ZAGREB, 19 May, 2021 - Former Dinamo football  coach Zoran Mamić will remain free while in Bosnia and Herzegovina, however, he will have to report to the police once a week and his personal documents have been temporarily confiscated, the court in Bosnia and Herzegovina decided on Wednesday.

Zoran Mamić was arrested early Wednesday morning by officers from the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) based on an arrest warrant issued against him in Croatia.

After that Mamić was handed over to the court in Sarajevo, Judge Branko Perić determined his status including his citizenship of BiH. The judge ruled that Mamić would remain free with precautionary measures and was ordered to give in his personal identification documents.

The court did not discuss the matter of Mamić's extradition considering that Croatia has not sent a formal request yet.

A Croatian Supreme Court ruling upheld a ruling sentencing Mamić to four years and eight months in prison after being convicted of siphoning money from the Dinamo Football Club.

After that he escaped to BiH and requested that he be allowed to serve his sentence in that country which was rejected. Zagreb County Court then issued an international arrest warrant against him.

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ZAGREB, 19 May (Hina) - President Zoran Milanović said on Wednesday that he could agree with comments that the Social Democratic Party (SDP), whose member he used to be before he became the president, had experienced a fiasco in the elections for Zagreb mayor and the city assembly.

When it come to the performance of the SDP and other political parties in the local elections in other cities and municipalities in Croatia, Milanović said that there would be interesting things and that one should wait for the outcome of the second round of the voting on 30 May.

As for insinuations by the Homeland Movement (DP) party that the We Can political party and its coalition partners had received financial support from abroad, Milanovć said that the claims "are insane."

That can be claimed by people whose whole life is focused on earning money and royalties. This is not only insulting but also insane for Croatia in the 21st century, said Milanović.

He went to on to say that the recent campaigns by political parties were much cheaper than, for instance, the campaign conducted by the deceased mayor of Zagreb, Milan Bandić, in 2009.

Milanović accused Bandić of "having robbed the SDP which I led at the time." Millions were spent then. That was paid by private donors, clients, mobsters of every sort, and in the end the party had to settle the bills, Milanović said.

He went on to say that political parties were financed from the state budget and not by some fanatic sects or Soros, alluding to the Hungarian-born American billionaire investor George Soros who founded the Open Society Foundations and who is perceived as a supporter of progressive and liberal political causes.

Milanović recalled that the We Can party won seats in the parliament in the 2020 elections, and this (the state budget) was the source of "legal and abundant financing", the president elaborated adding that any other source of financing of political parties is suspicious.

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May 19, 2021 - Held in Bucharest, Romania, the European Conference For Social Work Research saw Croatian and Swiss scientists jointly participate in scientific issues of social work in Croatia and Switzerland.

Earlier in May, the University of Bucharest, located after the biggest city and capital of Romania, held an online edition of the European Conference For Social Work Research (ECSWR).
Swiss and Croatian teams jointly participated in the symposium „Opportunities and Obstacles in the Evaluation of Homelessness from a Lifeworld-oriented International Social Work Perspective“, which saw prof. Matthias Drilling and dr. Zsolt Temesvary represent their University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW), and dr. Lynette Šikić Mićanović represent the Croatian Ivo Pilar Social Research Institute. The conference was organized by The European Social Work Research Association (ESWRA)

As stated by ESWRA's official website, the association was founded in 2014 with a goal to create social work research development, collaboration, and exchange across Europe. As the ECSWR conference saw overwhelming levels of engagement, the ESWRA association today counts 600 members from across more than 33 countries.

„ESWRA’s vision is to take forward the development, practice, and utilization of social work research to enhance knowledge about individual and social problems, and to promote just and equitable societies“, says ESWRA.

While Dr. Lynette Šikić Mićanović presented Croatia at the conference, she is also a member of the team that includes Suzana Sakić and Paula Greiner. Along with the aforementioned Swiss team, the Ivo Pilar Social Research Institute informed that the Croatian team participated in a joint research project called "Exploring Homelessness and Pathways to Social Inclusion: A Comparative Study of Contexts and Challenges in Swiss and Croatian Cities (No. IZHRZO_180631/1).

„This work is financed within the Croatian-Swiss Research Program of the Croatian Science Foundation and the Swiss National Science Foundation with funds obtained from the Swiss-Croatian Cooperation Program”, says the Ivo Pilar Social Research Institute on its website.

