ZAGREB, 18 May, 2021 - Davor Petračić, an independent candidate for the mayor of Karlovac backed by the Social Democratic Party (SDP), on Tuesday reported to the police having received a death threat. He has refused police protection, but hopes the perpetrator will be identified soon.

Petračić found a letter in his post box containing a bullet and a message saying "the real one comes through the barrel."

"I don't have anything against anyone, I defended this city in the war and will try to defend it once again," Petračić said, adding that he hoped the police would find the perpetrator.

Police spokeswoman Andreja Lenart confirmed to Hina that police had received Petračić's report and were investigating.

The incident was condemned by Petračić's political rival in the 30 May runoff, current mayor Damir Mandić of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), as well as by the county branches of the SDP, HDZ, Homeland Movement and Croatian Party of Rights (HSP).

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ZAGREB, 18 May, 2021 - Thomas Waitz, a European Green Party co-chair, has said in an interview for Hina that green policies are neither left nor right but rather focused on dealing with the consequences of the human beings' actions on the climate and environment.

Waitz, an Austrian member of the European Parliament, visited Croatia in early May at the invitation of the leader of the Croatian OraH party, Zorislav Antun Petrović, to support the Green-Left Coalition's candidates in the campaign in the run-up to the local elections which Croatia held on 16 May.

On Monday, this Austrian MEP congratulated Tomislav Tomašević of the Green-Left coalition for a convincing victory in the local polls in the City of Zagreb. Tomašević  mustered 45% of the vote in the first round of the elections for the mayor of the Croatian capital city and will face off Miroslav Škoro of the Homeland Movement (12% of the vote) in the runoff set for 30 May. The coalition led by Tomašević won the elections for the city assembly and was short of one seat for an absolute majority.

On Monday, Waitz tweeted: "Congratulations to the Green-Left coalition for their great result in the local elections in Zagreb yesterday."

"The Green-Left coalition won 23/47 seats in the City Assembly! Zagreb deserves a citizen-led & democratic movement to lead the recovery efforts," the Austrian politician added.

The European Green part also stated that its partners in Croatia were focused on the green post-quake recovery and that they promised to put an end to clientelism and poor management of the city.

Waitz, whose Greens Party is a junior partner in the ruling coalition led by Chancellor Sebastian Kurz in Austria, says in the interview which Hina published on Tuesday that the preservation of the planet could be considered generally a conservative policy as we would like to protect the planet  for the future generations.

EU expects Croatia to invest in rail lines

Commenting on possible demands stemming from the European Green Deal for Croatia, Waitz recalled that the Council of the EU and the European Parliament had reached provisional agreement in April on the climate legislature whereby the EU set an intermediate target of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. 

The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions implies the reduction of dependence on fossil fuels. Therefore Waitz recommends that Croatia should invest more in the rail network.

The European Union expects Croatia to implement such projects. Please invest in rail lines to Ljubljana, Maribor, Graz, Budapest and Belgrade, the Austrian MEP said.

He recalled that the EU policy "From Farm to Fork" envisages the reduction of the use of pesticides by 50% until 2030 and in this context he urged Croatia to  invest in the education and training of young farmers about sustainable farming.

He also commented that the mass tourism could be sustainable and in this context advocated providing  hotels and establishments catering for tourists with locally produced food..

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ZAGREB, 16 May, 2021 - The coalition led by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) won 11 of 31 seats in the Rijeka City Council, or 29.40% of the vote, in local elections on Sunday, exit polls showed.

The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) received 16.76% (6 seats), followed by the Independent Slate of Davor Štimac on 10.98% (4 seats), the Bridge party on 10.002% (3 seats), the We Can!-New Left coalition on 8.001% (3 seats), the PGS-Labour coalition on 7.95% (2 seats) and the Youth Action-Kvarner Union-Alternativa coalition on 6.61% (2 seats).

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ZAGREB, 16 May 2021 - According to the latest exit polls, the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) slate won 42.49% of the vote in Osijek in Sunday's local election, that is 15 seats in the 31-seat council of that biggest eastern Croatian city.

The coalition of the Homeland Movement (DP) and the Bridge party follows with 18.76% of the vote and six seats in the council.

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) ranked third with 15.40% of the vote, which means it could have five seats in the local legislature.

The Snaga SiB party won 6.72% of the vote, thus securing two seats. The We Can party can also count on two councilors, winning 6.04% of the vote.

The HNS, HSS and Reformists coalition would have one seat after this coalition won 5.24% of the vote, according to the exit polls.

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ZAGREB, 16 May 2021 - The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ)  won eight seats or 23.53% of votes in Sunday's local elections for the 31-seat Split City Council, while the Centre party also won eight seats, trailing behind on 22.23%, exit polls showed.

The Croatian Civic Party received 13.39% (5 seats), followed by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) on 8.86% (3 seats), the Green-Left Coalition on 8.84% (3 seats), Bridge on 8.12% (3 seats), and the independent list of Tomislav Mamić on 5.05% (1 seat). 

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ZAGREB, 16 May 2021 - New Left president Ivana Kekin said on Sunday that the first exit polls in Zagreb, according to which Tomislav Tomašević (We Can!, Zagreb Is Ours!) has won 48.6% of the vote for mayor, showed that people had realised it was time for a change.

"The result is maybe even better than all the pre-election polls showed. We are very glad that citizens have obviously realised it's time for a change and that they have realised who can deliver that change," Kekin told Hina.

According to the first exit polls in Zagreb, Tomašević has won 48.6% of the vote for mayor and the coalition of We Can!, Zagreb Is Ours!, New Left and Orah 45.96% for the City Assembly.

