ZAGREB, June 18, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and Minister of Labour and Pension System Josip Aladrovic on Thursday presented the first 106 grant agreements for the second phase of a women's employment scheme, with women providing care for the elderly and disabled.

"We've created an instrument to return more mature women living in rural areas to the labour market as well as engaging local government and NGOs in providing care for the elderly," Plenkovic said. 

The project is being financed with a grant from the European Social Fund (ESF) and it helps include target groups in the labour market for a period of 12 months.

The total value of the grants is HRK 222 million and today 106 grants valued at HRK 192 million were presented. They will enable 2,117 unemployed women to find a job and provide care for around 13,000 elderly citizens.

This is the second phase of this project and in the first phase about 6,000 women cared for about 30,000 elderly citizens, Plenkovic added.

Plenkovic underlined that in the current financial period Croatia had HRK 14.4 billion at its disposal from the ESF and that more than contracts had been signed for more than HRK 9 billion. For the sake of comparison, in October 2016, only HRK 135 million was paid out to beneficiaries and so far the amount has increased to HRK 5.26 billion, he said.

Aladrovic: More funds due to the number of applications

Minister Aladrovic underlined that the project had been ongoing for three years.

"The best proof of the amount of interest and quality of this project and what it means for local government is probably the fact that in less than 48 hours more applications were received than the HRK 300 million earmarked for phase 2 can cover," he said.

Hence, we have decided to take additional funds from the ESF and the grants for the second stage of the project now stand at HRK 550 million, he said.

This project covers three of the four priorities set by ESF - employment, education, and social inclusion.

ZAGREB, June 16, 2020 - The leadership of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) has agreed on lists of candidates for the July 5 parliamentary election and they will be submitted to the Electoral Commission at 3 pm on Tuesday, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said late on Monday after a five-hour meeting of the party's presidency and national council.

He said that the meeting had taken so long because consultations had to be made on the 154 people on the lists.

Plenkovic confirmed that Miro Kovac, Bozidar Kalmeta, and Stevo Culej, who had opposed him at the last party election, were included at the bottom of the lists for their respective constituencies in order to show inclusiveness. "Regardless of the party election, this parliamentary election should mean synergy for the HDZ."

He added that this was also a message to other members of the HDZ who had voted for someone else who they thought should lead the party. "I think this is good for democracy, it is good both for Croatia and for the party's democracy."

Asked to comment on the statement by the leader of the Homeland Movement, Miroslav Skoro, that he would not be the prime minister, Plenkovic said that the HDZ was set to win this election and would not agree to any such blackmail.

Plenkovic said that the HDZ was looking forward to the forthcoming election competition. He said that with their five-point election platform they wanted to give voters a chance to vote based on the government's achievements so far and clear position on job, pay and pension security, the absorption of EU funding, and speedy economic recovery.

"I think we also acquitted ourselves well in the latest coronavirus crisis," the prime minister said.

ZAGREB, June 13, 2020 - Robert Pauletic of the Homeland Movement said on Saturday that the party's condition for a possible coalition with the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) was that Andrej Plenkovic should no longer be the prime minister.

"(Homeland Movement leader) Miroslav Skoro has already announced this saying that Plenkovic could be a good foreign minister but not the prime minister," Pauletic told the N1 television channel.

He added that Plenkovic's ego probably would not allow him to be relegated from the position of the prime minister to that of foreign minister. "He has saved his premiership several times, but he can't do it anymore."

"If the SDP (Social Democratic Party) emerges as a relative winner, will it agree to Plenkovic being the prime minister? A grand coalition is possible and I wouldn't rule out that possibility. Plenkovic is politically closer to the left than to the Homeland Movement," Pauletic said, adding that Plenkovic proved this by forming a coalition with the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) and the Croatian People's Party (HNS).

Asked if the next prime minister should be a non-party person or the Homeland Movement would insist on its own candidate, Pauletic said they first needed to see how many parliamentary seats they would win.

As for a possible coalition between the Homeland Movement and the SDP, he said that it was highly unlikely because of their ideological differences. He added that a coalition with the SDSS was also unacceptable because "Milorad Pupovac has been sucking money out of the state budget for decades" and his weekly Novosti is anti-Croatian.

 ZAGREB, June 12, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Friday praised his government for all it had done to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, stressing that it had stood by the workers and employers and shown "the strength of the state" during the crisis.

