ZAGREB, July 17, 2020 - The negotiations on the  Multiannual Financial Framework for 2021-2017 and the recovery package are politically most important for the development of the EU in the next seven years and require a high level of political maturity, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said in Brussels on Friday.

"We will advocate Croatia's interest and seek possibilities of funding our national programme for recovery, including projects that will make sure that Croatia has a balanced regional development. the development of agriculture and also investments in the digital and green economy and all other things in connection with the future and catching up with the 4.0 industrial revolution," Plenkovic said just before the start of the first face-to-face summit meeting in Brussels after several months of virtual conferences due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On 10 July, European Council President Charles Michel presented his new proposal for the long-term EU budget and the recovery package, the so-called negobox.

This proposal serves as a basis for the leaders’ discussions at the ongoing Special European Council. 

President Michel has proposed €1 074 billion to fulfill the long-term objectives of the EU and to preserve the full capacity of the recovery plan. This proposal is largely based on the February proposal, which reflected two years of discussions between member states. As for the size of the recovery fund, the Commission would be empowered to borrow up to €750 billion through an own-resource decision. Of that amount, 500 billion would be in the form of non-repayable grants and 250 billion as loans.

"A deal is essential. Now is the time," says Michel in his invitation letter for the special summit.

The Croatian premiere is hopeful that all leaders of the EU bloc's member-states will show a high level of political maturity "so that we can send a key message to all our citizens, to all members of the EU."

ZAGREB, July 14, 2020 - The We Can political platform leader Tomislav Tomasevic said on Tuesday that they had rejected Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic's invitation for a party-to-party meeting between the ruling HDZ and opposition parties, as for him all that bore a resemblance to political bartering.

Tomasevic said he could see no reason for "what the premier could say to me only what other colleagues from the Opposition should not hear."

He went on to say that he "cannot understand what he can respond to the premier's ideas about how to solve the social and economic crisis awaiting us that could not be heard by others from the Opposition."

 Tomasevic criticised the premier for being inflexible and insisting only on party-to-party meetings between him and Opposition leaders.

 Tomasevic went on to say that he saw no reason why the entire Opposition should not be present at such talks Plenkovic.

As for the government spokesman's comment that Opposition representatives who turned down the invitation did not realise the gravity of the situation, Tomasevic said that they could see how the situation was serious, however, they do not want to participate in anything resembling an over-the-counter trade-off.

 "I find this to be a bad practice," Tomasevic said.

ZAGREB, July 13, 2020 - Prime Minister and Croatian Democratic Union leader (HDZ) Andrej Plenkovic said on Monday that the new government would be somewhat smaller than the previous one and its members will be known on Thursday.

"The government will be somewhat smaller than it was. It will be functional, some of the current members in government will remain, others will be in the Sabor. Some new people will join," Plenkovic said ahead of the meeting of the party's presidency and national council after official complete results of the July 5 parliamentary election that HDZ won were made public today.

He confirmed that the environment and energy sector may be merged with some other ministry. He underlined that talks are still underway in that regard however the issue of climate change will not be neglected and will become the number one issue in the context of economic recovery.

"There will be fewer ministries but that does not mean that public servants will lose their jobs. This is a different type of message of a fewer number of ministries and fewer members of the government," said Plenkovic.

He added that he had expected the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) to nominate Boris Milosevic as the deputy prime minister for social activities and human rights.

 "That proposal was agreed to with me and I expected it to be Milosevic. We know each other. He is a lawyer and I think that he can contribute to this new position, which we discussed last week," the prime minister added.

ZAGREB, July 9, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Thursday that due to the current circumstances everyone should leave the recent parliamentary elections behind and get to work, adding that parliament would sit this summer without having a usual summer recess.

"I believe that because of all the public health, financial and economic circumstances in which we are now, it will be good for us to leave the elections behind us and get to work in the interest of Croatian citizens," Plenkovic said at the beginning of a cabinet meeting.

