ZAGREB, June 29, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Monday he was not worried about media reports that the Constitutional Court would launch the procedure to assess the constitutionality of decisions by the coronavirus response team, adding that he was confident everything had been done in accordance with the law and in the public interest.

"I'm not worried at all. I'm sure when the Constitutional Court takes everything into consideration when it looks at the arguments and the government's opinion, ... (it will see) that everything we did was in accordance with the constitution and the law and in the public interest," Plenkovic told a press conference in Zagreb.

He said that sometimes he got the impression that "the opposition is rooting for coronavirus, which is irresponsible," he added. 

Commenting on the matter while on the campaign trail in Dugo Selo, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic said that the initiative had been launched by two left-leaning Constitutional Court judges and that its purpose was to create an atmosphere of uncertainty.

He said that the situation was unusual given that it was the final week of the election campaign.

"I think matters like this should be dealt with within the Constitutional Court itself. This information was obviously released to create an atmosphere of uncertainty. It is important that the Constitutional Court has said that the procedure is not being launched ex officio and that it is an attempt by two judges to bring this matter to the fore," Jandrokovic said.

ZAGREB, June 29, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Sunday he regretted that during its election campaign the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) was trying to undermine the credibility of the national coronavirus response team and the professionals involved in the team.

"It's not good when politicians, quack doctors and specialists from other scientific disciplines start dispensing their advice rather than listen to those who helped us overcome the first wave of the coronavirus outbreak in February, March, and April," Plenkovic said in response to questions from the press after meeting members and sympathisers of his HDZ party in the eastern city of Osijek. 

"Right now we have a slightly increased number of infections, but like elsewhere in the world, in the time ahead we will need to balance between protecting public health and maintaining the economy and tourism," he said.

"It should be recalled that thanks to the government's efforts the entire healthcare system has been raised to a high level, protective equipment has been provided. All that has been done by the government of the HDZ and not the opposition, and we will continue to behave responsibly like that," he added.

Asked to comment on Bosnian media reports about Bosnian citizens being denied transit through Croatia and that the Bosnian foreign ministry had announced reciprocal measures, Plenkovic said that the two countries should make maximum efforts to reduce the number of new coronavirus cases for the sake of the citizens of both countries.

"We will pursue the dialogue in that regard, and as soon as the epidemiological situation allows, we will lift those measures," Plenkovic said.

ZAGREB, June 27, 2020 - Prime Minister and HDZ party leader Andrej Plenkovic said in Otocac on Saturday that there had not been any big rallies during the current campaign for the July 5 parliamentary election and that citizens should listen to experts rather than politicians pretending to be doctors.

Plenkovic visited the central town of Otocac as part of his party's election campaign.

Asked whether he believed that Croatia was still safe considering the latest increase in the number of new coronavirus cases, Plenkovic said that it was normal that citizens had relaxed and that one should work to find a balance.

"It's only human that citizens have relaxed, we will have to find a balance. Yesterday's meeting of the Scientific Council was excellent, most of the new patients have mild symptoms, and we have to be responsible," he said.

ZAGREB, June 27, 2020 - Homeland Movement leader Miroslav Skoro said on Friday that the HDZ had moved away from the right-wing policy pursued by its former leader and Croatian president, the late Franjo Tudjman, and that its current leader Andrej Plenkovic was immune to any criticism.

Addressing a news conference in Dugo Selo outside Zagreb, he said that he did not want to patronise anyone, including the HDZ leader who was refusing to self-isolate following contacts with infected persons at the recent Adria Tour tennis tournament in Zadar, and who called such demands 'political folklore'.

Skoro said that he himself would get tested for the coronavirus as a responsible person even though he had not been in direct contact with Social Democrat Rajko Ostojic, with whom he had a debate recently and who has self-isolated due to contacts with another colleague in the SDP who has tested positive for COVID-19.

Skoro also said that he could not tell, when members of the national COVID-19 response team addressed the public if they were doing so as HDZ members or as health professionals, assessing that the team was not dealing with the latest epidemiological situation in the best possible way.

He criticised the team's head, Minister of the Interior Davor Bozinovic, for calling Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina eastern neighbours and closing the border to them, thus preventing the possibility for one part of Dalmatia to have any kind of tourist season this year.

ZAGREB, June 27, 2020 - Prime Minister and HDZ party leader Andrej Plenkovic said during a tour of the sixth constituency on Friday that after his party formed the government after the elections, it would raise the average wage to HRK 6,700 and to HRK 7,600 by the end of its term.

Speaking to party members and supporters in Sisak, Plenkovic also said that the minimum wage would be increased from HRK 3,250 to 4,250 and that pensions, which have been increased by 12%, would be additionally raised by 10%.

Speaking of his government's achievements in the past term, he said that the law on the financing of local and regional government units had helped Sisak-Moslavina County obtain more budget funds.

He added that close to HRK 90 million had been allocated from the state budget for regional development in Sisak County, contracts had been signed for HRK 1.8 billion of EU funds and HRK 170 million had been provided for active employment measures in the county.