"In this corona crisis you could see how our government managed to quickly and effectively prevent this epidemic from spreading in Croatia while at the same time standing, like no government before it, by the workers, employers and all those who would probably have ended up on the dole had it not been for our measures, and the employers would hardly have overcome the crisis," the prime minister said at a gathering of members of the Vukovar branch of his Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party.

He said that the government had shown "the strength of the state" during the crisis. "We showed how to protect and secure public health and how to preserve jobs," he said, adding that all this was possible because over the past four years the government had been working on promoting healthy economic growth, which has been recognised outside Croatia as well.

"Our investment credit rating has been maintained. Yesterday's €2 billion bond issue, when investors were interested in nearly €9 billion at much more favour interest rates and when we managed to save HRK 360 million annually compared to the same such instrument from 2010, means that there is trust in this government," Plenkovic said.

ZAGREB, June 12, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic formally opened the Office of the Foundation of the Sarajevo Archdiocese in the eastern Croatian town of Vukovar on Friday, saying that Croatia's relationship with Bosnia and Herzegovina was very important to his government.

"We have considerably increased funds for specific projects including education, healthcare, culture, and the economy. We have increased trade and intensified our relationship with Bosnia and Herzegovina by opening two consulates, offices of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, a broadcasting organization, and have improved transport connectivity," Plenkovic told the press after the opening ceremony.

"All this helps strengthen the status of the Croats as an equal constituent people in Bosnia and Herzegovina," he stressed.

The Archbishop of Sarajevo and president of the foundation's board of directors, Cardinal Vinko Puljic, said: "We have opened the foundation here to make it easier for benefactors to invest funds that can be controlled." He added that the foundation would work transparently and that it would be clear at all times what the money was being invested in.

"The foundation will be an encouragement to our survival and our future in Bosnia and Herzegovina," the cardinal said.

The foundation was established in Vukovar in February as a not-for-profit humanitarian organization to carry out projects in Croatia and the Sarajevo Archdiocese.

ZAGREB, June 8, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the priorities of the presidency over the Council of the European Union and the reactivation of the economy and tourist season, during their video conference on Monday, the Croatian government stated.

Croatia is the current chair of the Council of the EU, and in the second half of 2020, Germany assumes the chairmanship.

Plenkovic outlined Croatia's plans for the Conference on the Future of Europe.

The German chancellor congratulated Croatia and the premier on the country's successful first presidency, against a backdrop of the unforeseen events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the government says in its press release.

The virtual EU-Western Balkan Summit Meeting and the forthcoming EU-Eastern Partnership summit are gaining more prominence in such circumstances.

The two interlocutors also pointed to the satisfactory epidemiological developments in their respective countries, which will make it possible for their economies, including the tourist trade, to be reactivated along with gradual recovery of the air transport.

All that is supposed to lead to an increase of tourist arrivals this summer, which is seen as conducive to a faster economic recovery, read the government's press release.

ZAGREB, June 8, 2020 - Social Democratic Party president Davor Bernardic on Monday accused Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic of pursuing a policy which betrayed national interests because Hungarian PM Viktor Orban was laying claims on Rijeka and that in return, Plenkovic was delivering Croatian oil.

"Orban is Plenkovic's friend. He claims parts of Croatian territory and as a reward, Plenkovic delivers Croatian oil to Budapest," he said in response to questions from the press, calling this a "policy of betraying Croatia's national interests."

As for the announcement from Canada that Croatian citizens there would not be able to vote in Croatia's parliamentary election because of COVID-19, Bernardic said the key task of the government and the state was to make sure that every Croatian citizen could go to their polling station anywhere in the world.

That was one of the reasons why the SDP asked the COVID-19 crisis management team to ensure that citizens can vote, notably in care homes, he said.

Asked if he would sign a green-left coalition petition for the president to convene an extraordinary parliamentary session after the election so as to have a law on the post-earthquake reconstruction of Zagreb passed, Bernardic said that the SDP-led Restart Coalition, after winning the election, would pass that law at parliament's first session.

Our experts from various fields are working on that bill and our goal is that citizens return to their homes as soon as possible, that we activate the construction sector and stop the real estate brokerage currently going on in Zagreb because people have moved out and their properties have been devalued, Bernardic said.

Commenting on a public opinion poll according to which 42% of citizens would not go to the polls, he urged citizens to vote and "say no to the thieving government" because, he said, it concerned every citizen what Croatia would look like and if it would be free of corruption.

ZAGREB, June 6, 2020 - Prime Minister and HDZ president Andrej Plenkovic said in Pozega on Saturday that in the July 5 parliamentary election citizens would choose whether to vote for those who had ensured health, jobs and economic growth or groups which were an end in themselves.