This means that parliament will also sit during summer even though the constitution provides for a summer recess. However, it is always possible to hold extraordinary sessions of parliament, and this will be necessary now because of its inaugural session and a set of laws that need to be adopted, the prime minister said.

Plenkovic thanked all the citizens who had gone to the polls to elect the new parliament and voted for those deputies they deemed to be the best representatives of their views in the Croatian parliament.

Voting has to be repeated at a polling station in Rasa, Istria, after which the final results of the vote for the new 151-seat legislature will be confirmed. After that, the 10th parliament can hold its inaugural session and appoint the new government.

 Plenkovic's Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) is the winner of the elections, having secured 66 seats.

ZAGREB, July 9, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic whose Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) scored a convincing victory in Sunday's parliamentary election, said in an interview with the Vecernji List daily on Thursday that a majority of the ministers in his current cabinet would be in the next government.

"Let us conduct internal consultations for a few more days so as to complete the new architecture of the Croatian government. There will be fewer ministerial departments, which means fewer ministers. We are going to conduct some mergers, taking into account the functionality and closeness of the areas of responsibility of certain ministries," said Plenkovic, who is to be the Prime Minister-designate after the elections.

"We are looking for solutions that will help us to form a compact and easy-to-manage government," Plenkovic said, adding that in the outgoing government there were 20 ministers plus prime minister, and this number of people made it more difficult to coordinate the cabinet.

Considering the ambition of ethnic minorities' parliamentary deputies to have their representatives in the next government, Plenkovic said that this topic had not yet been discussed.

As far as other partners of the next government are concerned, the HDZ policy is to talk with parties that have similar worldviews and with those who have programmes congruent with the HDZ platform.

"My aim as the prime minister and the HDZ leader is to reduce tensions and divisions in the Croatian society," Plenkovic said adding that he could hold talks with all protagonists and that it was his duty to talk to everyone.

"It will be good that some other people also widen their margin for talks and communication technologies. If tensions are defused and if one scraps concepts that are not normal, then we can hold talks," Plenkovic said in reference to the possibility of the HDZ cooperation with the Homeland Movement party led by Miroslav Skoro and the Bridge party led by Bozo Petrov. Plenkovic said that cooperation could be possible provided that the two parties gave up their blackmailing rhetoric.

ZAGREB, July 1, 2020 - During its presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2020, Croatia has shown leadership and secured the best possible results under the conditions unprecedented in history, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic says in an interview for Hina.

Croatia took over the EU presidency only six and a half years after it was admitted to the bloc, however, the chairmanship could not unfold as planned, due to the coronavirus pandemic, which had affected the usual functioning of EU institutions and the everyday life of the Europeans.

PM Plenkovic underscored that before it took the helm of the EU on 1 January, Croatia had worked in a committed manner on preparations for this duty, and the slogan of the Croatian presidency was "A strong Europe in a world of challenges".

However, no one could have foreseen so many challenges we have been facing in recent times, including the COVID pandemic, the premier said explaining that therefore the focus was shifted from the Croatian presidency agenda's priorities to the top priority: the safety and security of European citizens.

Furthermore, Zagreb was hit by a 5.5-strong earthquake on 22 March, he recalled adding that the most experienced and oldest EU member-states cannot remember that anybody's presidency had been conducted under such complex circumstances.

"Therefore commendations and recognition we are receiving from older members for a job well done are more than a matter of courtesy, they mean their sincere appreciation of our huge efforts we have invested and results we have achieved."

"Despite the unprecedented circumstances, we have achieved many goals we had set, and Croatia enjoys the status and reputation it never had before," Plenkovic said.

In mid-March, virtual meetings and video conferences started replacing physical meetings at the political level.

In these circumstances, our task was to coordinate a joint response to the crisis caused by COVID-19, Plenkovic said.

We can say that in a record short time the European Union managed to accomplish a lot of things. We can say that in many ways we have been a "digitised presidency". The first digital trialogue was held during the Croatian presidency and referred to the SMART-TEN-T topic, he added.

