ZAGREB, 28 April, 2021 -  President Zoran Milanović said on Wednesday that the Croatian Army was one of the pillars of a civil, democratic state, while attending, in his capacity as the supreme commander, the official oath ceremony of the armed forces' 3rd mechanised battalion.

The ceremony was held in the Knin army barracks and was attended by also Defence Minister Mario Banožić, Chief-of-Staff, Admiral Robert Hranj and commander of the land forces Lieutenant-General Boris Šerić, the President's office said in press release.

Addressing those present Milanović said that the army is primarily for defending the Croatian homeland, on land and sea.

The Croatian Army, which means you, will build its future on international institutions. The circumstances are such that there will not be any more wars as there were thirty years ago. Today are different times, different circumstances...strive for the best for yourself, your families, your units, your homeland - Croatia," said Milanović.

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ZAGREB, 28 April, 2021 - An international arrest warrant has been issued for a 78-year old Croatian citizen Dragan Bešir and 79-year old Serbian national Slobodan Đorđević for murders committed in 1991 and shelling a refugee camp in Grabovac where a three-month old baby was killed.

The charges have been forwarded to the County State Attorney in Rijeka after Lika-Senj and Karlovac county police authorities in cooperation with prosecutorial authorities completed the criminal investigation, the police has reported without revealing the identity of the two suspects.

The suspects are out of reach of Croatian judicial authorities. They are charged with failing to prevent the murder of civilians between 8 October and 10 November 1991 and in that way violated international laws during war conflicts.

Both Bešir and Đorđević were commanders of the then Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), and they did not do anything to prevent the murder of 35 civilians.

In addition, Đorđević is charged with not preventing a mortar attack on a refugee camp at Grabovac which resulted in the killing of three civilians including a three-month old baby, who was the youngest victim during the Homeland War.

ZAGREB, 28 April, 2021 - The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) mayoral candidate in Zagreb, Davor Filipović, on Wednesday presented his election agenda, and said that fighting corruption was a top priority in the document.

"We are going to introduce the ISO 37001 anti-corruption standard, following the model set by the City of Prague, and it refers to the corporate responsibility, control mechanisms and action plans when there is suspicion of cases of corruption in the City of Zagreb or in any city institutions," said Filipović pledging to create an anti-corruption atmosphere in the capital city.

He also said that one of the priorities would be the fast and efficient post-quake reconstruction of the city and recalled that €683.7 million is available for this purpose through the EU Solidarity Fund.

The HDZ mayoral candidate promised free-of-charge services in pre-school day-care institutions for all the children in the city.

Filipović promised the closing of the Jakuševac waste landfill, the construction of a centre for waste management, and the modernisation of public transport vehicles, as well as the construction of the Jarunski Most bridge and a new stadium in Maksimir.

Filipović's agenda also envisages the establishment of a Homeland War Museum and a centre for war veterans in the city.

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ZAGREB, 28 April, 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Wednesday that the state is functioning normally, dismissing interpretations that he is squabbling with President Zoran Milanović and that their relationship is affecting the state of the country.

"There is no squabbling. What you are saying is misrepresentation of facts and deduction of a conclusion that does not exist," Plenković told reporters in Šibenik when asked if the country can function with him and the president squabbling for months.

There is civilised, polite communication, arguments... listen, watch, follow and you will see who is insulting whom, who is arguing with whom, who is whose target, added Plenković.

"The government has always been constructive and willing to resolve problems and negotiate. But there is no sense in faking some sort of unity that doesn't exist," he said.

"The state is functioning well. There is nothing wrong with the state - everything that needs to function is functioning," he said.

Everyone is receiving their wages, pension allowances, a COVID supplement will be paid to pensioners, tax refunds and job-keeping measures will continue, he said.

"The election will be held, we need to fix some details regarding vaccination and we are working on enabling the tourism season," he added in reference to his visits to Dalmatia today and yesterday.

Plenković dismissed accusations by the opposition that he and Health Minister Vili Beroš are to blame for the problems in organising vaccination against COVID-19, saying that the opposition, and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in particular, were trying to score cheap political points due to their unfavourable approval ratings and likely poor results in the local election.

He said that it was thanks to the engagement of his government and not that of the opposition that COVID-19 vaccines had been secured.

"As of today, with the latest shipment of the Pfizer vaccine, Croatia has received a total of one million doses of vaccines. Thanks to me and my government and not the opposition's, in the next two months more than 3.2 million doses will come. And now it is up to the healthcare system, in coordination with (Health) Minister (Vili) Beroš, to intensify inoculation and  ensure citizens' health protection," said Plenković.

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ZAGREB, 28 April, 2021 - Deputy Parliament Speaker Željko Reiner (HDZ) said on Wednesday that the opposition's motion to replace Health Minister Vili Beroš will not succeed just as previous motions to impeach ministers did not.

"Today, I heard that the opposition will submit a motion on 4 or 5 May to impeach Minister Beroš. Just like all the previous motions to impeach ministers, this one won't succeed either," said Reiner.

Reiner announced that he would put the motion for a no confidence vote on the Parliament's agenda within the deadline foreseen in the Standing Orders.

Asked whether Beroš can make order in the process of vaccination, Reiner said that it would be put in order in the shortest time possible and that sufficient quantities of vaccines had been obtained.

Reiner said that Beroš is doing his job quite satisfactorily and that he needs to be left to do it in peace to the end.

Asked about accusations from the We Can! party that paid seminars are held on information from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and that some ministers participate in them, Reiner said that any such accusations need to be substantiated with arguments. "I haven't heard a single argument. Those are empty phrases, like many others," he said.

