ZAGREB, Sept 28, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic said on Monday in Donji Miholjac that Croatia needed a strong, fair, uncorrupted local government and a central state that would always have to ensure equal standards.

At a special session of the Donji Miholjac Town Council, held on the occasion of the town's day, Milanovic said that the area was not remote but that it was on the sidelines a bit so it had not made as much progress as it should have in the last 30 years, which was obviously the price the entire Slavonia was paying.

He said that European funds should be used for further development. The government is trying hard, but in the end, it is on the best and the most hard-working among you to ensure that the money really comes here, said Milanovic.

Talking about the system of local self-government, he recalled his earlier speeches when he said that the existing model of counties was sustainable. Croatia perhaps does not need 502 units of local self-government but it cannot have 100 either, as was the case in socialism, because that is not good.

"Maybe some municipalities will disappear but that is more an exception than a rule because decisions on life and basic matters are made where people live," Milanovic said.

Osijek-Baranja County prefect Ivan Anusic recalled that in the past three years the County had invested HRK 22.9 million (€3 mn) in projects in the area of Donji Miholjac, adding that a project for an irrigation system for 682 hectares of land, worth nearly HRK 87 million (€11.5 mn), was in the pipeline.

Donji Miholjac Mayor Goran Aladic said that a new secondary school with a sports hall, worth over HRK 50 million (€6.6 mn), was under construction, that over HRK 3 million (€398k) had been invested in a kindergarten, and that the road from the centre of Donji Miholjac to the border with Hungary, worth HRK 9 million (€1.2 mn), had been finished.

Aladic said that projects together worth over HRK 65 million (€8.6 mn) were currently underway in the town.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

ZAGREB, Sept 27, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic has replied to the government's call for him to apologise to everyone he has insulted, saying ironically that he wants to apologise to those, notably government ministers, whom the prime minister and some of his associates exposed to undeserved loss of face.

"The President of the Republic apologises in good faith to all those, primarily ministers, whom the Prime Minister and some of his associates have exposed, through their indolence and inaction, to undeserved humiliation," Milanovic said in a Facebook post on Sunday.

The post appeared after on Saturday the government, in response to Milanovic's criticism of the work of investigative and judicial bodies in the JANAF scandal, and his statement that he would invite PM Andrej Plenkovic to a meeting on that topic said that "Milanovic should first apologise to all those he has been insulting, and then stablise."

Milanovic says in his post that he also apologises to citizens for ministers' luxury cars and undeclared assets.

"The President of the Republic also apologises to all citizens because the (Andrej Plenkovic) government for years included ministers who could not explain the origin of their luxury Mercedes cars or failed to declare their assets worth millions of kuna because they amassed such a fortune that they themselves were unable to count those assets. And all of that happened just because the Prime Minister did not want to know anything about it... regardless of how much others spoke or wrote about it, or warned him," Milanovic said.

Milanovic also attached to his post a link to an article by Deutsche Welle from 2014 under which the then German minister of the interior, a member of the CDU party, had information about an investigation against a member of parliament from the SPD party.

President again invites PM to a meeting 

Milanovic today again invited Plenkovic to a meeting at which they would discuss their opposing views on the functioning of state institutions in the context of the JANAF graft scandal.

"I once again invite the Prime Minister to a meeting, whenever it suits him. Lest it is forgotten," the president said in his Facebook post.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

ZAGREB, Sept 25, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic on Friday repeated his claim that Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic had known details about the JANAF case investigation, and he also thinks that information on the case is leaking from the Office of the Chief State Prosecutor (DORH).

Milanovic said that the prime minister had to know everything that was important and a burden on the system because otherwise, there was no one running anything, but only anonymous people hiding behind DORH's name.

"Who is DORH, who was in charge of that case? That person has a name and surname," Milanovic told reporters in Pazin, where Istria County Day is being marked.

"One person has the biggest responsibility, and that is the prime minister and he must know. And I believe that he will handle that information responsibly," he said.

He also said that Ranko Ostojic, who was interior minister at the time when Milanovic was prime minister, was not correct when he said that he had not been informing Milanovic about investigations.

"He was informing me, and he was not the only one, on all important things," he said.

Milanovic believes that DORH's autonomy means that "there is no influence on their procedures."

Suspicion that information is leaking from DORH

As for information leaking from the investigation, Milanovic said that there were only two possible sources -- police and DORH, and he suspected that DORH was leaking information to the press.

He reiterated that it was not clear to him why JANAF oil pipeline operator CEO Dragan Kovacevic had not been arrested when he had accepted a bribe and the investigation continued for 10 more months, so there was only circumstantial evidence left now.

Milanovic dismissed claims by ministers in the Plenkovic government that at the time when Milanovic was prime minister, he abolished security checks, saying that that was not true.

"I did not. That's a lie. I refused to let SOA (Security and Intelligence Agency) check my ministers, candidates for ministers, when I had to form a government. (...) I take responsibility for the government," he said.