Until 13 March 2020, in Croatia 21 events and gatherings were held, bringing together experts and working groups, two events were within a parliamentary dimension plus 32 events under the auspices of the Croatian presidency. From March to the end of June, more than 70 video conferences were held, including discussions on the impact of the pandemic on the economy, public healthcare systems, borders, education, culture, employment, and mobility, he said.

The Council of the EU needed to act under extraordinary circumstances. Only COREPER continued to meet in a physical format, and I thank them for that, the Croatian premier said.

He commented on the full activation of integrated political crisis response (IPCR) arrangements during the Croatian presidency of the Council of the EU to help the EU members to address the COVID-19 outbreak.

Croatia's greatest achievement its ability to act and meet its targets in most difficult circumstances

Asked about Croatia's greatest achievement during its presidency of the Council of the EU, Plenkovic said that "our greatest achievement is the fact that we continued to act and achieve our targets in the most difficult circumstances."

At the start of our presidency, we defined the Zagreb Summit and progress in the enlargement policy, preparations for launching the Conference on the Future of Europe, and orderly Brexit as our goals. In all three areas, we have met the targets he has set: thanks to the strong engagement and initiative from Croatia, the Council of the EU made a decision on opening the membership talks with North Macedonia and Albania, despite strong opposition from some of the EU member states. Also, a new methodology for the accession negotiations has been confirmed, he said.

After several months of intensive talks with member-states and advocacy for the strongest possible mandate of the Council, the Croatian EU Presidency has reached agreement on the Council's position for inter-institutional talks on a joint statement based on which the Conference on the Future of Europe should be launched by the end of this year, the Croatian government reported earlier on Wednesday.

ZAGREB, July 1, 2020 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Tuesday held a video-conference with European Parliament President David Sassoli and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the Conference on the Future of Europe, stressing the importance of launching the conference as soon as possible.

After several months of intensive talks with member-states and advocacy for the strongest possible mandate of the Council, the Croatian EU Presidency has reached agreement on the Council's position for inter-institutional talks on a joint statement based on which the Conference on the Future of Europe should be launched by the end of this year, the Croatian government said in a statement.

That process has been launched by today's talks between Plenkovic and the representatives of the other two EU institutions and Croatia expressed interest in giving, also during Germany's EU presidency, which will continue the talks, its strong contribution to the organisation and work of the Conference at the European and national levels, the government said, adding that European Commission Vice-President Dubravka Suica would have an important role in the work of the Conference.

PM Plenkovic underlined the need to launch the Conference as soon as possible, as its significance has grown even more important in the context of the EU's recovery from the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the aim of launching a broad and open political debate on the future of the EU.

The Conference should additionally bring the EU closer to citizens, strengthen its international position and contribute to building a modern vision of a united, more solidary and economically more sustainable Europe.

EP President Sassoli and EC President von der Leyen thanked PM Plenkovic and Croatia's EU Presidency for the great effort invested and success in agreeing the Council's mandate and for continuous strong messages regarding the Conference on the Future of Europe, on which there is a lot of agreement among EU institutions.

They welcomed PM Plenkovic's approach regarding the launching and further work of the Conference and expressed readiness for close cooperation with Croatia, said the government.

ZAGREB, June 30, 2020- HDZ president and Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and SDP president and Restart Coalition leader Davor Bernardic said on Monday they did not want a grand coalition after the election and that one of their first moves after it would be the adoption of a law on the post-earthquake reconstruction of Zagreb.

"A grand coalition with the SDP, never," Plenkovic said in their first TV debate on RTL television.

Bernardic said a grand coalition was out of the question "with a party on trial for corruption and whose 11 ministers had to leave the government on suspicion of corruption."

He said that after the July 5 vote Restart could form a coalition with left and centre-left parties, but never with Miroslav Skoro's Homeland Movement, Bridge, or Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic's party.

"A vote for Skoro is obviously a vote for the HDZ," said Bernardic, while Plenkovic said Skoro proved to be a great SDP ally in the presidential election and that he felt centre-right voters would not disperse their votes by voting for Skoro.