Asked if she expected Tomašević to win in the 30 May mayoral runoff, Kekin said it was difficult to say given that these were exit poll results. "The numbers can go a little up or a little down now. It would be great if they went up a little, so that we can save money and time and get to work immediately on Monday."

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ZAGREB, 16 May, 2021 - Zagreb and Ljubljana are here to help their Western Balkan friends join the European Union because that is in everyone's interest, just as it is presumably in Slovenia's interest that Croatia enters the Schengen zone, Croatian President Zoran Milanović said in the Slovenian lakeside resort of Bled on Sunday.

Milanović and his Slovenian host Borut Pahor held a working meeting ahead of the annual Brdo-Brijuni Process summit on Monday. The two presidents are the co-chairs of this initiative.

Over the last ten years, the Brdo-Brijuni Process has shown that "it makes perfect sense," Milanović told the press before meeting Pahor, according to a press release from the Croatian president's office.

"We are here to encourage and help our friends and neighbours from the Western Balkans, basically the countries of the former Yugoslavia plus Albania, to join the European Union as soon and as simply as possible because that is in everyone's interest," the Croatian president said.

Milanović said he presumed it was also in Slovenia's interest that Croatia should join the Schengen zone as soon as possible.

"All this is part of a broader story in which we will do all we can, notably our governments, but we too, so that our neighbours become, as soon as possible, part of the community which we belong to," Milanović said. "After all, Europe is one and should be one because whenever it was divided in the past it was not good," he added.

Milanović called for cooperation despite differences.

"We do not have the same views on all issues, but I believe that our views are compatible and can produce a result," the Croatian president said. He said he was optimistic and expected a good meeting on Monday.

The Brdo-Brijuni Process was launched by Croatia and Slovenia in 2013 to address open issues through regional cooperation, stabilise the situation in southeast Europe and create conditions for EU enlargement. 

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ZAGREB, 16 May, 2021 - Croatia held local elections on Sunday for 425 municipal and 127 city councils, 20 county assemblies and the Zagreb City Assembly, and exit polls released after the closing of polling stations at 7 pm show that the four largest cities will have a mayoral runoff on 30 May.

ZAGREB

In the capital, the mayoral candidate of the We Can! and Zagreb is Ours political groups, Tomislav Tomašević, mustered 48.6% of the vote, with the runner-up Jelena Pavičević Vukičević of the Labour and Solidarity Party winning 11.5%.

SPLIT

In this southern coastal city, Ivica Puljak of the Centre party won 27.4% ahead of Vice Mihanović of the HDZ with 23.4%.

RIJEKA

In this northern Adriatic port city, exit polls put the SDP's Marko Filipović in the lead with 29.9%, with independent candidate Davor Štimac trailing at 16.3%.

OSIJEK

In the largest eastern city, the HDZ's Ivan Radić won the first round of the vote, capturing 41.4%, and will face Berislav Mlinarević, supported by the Homeland Movement ad the Bridge, who took 19.2. %, in the 30 May runoff.

The exit poll was conducted by the Ipsos Puls agency.

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ZAGREB, 16 May 2021 - On election day, between midnight and noon, 892 Croatian nationals entered Croatia on the grounds of compelling personal reasons, which is similar to the average number of entries last Sunday and two weeks ago, the Ministry of the Interior said on Sunday.  

On 2 May, 724 Croatians entered the country and on 9 May 683 did so.

The ministry said that delays on some border crossings on the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia were due to passengers returning after a long weekend in some EU member-countries, and passenger traffic was also more intense on border crossings between Croatia and Slovenia.

With regard to inquiries about the arrival of Croatian nationals with the right to vote in local elections, regardless of the country they come from, the ministry recalls that the decision currently in force that bans or restricts border crossing defines exceptions in cases of compelling personal reasons, the right to vote being one of them.

It notes that persons travelling for compelling persons reasons must not stay in Croatia for more than 12 hours and that if they do not leave within that period, they are subject to epidemiological restrictions defined by the decision in force. 

The ministry recalls that during their stay in Croatia all passengers, regardless of their category or the country they come from, are obliged to comply with general and special recommendations and instructions by the Croatian Public Health Institute.

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ZAGREB, 16 May, 2021 - The GONG election-monitoring NGO said that voting in Sunday's local elections by noon was relatively peaceful but with numerous complaints from citizens.

The complaints referred to violations of election silence, complaints regarding the work of electoral committees, and there were also inquiries about some polling stations that had been relocated and about the possibility of voting for people in self-isolation or people who are ill, GONG said.

The NGO said that in the first couple of hours after the opening of polling stations it received a dozen complaints about electoral committees asking voters if they wanted to vote only for mayoral candidates or for other slates as well.

"GONG informed local election commissions about this and they told us that this was not an instruction or an intentional act of discouraging voters. They noted that they had been informed of such cases and that they warned electoral committees that they should offer all voters all ballots," GONG said.

The NGO also asked the State Election Commission (DIP) to investigate text messages and messages on social networks in which the transport of voters from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Croatia's coastal town of Makarska is being arranged, and which also mention providing supporters of one political party with transport and lunch.

GONG also said that other complaints referred mostly to violations of election silence, primarily on social networks, and that it received a complaint from a political party saying that fake text messages were being sent to voters on its behalf. The case was reported to DIP.

DIP spokesman: Normal election day

DIP spokesman Slaven Hojski said that election day was normal with regard to complaints and reports of irregularities.

Most of the complaints refer to posts on social networks and violations of election silence, he said.

He noted that tension was running high among political parties which accused one another of doing something to compromise the other side.

The DIP spokesman also said that several text messages were blocked via the HAKOM regulator.

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