(€1 = HRK 7.566)

ZAGREB, June 26, 2020 - Prime Minister and HDZ party leader Andrej Plenkovic said on Friday that at the moment he did not see any reason to get tested for the coronavirus again and that he usually consulted with experts on such matters.

"I am not a 'do it yourself' person when it comes to medical consultations, I have a habit of consulting with experts. That is what the Scientific Council is for. If they suggest that I do so, I will consider doing that. At the moment, I don't see any reason for it," he said during a visit to Koprivnica when asked by reporters if he planned to get tested for the coronavirus again.

Asked what would happen if it eventually turned out that he, too, was positive for COVID-19 after all the contacts he had at the recent Adria Tour tennis tournament in Zadar, he said that there was no need for him to answer hypothetical questions.

ZAGREB, June 26, 2020 - The Croatian Journalists' Association (HND) on Thursday called on Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic to stop accusing journalists, saying that they were only asking legitimate questions and his duty as the prime minister was to answer them.

On Tuesday, the prime minister openly accused N1 television reporter Hrvoje Kresic of campaigning for the opposition after he asked Plenkovic when he would go into self-isolation given that he had had contact with tennis player Novak Djokovic, one of the participants in a tennis tournament in Zadar who were infected with the coronavirus. On Wednesday, he also behaved inappropriately towards 24 Sata reporter Nikol Zagorac by refusing to answer her question, the HND said in a statement.

It recalled that it was not the first time Plenkovic had "lectured and publicly accused journalists and the media questioning his work and his actions."

"He accused us of waging 'hybrid wars', during the Agrokor affair he said that we were working under instructions, he told our female colleagues that they were 'sweet' and he lectured us on how to do our job," the HND said.

Such behaviour on the part of the prime minister is unworthy of the office he holds and yet another proof that politicians in Croatia, regardless of the political camp they belong to, do not understand the purpose and importance of journalists and the media, the HND said, stressing that journalists work neither for the government nor for the opposition but solely in the interest of the public.

ZAGREB, June 26, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Thursday that the July 5 parliamentary election was very important for the future of the country and that the date was decided by the President.

By dissolving Parliament in May we wanted the election to be held when the intensity of the coronavirus was lowest, and it was the President who decided that the election would be held on the second to last date possible under the constitution, Plenkovic said in the eastern town of Vukovar.

Earlier in the day, during his visit to Vinkovci, he said that the election could also have been set for June 21.

Plenkovic reiterated that he did not think that the ongoing election campaign should be suspended because the Croatian healthcare system was capable of coping with the coronavirus outbreak. 

ZAGREB, June 25, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Thursday responded to the leader of the centre-left Restart coalition, Davor Bernardic about the parliamentary election being held in these insecure times of the coronavirus epidemic, saying that Croatia was a safe country and that the situation was under control.

"Croatia is a safe country. As for Bernardic's comments, unlike him, we have retained jobs and employment and supported the workers. That means a responsible policy and a safe Croatia," Plenkovic said during a visit to the eastern town of Pozega when asked by the press to comment on Bernardic's statement that the HDZ had pushed Croatia into elections expecting to gain a political profit from the coronavirus crisis, thus putting citizens' lives at risk.

Commenting on the spike in the number of new coronavirus cases in the country, the prime minister said that the situation was under control. 

"We overcame the first wave of the outbreak with strong restrictive measures and moves to help businesses. We have the same number of people employed as before the crisis, which is excellent. Now we are seeing a rise in the number of infections. The virus is here with us, but none of the people are in critical condition or on ventilators," Plenkovic said.

He said that lessons had been learned from March so that today Croatia has a resilient healthcare system, well-prepared medical staff, and doctors, as well as epidemiologists who are processing all contacts,

Considering an increased number of people coming from other countries, the rise in new cases is not unexpected and is not something that Croatia cannot cope with, he added.

"This is not dramatic because according to the information that I get, my impression is that there are no critical patients. I can't say that the virus has mutated or that the summer COVID is milder, we will see that, but our services are keeping the situation under control and it will stay that way in the future," Plenkovic said.

ZAGREB, June 25, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said at a government session on Thursday that the government's measures designed to help businesses hit by the coronavirus crisis had helped save 600,000 jobs and 103,000 businesses.

Plenkovic recalled that the measures included payments to employers for workers' wages, the write-off of direct taxes and contributions and the procurement of medical equipment for the health system.

Plenkovic said the government had ensured the necessary aid also owing to Croatia's reputation on international financial markets.

"We have secured financing and liquidity, payment of wages and pensions and the normal functioning of the state," he said.

He said that aid worth a total of HRK5.3 billion had been secured for employers in March, April and June, with employers in Zagreb alone receiving HRK 1.6 billion in government aid.

He noted that data from the Croatian Employment Service showed that in terms of employment, Croatia was at the pre-crisis level and that there were 17,500 more unemployed persons because they had not been hired for seasonal jobs.

He said the government would help the business sector also by shortening working hours, which would help them retain workers.

In the EU's next seven-year budget Croatia will have €22 billion at its disposal as well as more than ten million euros from the EU's programme for economic recovery, of which two-thirds are grants, said the PM.