Plenkovic asked Bernardic why he would not form a coalition with Bandic, saying he was "his pupil" and that Bandic helped him become the president of the SDP.

Bernardic: HDZ has left Zagreb residents in the lurch; Plenkovic: HDZ has given HRK 1.7 million for reconstruction, you have given nothing

Speaking of the adoption of a Zagreb reconstruction law, Bernardic said Restart would present a bill on Tuesday "because we are responsible and that will be one of our government's first moves."

He said the Plenkovic cabinet left the people of Zagreb in the lurch because they would have no accommodation when winter came, adding that this was irresponsible and should not have happened.

Plenkovic said the HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union), its MPs and government members had donated HRK 1.7 million for the reconstruction of the capital after the March quake and the SDP (Social Democratic Party) nothing, and that in the revised budget the government set aside HRK 141 million for intervention works on damaged buildings.

He added that the state was paying rent for all who could not stay in their flats after the quake and that the government was paying HRK 3 million for the expenses of those temporarily accommodated in a student dorm. "The bill is ready and it will be the first our next parliament will enact."

Bernardic: Ustasha salute should be outlawed

Speaking of the "For the homeland ready" salute, Bernardic said it should be banned by law also in the coat of arms of the HOS militia from the 1991-95 Homeland War. He said the salute suited Serbia and those using it against Croatia. "There is no place for the Ustasha salute in the public sphere."

Plenkovic said a former SDP government legalised the salute in the coat of arms of a Zagreb HOS association, adding that he was personally against it. "It has no place in the public sphere, except in small exemptions which we have done out of respect for Croatian war veterans."

Speaking of the education reform, Bernardic said Restart's goal was to educate children for the labour market, improve PISA test results, and introduce civic education.

Plenkovic said the education reform was launched during the incumbent government which, he added, aligned education with labour market requirements and increased the Science and Education Ministry budget by over 30%.

Plenkovic: Bernardic has shown a lack of knowledge about European topics

Speaking of Croatia's EU presidency, Bernardic said Croatia "slept through it" and that it did not raise the issue of the novel coronavirus or migrants. "We did absolutely nothing during the Croatian presidency."

Plenkovic said Bernardic had shown a lack of knowledge about those topics and that the Croatian presidency had ensured an orderly Brexit and agreed on a mandate for negotiations on future EU-UK relations, among other things, and that Bernardic had never shown the slightest interest in European topics.

Coronavirus response

Speaking of COVID-19, Bernardic said Croatia did not procure the necessary equipment in time and that it was doing too few tests, calling the national response team a political body whose decisions encroached on some constitutional rights.

"You haven't taken any responsibility for the deaths of 20 residents of the (care) home in Split. The lockdown was imposed after elections in the HDZ... You endangered citizens' health then and you are doing the same thing now," said Bernardic.

"Thanks to our engagement, we have not only saved lives and the economy, but we were also the first in the EU to launch a COVID response mechanism, we protected hospitals. In Europe, the virus has claimed most lives in homes for the elderly. Our achievement is that we've had only 107 deaths," Plenkovic responded.

Bernardic: You pushed Croatia into an election; Plenkovic: We wish to have a stable government by autumn

Plenkovic said experts were predicting a second COVID-19 wave in the autumn and that he wished to have a stable new government by then.

Bernardic said Plenkovic had pushed Croatia into a parliamentary election despite a rise in new infections, that he was opening the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina only so that HDZ sympathisers could come to Croatia to vote, and that by refusing to self-isolate after a recent tennis tournament in Zadar, Plenkovic was putting the tourist season at risk.

"Hungary and Slovenia will close their borders. (Their tourists) won't be coming to (our) sea because they will have to self-isolate (upon returning) home," said Bernardic.

He went on to say that if his coalition came to power, it would adopt a moratorium on loan payments because this government, he added, had failed to so, siding with banks. "We have sent a proposal for a shorter work week because of the EU's SURE programme."