Looking at the „Homelessness and Social Exclusion in Croatia“ science paper whose author is Lynette Šikić-Mićanović from 2010, its abstract suggests that „homelessness is a relatively new phenomenon in most Croatian cities and has been largely ignored by policymakers and social scientists“. So, Šikić-Mičanović's paper aimed to research and contribute new data on a previously unresearched social group to answer the urgent need for a fuller understanding of the perceptions and experiences of homeless people in Croatia.

„Based on the research findings of this study, a number of recommendations can be made for the provision of comprehensive information, services, and assistance to lessen social exclusion among homeless persons as well as to facilitate their routes out of homelessness“, says the paper. Based on scientific research, there are overall five recommendations, as follows:
1.) Special attention – apart from accommodation – needs to be paid to the quality (or lack) of services that homeless people urgently require, such as medical, counseling, legal, supportive holistic assistance from professional qualified and sensitised staff, and so on.
2.) Continual and systematic evaluation is required at shelters and among the wider homeless population by teams of qualified persons, researchers, and/or non-governmental organisations for the assessment and articulation of their needs, abilities, aspirations, and problems.
3.) Programmes need to be developed at the local level to meet different contextual needs. These could include more accessible (less public) soup kitchens, perhaps with special menus (e.g., for diabetics); the introduction of public bathhouses, day centres, doctor’s/dentist’s surgery, or subsidised accommodation for homeless persons, depending on the context.
4.) Volunteers from all age groups should be found and trained with a view to increasing public awareness of homelessness and social exclusion and dispelling the myths and stereotypes about homeless people.
5.) Former shelter users should be monitored and assisted with accommodation and other support services (e.g., utility bills, furniture, therapy, financial aid, help with education) to prevent them from becoming homeless again.

These recommendations are directly quoted from the scientific paper for the sake of accuracy, and hopefully, for a better tomorrow, the policies of the state will follow the scientific findings and discoveries in social sciences.

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ZAGREB, 19 May, 2021 - Public Administration Minister Ivan Malenica said on Wednesday that by the time of the next election the electoral roll will have been cleaned up, following comments by reporters that it does not reflect the real number of voters considering how many people have emigrated but are still registered.

There are 3,660,165 voters registered in the electoral roll that the ministry has for the local election on 16 May, with 60,000 fewer eligible voters compared to the election in 2017, Malenica told reporters.

"Naturally, there are certain situations when the relevant bodies cannot determine whether a certain person has residency in Croatia. That is up to them to determine and that is a data that the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration has eliminated as being relevant to the electoral roll," said Malenica.

Asked whether 250,000 Croatians who registered in Germany in 2013 had cancelled their registration in Croatia, Malenica briefly said that that question should be sent to the Interior Ministry.

He believes however, that it is necessary to check the relevancy of data in the electoral roll against the population census and residency and address people are registered at.

Asked whether he would propose for the electoral roll to be audited, because it is constantly being said that too few people take to the polls, Malenica said that regulations would be changed before the next election and that the electoral roll would be updated.

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ZAGREB, 19 May, 2021 - Croatian lawmakers on Wednesday agreed on the need to strengthen the administrative and absorption capacity for the use of EU funds and to further simplify and standardise the rules.

MP Marko Pavić (HDZ) commended the bill on the institutional framework for the use of EU funds in Croatia, saying that strengthening the capacities would facilitate and improve the absorption.

"So far we've had €10.7 billion and in the future period that will be €24.5 billion, and already now there is a shortage of 1,000 people to process applications for EU funds," said Pavić. 

MP Marija Selak Raspudić (Bridge) believes that the basic problem in the use of EU funds is that there is no independent administrative body to check the application procedures, public procurement and the criteria.

"The legality and allocation of funds is not supervised by anyone at the administrative level but instead it is sent to the State Attorney's Office or Interior Ministry, which are already inundated with work and this is where the hitch occurs. The only department that has the competence and is capable of conducting checks, doesn't have that power," she said.

"In the next two years, we would have to expend as much EU money as we barely managed to absorb in the 7 years and that's a major challenge for Croatia," claimed  MP Ivana Posavec Krivec (SDP), asking what we have been waiting for until now.

MP Sandra Benčić (We Can!) believes the key problem is the various intermediary bodies and the inconsistent practice, which she claims, will not change with the proposed institutional framework.

The proposed bill establishes a stable institutional framework for the use of EU funds for the 2021-2027 period and defines activities to strengthen the capacities of beneficiaries, partners and stakeholders in EU-funded projects.

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ZAGREB, 19 May, 2021 - Sunday's local elections were the main topic of speeches in the Croatian parliament on Wednesday morning.

