Fascist regimes.

"We believe that it is important from your side to remove any doubt as to the respect for the territorial integrity of Croatia and Slovenia. We therefore invite you, in the name of historical truth, to join us in marking the sites of crimes of all totalitarian regimes in Croatia and Slovenia as a warning that something like that should never happen again. Croatia and Slovenia are independent and sovereign states, while the Slovenian and Croatian regions in Istria and the Croatian regions in Dalmatia are regions with a long history," the letter said.

The MEPs said they were "committed to the continuation of friendly and good neighbourly relations between Slovenia, Croatia and Italy."

The letter was signed by the Croatian MEPs Dubravka Šuica, Ivana Maletić, Željana Zovko, Ivica Tolić and Marijana Petir, and the Slovenian MEPs Milan Zver, Franc Bogovič, Alojz Peterle, Romana Tomc and Patricija Šulin.

More news about the relations between Croatia and Italy can be found in the Politics sections.

In a rather bizarre move, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on Thursday officially visited Zagreb, the city in which she lives and works. After meeting with Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić, the president stated to the media at the Zagreb Fair and claimed that there were no homeless people in Zagreb, reports Index.hr on February 9, 2019.

“I knew a lot because I live here and occasionally meet with the mayor, but I have heard a lot of information during my visit, especially about social benefits. You can see there are no homeless people on the streets of the city, unlike in many other many places,” said President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović.

However, anyone walking the streets of Zagreb, instead of being driven in a motorcade of armoured vehicles, clearly knows this is not true, and the Croatian Homeless Network decided to react to the President’s statement. The association published its statement on Facebook.

“I have not been shocked like this for a long time, especially given the fact that the statement came from the person who was my favourite for the president until today.

I have often spoken about good social policies of the City of Zagreb in the media and thanked the mayor for the homeless shelter at Velika Kosnica, the soup kitchens, the social shops and other services provided to the poor and socially excluded. I again repeat the praise to the City of Zagreb, which last year funded the trip of Croatia's homeless team to the Homeless World Cup in Mexico.

However, despite the efforts of the City of Zagreb, on the streets of Zagreb and in non-residential buildings there are at least 500 homeless people. There are currently 130 homeless people in two shelters and about 40 in overnight accommodation in Jukićeva St. The majority of homeless persons in Zagreb came from other areas of Croatia, where there aren’t any services provided to them, so they are forced to go to Zagreb and, if nothing else, eat in numerous soup kitchens. Many come here for work and, if they do not find a job or lose it, stay here.

I point out that many large towns and counties, although being legally obliged to finance homeless services, are not doing anything, so people come to Zagreb not to starve.

The laws have put the burden on local authorities to take care of the homeless people, unwilling to admit that most of them are people who meet the statutory conditions for permanent placement (mentally ill, aged over 65, persons with intellectual disabilities, incapable of work due to illness, etc.) and that they should be under the care of the competent ministry, and not the local authorities.

To help the most vulnerable homeless people, the employees and volunteers go to the field every Tuesday and Friday to help them. There is also the Homeless Help and Support Centre, which has a long list of people literally living on the streets. Perhaps the President wants to take a look at it.

I call on the president, who has been touring Croatia, to find the time and spend one evening taking a walk with us, for example, at the central train station. Maybe she will realise what is really going on.”

Translated from Index.hr.

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