He said over HRK 12 billion had been contracted as part of the government's Slavonia Project.

"In the last campaign, we announced the Slavonia Project as a priority. Over HRK 12 billion has been contracted. We are realising projects. The government and the ministers are present in Slavonia. I think voters, having learned from the presidential election, will think carefully about who to vote for. The choice is whether you will go for those for whom you know who they are, who have ensured health, jobs, economic growth," Plenkovic said in the Slavonian city of Pozega where he started his tour of eastern Croatia.

"Last night Fitch upheld Croatia's credit rating. That means they trust us, they see resilience, know-how, and trust to return, with the economic recovery measures, to the previous level as soon as possible."

Speaking of coronavirus, he said "Croatia took a very good position, which was no accident. The economic measures we provided were no accident. Specifically, more than 8,000 people in Pozega-Slavonia County received wages for March and April and will receive them for May solely because of this government's political will and the way to find the money for that."

"We are counting on the safe vote for those you can seriously count on in the next four years. You have those with whom you don't know what you will get, those whose topics have nothing to do with the future," Plenkovic said, adding that choosing those who were rational should not be too difficult, especially in Slavonia.

ZAGREB, June 5, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Friday in Mostar, southern Bosnia and Herzegovina, that he is opposed to a wire fence on the border between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina after the migrant crisis has once again escalated.

Over the past few weeks, the number of migrants coming to Bosnia and Herzegovina has increased once again, and they are trying to reach European Union members passing through Croatia. Bosnia and Herzegovina's Security Minister Fahrudin Radoncic resigned earlier this week due to a difference in opinion in the ruling coalition with regard to resolving the migrant problem. 

Plenkovic, who today met with the leader of the Croatian Democratic Union's sister party in Bosnia and Herzegovina - HDZ BiH, Dragan Covic, said that the solution cannot lie in building physical obstacles on the border.

"I am opposed to erecting wire fences between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. We are two neighboring countries directed to each other and a message like that would not be good," underscored Plenkovic.

He believes that it is key to resolve the migrant crisis on the Greece-Turkey border.

Strengthening the status of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Plenkovic underscored the need to strengthen the status of Croats in that Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"We will do everything so that the status of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina is not weakened, just the opposite, that it is strengthened. We are constantly working on that and I think that we have more than clearly communicated the topic of the equality of Croats at all levels of the Council of the EU and the European Commission," he told a press conference held together with Covic.

The Croatian premier added that the most important thing for Bosnia and Herzegovina is that it advances to EU membership and the equality of the three peoples there is a precondition to reach important agreements in the country.

Croatia supports Bosnia's aspirations for EU membership and for its integration to NATO which is important for the country's stability.

ZAGREB, June 4, 2020 - Condemning the wind park scandal Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Thursday said that his cabinet was fully committed to the fight against corruption and called on the judicial institutions to ascertain what happened and who was responsible for breaking through surveillance measures.

"On behalf of the entire government, I want to say that the government is entirely committed to the fight against corruption, while proof of the independent work of the police and state prosecutor's office can, in fact, be seen in the process that unfolded last week, at least when it comes to the public. There is no dilemma that we wish to support the fight against corruption and encourage the relevant bodies to do their job in accordance with the law and without anyone meddling in their work," Plenkovic said at the start of a cabinet meeting.

As some of the actors in this scandal were office-holders appointed by this government - a state secretary and some other officials and an assistant minister, that is proof that the State Prosecutor's Office (DORH) and police are doing their job without any influence, the premier said.

"We consider that conduct to be unacceptable and that is why we dismissed the said officials and took measures that are very clear and have moved this entire episode away from collective responsibility from all of us in government. We in no way want to be implicated in someone's individual acts that harm the government's reputation," he said.

Plenkovic underscored that it is in the interest of strengthening trust in judicial institutions to determine those responsible for surveillance measures being cracked in the wind farm scandal.

"Seeing that measures were allegedly cracked among those stakeholders involved and they may have included the police and DORH, I think that it is in the interest of strengthening trust in judicial institutions to determine how that is possible and who is responsible for surveillance measures being cracked and that all these procedures have an epilogue within a reasonable time," he added.

"I say this very precisely without any idea of possibly pressuring any of these bodies but it is also just as important to determine who is responsible because that is important for trust in DORH's activities, the police, and the court functioning. That is what I expect from all stakeholders in reference to legal security," underscored Plenkovic.