Dalija Orešković, speaking on behalf of the Civic Liberal Alliance (GLAS) and Centre group, said that the results of the vote showed that citizens were becoming aware that government could be changed. She urged the opposition in parliament to begin dialogue on the reform of the electoral legislation and administrative structure of Croatia.

"We have three years ahead of us to reform electoral legislation and electoral units to make them constitutional and fair, to ensure that each vote counts equally, and to reduce the number of counties, towns and municipalities," Orešković said.

She congratulated "all new progressive forces that made it into the second round of elections, thus threatening the survival of the petrified and corrupt structures of the existing government."

Andreja Marić of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) warned of double standards used by the national coronavirus response team, which allowed the opening of the borders on election day despite the epidemiological criteria in place.

"What kind of message does that send to the public? How can we expect people to comply with the measures if such decisions that mock us all are made?" Marić asked.

She recalled that medical professionals had warned that they expected a rise in the number of new infections in the next three weeks as a result of this decision. "The ruling parties heed only messages that suit them politically," Marić said.

Silvano Hrelja of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) and Croatian Pensioners' Party (HSU) group drew attention to the low turnout. "Those most dissatisfied again stayed at home," he said.

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ZAGREB, 18 May, 2021 - During the local elections held throughout Croatia on 16 May, a total of 70 cities managed to elect their heads in the first round of voting, while others will have mayoral runoffs on 30 May.

Of those 70 mayors, who clinched the victory in the first round of voting when they gained the support of more than 50% of the voters who turned out for the elections, 36 winners are from the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), or six fewer than in 2017, whereas 13 Social Democratic Party (SDP) mayoral candidates gained outright victory, or one more than in the first round of the local elections in 2017.

Seven female mayors winners in first round

Of those 70 mayors elected in the first round of the elections, seven are women.

According to the report provided by the gradonačelnik.hr portal, there is a rising trend in the election of mayoral candidates who are not members of political parties and who are introduced as independent candidates. Ten independent mayors were elected on Sunday.

Donja Stubica mayor reelected with support of more than 83% of voters

Of the winners with an outright victory on 16 May, the most successful mayor who managed to gain the largest support was independent Nikola Gospočić, who was reelected for another term in Donja Stubica with 83.01% of the voters who went to the polls voting for him. In the previous term, he was a member of the SDP party and left it before these elections.

Another independent mayor, Dinko Burić, won 82.15% of the support for his new mayoral term in the eastern city of Belišće.

In terms of the percentage of support, Darijo Vasilić of the regional PGS party ranks third, winning 80.26% of votes for another mayoral term in the City of Krk.

Of the regional parties, the Istrian Democratic Party (IDS) remains the strongest. In the first round of the voting, five IDS candidates were elected mayors.

Four biggest cities to have mayoral runoffs

Zagreb

Tomislav Tomašević of the We Can!, New Left, ORAH and For the City coalition took the lead in the mayoral race for Zagreb on Sunday, winning 45% of votes, and will face-off with Miroslav Škoro of the Homeland Movement party (12%) in the second round of the elections.

Split

In the biggest Croatian Adriatic city, Ivica Puljak (Centre) and Vice Mihanović (HDZ) will face off in the 30 May runoff. Puljak won 26.82% and Mihanović 23.23%.

Rijeka

In the northern coastal city of Rijeka, the current deputy mayor Marko Filipović (SDP, HSU, IDS, HSS) won 30.25% of votes, followed by independent Davor Štimac (16.10%).

Osijek

In the eastern city of Osijek, Ivan Radić (HDZ) won nearly 39% of votes, ahead of independent Berislav Mlinarević, backed by the Homeland Movement and Bridge (about 20%), and they will vie in the second round of the elections on 30 May.

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ZAGREB, 18 May, 2021 - The Croatian Ministry of Finance sold HRK 880 million and €11 million worth of treasury bills at an auction on Tuesday.

Ahead of the maturity of treasury bills worth HRK 300 million and €12 million, the Ministry offered HRK 300 million and €10 million in treasury bills for subscription. Financial institutions submitted offers worth nearly HRK 880 million and €11 million, and the Ministry accepted all of them.

The treasury bills worth HRK 880 million were issued with a maturity of one year and at an interest rate of 0.02%, the same as at the previous auction of kuna-denominated treasury bills held on 20 April.

The treasury bills worth €11 million were issued with a maturity of one year and at a negative interest rate of 0.05%, the same as at the previous auction of euro-denominated treasury bills held on 3 May. 