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ZAGREB, 28 April, 2021 - MP Bojan Glavašević of the Green-Left Bloc said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Andrej Plenković "has a very serious problem with ignorance", and that Croatia needs a prime minister who is knowledgeable and that if Plenković refuses to change, citizens will replace him. 

"Instead of realising that he should inform himself about the scandals his colleagues are involved in, the prime minister insists on ignorance," Glavašević said, noting that his ignorance was being paid for with citizens' money and health.

With money, as in the case of a loan approved to former minister Gabrijela Žalac by two incumbent ministers, and with health, as in the shameful scandal with the Cijepise.hr platform for COVID-19 vaccination, Glavašević said, stressing that Croatia needed a knowledgeable prime minister.

"Because this one, who does not know, does not see, does not hear and does not want to know, see or hear, evidently lacks the capacity for his post," he said.

"This country and its people deserve better. If the Prime Minister does not change, citizens will replace him, it's only a matter of time and the number of victims of ignorance," Glavašević said.

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ZAGREB, 27 April, 2021 - Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said on Tuesday that Croatian Ambassador Hidajet Biščević enjoyed the support from the Croatian government, in his comment to the ethnic Croat leader's accusations against the diplomat.

Addressing a news conference in Petrinja, Minister Grlić Radman said that the experienced Croatian diplomat Biščević enjoyed the support of the government in Zagreb.

He says that exclusively Croatian institutions are in charge of assessing the performance of Croatian diplomats.

The minister said that the status of the Croatian community in Serbia is one of Biščević's priorities.

"Media speculations and such statements in media about Croatia's diplomats are not the best way of communication. Croatia's diplomacy does not deserve that and furthermore this could also be an indirect attempt from outside to impact the political relations in Croatia," said the minister who will travel to Subotica on Wednesday.

He also said that it was also inappropriate to disseminate reports against Biščević after the recent incident in which the Croatian flag was removed from the residence of the Croatian ambassador in Belgrade.

Following media reports about the criticism targeted against Biščević, President Zoran Milanović said that he would recall the ambassador for consultations to establish the truth.

Minister Grlić Radman also rejected Milanović's claims that it was him who appointed Grlić Radman to an ambassadorial post.

Grlić Radman said that he had been employed for diplomatic tasks for the first time in 1991 by the first Croatian president Franjo Tuđman and since then he has been an official in the foreign ministry.

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ZAGREB, 27 April, 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Tuesday that at the moment he did not see that former minister Gabrijela Žalac, an official of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), is guilty of anything after the USKOK anti-corruption office expanded its investigation in the windpark scandal.

"I read the press release for my information. Our judicial bodies are independent. You are aware of our position - we have zero tolerance to corruption. I don't what is behind that and I cannot deduct from the press release what exactly it has to do with," Plenković told reporters during a visit to Split-Dalmatia County.

I don't have any information about what USKOK and the State Prosecutor (DORH) are doing.

What he does know is that the loan in question was approved, as far as he is aware, in accordance with the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR) rules.

"We have to see here what this is about exactly. At the moment I don't know nor do I have any detailed information of what USKOK or DORH are working on. She is a member of the HDZ. At the moment I don't see that she is guilty of anything," said Plenković.

He claimed that he saw Žalac about a month ago but they did not discuss the windpark case.

"She will deal with this situation on her own and as far as our relationship is concerned, it is as it was in any case," underscored Plenković.

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ZAGREB, 27 April, 2021 - Croatia's President Zoran Milanović said on Tuesday that he would recall Croatian Ambassador to Belgrade, Hidajet Biščević, after the ethnic Croat leader Tomislav Žigmanov criticised the diplomat for working against the Croats in Serbia.

In the meantime media outlets have reported that Ambassador Biščević did not react to the developments in which ethnic Croats received death threats, and that he also failed to even telephone those members who received threats to express sympathy with them.

Žigmanov, who is the leader of the Democratic party of Croats in Vojvodina (DSHV), recently claimed that the Croatian ambassador had made a "tepid reaction" to attempts by Serbian authorities in Subotica to introduce the Bunjevci vernacular as an official language in that northern city and that the ambassador communicated with people whom Žigmanov described as persons "who are actively working on the destabilisation and dissolution of the (ethnic Croat) community."

All that prompted President Milanović to say today that he did not know whose policy Biščević "is pursuing there."

I cannot know whether all those headlines are true and I will summon him back to Zagreb for consultations, Milanović said in his address to the press at the Gašinci military range in eastern Croatia.

The Večernji List daily has reported that on 30 March, Žigmanov sent a letter to Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman to inform him that Biščević was working against the interests of the ethnic Croat community in Serbia.

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ZAGREB, 27 April, 2021 - MOST Party Member of Parliament Nikola Grmoja on Tuesday commented on the latest developments in the wind park scandal, saying that even though he is trying to avoid it, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković is the main sponsor of corruption in Croatia.

He appointed ministers Gabrijela Žalac and Marija Vučković, he appointed Minister Tomislav Ćorić and all those who are directly or indirectly connected to the wind park scandal and now he is acting as if he didn't know anything, Grmoja told the press in Parliament House.

We saw that former minister Žalac lobbied for loans to be approved in that scandal, said Grmoja, recalling that while MOST Party was in government, that project did not get the green light because it lacked the necessary environmental impact study, and that as soon as MOST Party was ousted, Minister Ćorić approved the project.

Responding to a reporter's comment that even after the scandal was uncovered, many of its participants kept their positions, Grmoja said that the "mafia doesn't forget its members."

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