"I'm flabbergasted that you want to be prime minister, you know nothing," responded Plenkovic. "The EU Next Generation is a new instrument. My government in October 2016 encountered 9% of contracted funds, 1% paid out. Today we have 96% agreed and 36% paid out. We are fighting to get another €22 billion in the next seven years. I hope such ignorance won't have the opportunity to represent Croatia in the EU. I'm disappointed, you could have prepared, it saddens me."

Bernardic: Who believes you?

Asked about the minimum wage, which amounts to HRK 3,250, Plenkovic said that during the SDP government it went up to HR 250 and during his 750.

"Before COVID, the public debt was reduced to 73% of GDP. It used to be 81%. We are trying to make the quality of life better for everyone. Croatian citizens live better than four years ago," he said, adding that his government had relieved citizens and businesses of HRK 9 billion in taxes.

"Who believes you? Investors don't believe you. We have fallen on the Doing Business ranking. You have collected HRK 15 billion more in taxes, yet you talk about relief. Entrepreneurs are burdened," countered Bernardic.

He said that after the election he would reduce the number of ministries and abolish the State Assets Ministry, calling it a made-up ministry. "Our goal is a smaller state administration, fewer municipalities and towns, and tax relief. Plenkovic and the HDZ had four years, yet they didn't do it."

Plenkovic too announced fewer ministries, saying he would say how many after winning the election.

ZAGREB, June 29, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Monday the Croatian Employment Service was expected to adopt today a measure on a shorter workweek for employers with over ten employees and that it would amount to HRK 2,000 net per employee a month, announcing this measure for micro-enterprises too.

He told reporters the measure was aimed at retaining jobs in companies whose work volume was reduced as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Eligible are employers that expect the monthly man-hours of all employees to drop by at least 10%. The measure may be used for at least 10% or 20% of the staff, depending on company size, provided they were employed as of May 31.

Another criterion is a drop in revenue of at least 20% from the same month last year. Manufacturing companies are eligible if the decrease is less than 20%.

ZAGREB, June 29, 2020 - Croatia's first EU presidency, which ends on Wednesday, did not go as planned due to the coronavirus but everything that was possible was achieved in such circumstances, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Monday at a meeting with the chiefs of foreign diplomatic offices.

"When we started, we wanted to send a message about a strong Europe in a world full of challenges. Nobody knew that one of the challenges would be COVID-19, which didn't change only the Croatian presidency but the world, Europe, Croatia, and many countries around the world," he said.

"We started following the situation in China on January 8 already, notably in Wuhan. That enabled us to respond to the crisis at the European level already on January 28," he said, adding that "a great job has been done in managing the crisis."

Plenkovic regretted that the novel coronavirus prevented the Croatian presidency from bringing the EU closer to citizens through various events, which is what other member states did during their presidency, saying those events were replaced by video conferences and conference calls.

He said the presidency started well with the arrival of European officials in Croatia and visits to several European capitals.

An orderly Brexit was ensured, a consensus was reached within the European Council on a mandate for future negotiations with the UK, and focus was put on the European perspective of the Western Balkan states, which was crowned with the opening of accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania and the Zagreb summit on enlargement, said Plenkovic.

A summit was also organised with the Eastern Partnership and an agreement was reached on the Conference on the Future of Europe, which "is needed more than ever," he added.

He said a new round of negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework was approaching, as well as on a European recovery plan. The EU must show through both instruments "that it stands by its member states and citizens and that it can act quickly and effectively," he added.

Plenkovic said Croatia had achieved progress in two issues not related to the presidency, drawing closer to euro and Schengen area membership.

He thanked the foreign diplomats for understanding the sudden challenges which befell Croatia during its EU presidency and for their solidarity after the Zagreb earthquake in March.

Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman said the slogan of the Croatian presidency, Europe in a world full of challenges, could not have been more appropriate, and that the coronavirus had shown that multilateralism was needed more than ever and that international solidarity was fragile.

In that crisis Croatia has again proved to be a responsible and reliable partner, he said, thanking the foreign diplomats for their support.  "You were with us the whole time and we felt your support."

On July 1, the rotating EU presidency will be taken over by Germany.