After today's auction, with the maturity of HRK 300 million worth of treasury bills, the balance of kuna-denominated treasury bills increased by HRK 580 million to HRK 14.7 billion. On the other hand, the balance of euro-denominated treasury bills decreased by €1 million to €158 million.

The next auction is scheduled for 23 June.

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ZAGREB, 18 May, 2021 - The Green-Left Coalition's candidate for the mayor of Zagreb, Tomislav Tomašević, said on Tuesday that after the 30 May runoff, which he expects to win, the coalition would embark on a reorganisation of the city administration and ask the heads of its 27 departments to offer their resignation.

"If we want a change, it is our right to ask the city ministers, as well as directors of city-owned companies... to offer their resignation," Tomašević said at a news conference.

He noted that he would ask current office-holders to submit reports and evaluate their work, while new department heads would be chosen in public procedures and the number of city departments would be reduced due to reorganisation.

Tomašević said that he would not make any rash moves and would hold meetings with all department heads and ask them to report on what had been done so far.

"The only criterion will be one's performance, and I have been familiar with that, having been a city councillor for the past four years," he said.

Citizens urged to apply

He called on citizens who believe they have the necessary qualifications to apply once vacancies are advertised, noting that they would be expected to implement the political goals of the Green-Left Coalition's platform.

Tomašević also commented on the statement by his rival Miroslav Škoro of the Homeland Movement, who on election day, 16 May, referred to him and his coalition as the far left.

"That kind of tactic does not and will not work in Zagreb, as shown by the election outcome," Tomašević said, noting that he did not intend to demonise his political rivals.

He noted that in the first round of the election Škoro had led a smear campaign.

This was proved by the Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries (HAKOM) as it has turned out that Škoro had hired an agency that phoned voters and vilified his rivals, Tomašević said, noting that he would continue a positive election campaign.

He called on voters to give him the largest possible support in the runoff, adding that every vote would count as it would enhance the legitimacy of the planned changes.

The coalition of the We Can! platform and its partners won 23 of the 47 seats in the Zagreb City Assembly, and Tomašević said that they would discuss forming the majority, based on programme cooperation, with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) but not before the runoff.

He noted that he had already discussed this with the SDP's mayoral candidate, Joško Klisović, and that he did not expect any problems with the formation of a stable majority.

Tomašević said that he expected to be supported in the runoff by candidates from the centre to the left, which Klisović already did after the first round of the election, calling on SDP voters to support Tomašević in the 30 May runoff.

Danijela Dolenec, a candidate for Tomašević's deputy, said that the results of elections for local government units, showing that their slate was the strongest in 16 of the 17 of Zagreb's districts, proved that citizens had recognised that their coalition's relationship with citizens was based on partnership.

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ZAGREB, 18 May, 2021 - The Supreme Court, meeting in a general session on Tuesday, did not give a positive opinion on any of the five candidates who applied for the position of Supreme Court President following a new call issued by the State Judicial Council.

Zlata Đurđević, the candidate enjoying the support of President of the Republic Zoran Milanović, received one vote from all the judges attending the general session, while the other candidates received none, according to a statement issued by the Supreme Court.

The session was attended by 33 of the total of 35 judges from all departments of the Supreme Court. They discussed the candidates' programmes and CVs and then took a vote by secret ballot.

Earlier, it was announced that Parliament will discuss the President's nominee for Supreme Court chief  after the local elections. The law requires that a general session of the Supreme Court and the parliamentary Justice Committee also need to give their non-binding opinions on the President's proposal.

The State Judicial Council (DSV) issued a new public call for applications on 31 March after President Milanović told the DSV that he would not propose any of the candidates who had applied in the previous call. The new call was closed on 6 May.

Insisting that the nomination of candidates was his constitutional right, Milanović proposed Đurđević as his candidate for the post of Supreme Court President in March already, but Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković refused to include the proposal on Parliament's agenda saying that it was unlawful.

The Constitutional Court then ruled that the President of the Republic can only nominate a candidate who has responded to the DSV's public call, saying that this does not restrict the President's right to nominate and Parliament's right to choose a Supreme Court President.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković later said that, although she is a criminal law professor, Đurđević had agreed to be part of an unlawful procedure and therefore she was unfit to lead the highest judicial body in the country.

Right-wing opposition groups in Parliament have also announced that they will not support Đurđević.

The term of the incumbent Supreme Court President, Đuro Sessa, expires in July. If Parliament fails to appoint a new head of the highest court by then, the position will be temporarily held by the Deputy President of the Supreme Court, Marin Mrčela.

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