Asked about his visits to Kovacevic's private club, Milanovic said that he thought he had not been there during the coronavirus crisis lockdown.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

ZAGREB, Sept 23, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic on Wednesday said that Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic should have known about the investigation against suspected JANAF CEO Dragan Kovacevic as he is the "keeper of state secrets," adding that the premier should not pretend to be naive.

"I sincerely wanted to help him. I am not nervous. I am worried because this is a terribly serious scandal and someone has put him in a serious situation because he obviously was not informed, because if he was there is no way he would have appointed Kovacevic for another term," Milanovic told reporters on the margins of a business conference.

Milanovic's comment, is the latest in the trade of arguments between him and Plenkovic regarding the influence peddling and the public tender rigging probe. Ten suspects have been arrested in the scandal and Janaf CEO Dragan Kovacevic is the main suspect along with businessman Kreso Petek under suspicion of corruption in closing deals with Petek's company.

Earlier Milanovic alleged that Plenkovic along with Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic knew about the investigation against Kovacevic which Plenkovic denied retorting that Milanovic was nervous.

MIlanovis said that he is not nervous but "angry" because things like this should not be happening in a democracy. Milanovic said that Plenkovic has now been put in a "situation by not being in the  know, ignorance or by one of his associates."

Milanovic criticised the work of the DORH state prosecutor's office because the investigation was not suspended when, based on details from the investigation, Petek brought HRK 1.96 million in kickbacks to Kovacevic's private "club."

Milanovic added that he did not see anything contentious in the fact that some ministers visited Kovacevic's "club" however what is contentious is that some judges visited the club too.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

ZAGREB, Sept 23, 2020 - The main objective of Croatia's economic policy should be to increase employment, and Croatia must make the transition from a holiday country to a great country for work, President Zoran Milanovic said on Wednesday while speaking at the Big Plans Day conference organised by the Lider weekly.

"We should strive to increase the share of highly educated people in the workforce because they are a key source of competitive advantage," the president said, adding that the Croatian society and economy needed to open up, because being closed led to being non-competitive and falling behind.

Commenting on the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown in the first half of the year, Milanovic said that new possibilities were opening up now but an agreement had to be reached on what Croatia's new economic identity was.

He also said it was time Croatia focused on investment growth instead of personal consumption, adding that this should not be investment that mostly depends on EU funds, but greenfield investment that creates new jobs.

He warned that we should not be in a situation where the tax system stimulates rental activities and excise duties force production companies out of Croatia "no matter what they are producing, even if we do not like what they are producing."

"My vision of Croatia is a modern, innovative, open, healthy, green and sustainable country. That is the economic identity I will advocate during my term," he said.

Milanovic said that investment should focus on the sustainability of business models, adding that the European Green Deal was the basis for building economic competitiveness.

Diversification, sustainability, production, employment -- these are the goals on which we all must actively cooperate to ensure the growth of prosperity of our people, he said.

Economy and Sustainable Development Minister Tomislav Coric said that 2021 would be a year of recovery, but also a year of correcting economic mistakes. The government thought, he said, that the country's dependence on tourism was its main mistake, so one of the main priorities of this government would be to deal with this issue.

The main task of the government's economic policy next year will be digital transformation and strengthening production capacities and digital transformation, he underscored.

According to Coric, Croatia should make use of its comparative advantages and increase its competitiveness, and a fast economic recovery is possible if everyone works together in synergy -- the government, entrepreneurs, the industry and the financial sector.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

ZAGREB, Sept 16, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said in parliament on Wednesday that President Zoran Milanovic was engaging in activism against the national COVID-19 response team.

Commenting on Milanovic's statement that the Constitutional Court got cold feet when it decided that all decisions made by the COVID-19 team were in line with the Constitution, except for a Sunday trading ban, Plenkovic said: "What do you think, do those who voted against have an opposed political agenda, engaging in some sort of activism, while the others acted in line with the law and Constitution, including the judges?".

He then answered affirmatively when asked if he believed that President Milanovic was the activist leading attacks on the COVID-19 team, adding that "a few people have stirred up the debate and this is one of the activist groups that have been identified."

"Everything is clear," he said when asked if the president and the constitutional court judges who voted against the court's decision were connected.

"I have no idea what inspired those judges to vote against... I couldn't care less. You have Article 16 of the Constitution, the law was adopted, the government formed the team, the team made decisions, the coronavirus was defeated in May, we organised elections before the second wave, the tourist season was 50% of the projections, and I find that good," he said.

"Those who say that the Constitutional Court got cold feet, why didn't they address the court themselves," he said, adding that he was referring to Milanovic.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

ZAGREB, Sept 16, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic said on Tuesday that the Constitutional Court got cold feet when deciding about the constitutionality of epidemiological measures adopted by the national COVID-19 response team, noting that its ruling would not put an end to discussions about the team's work.

"(Those measures) suspend certain human rights and they do so for a longer period of time. A very vague and loose legal framework was adopted and the Constitutional Court got cold feet, but that's only human," Milanovic told reporters in a comment on the Constitutional Court's decision that the COVID-19 response team's epidemiological masures are in line with the Constitution.

"The ruling is as it is, there will be problems because of it, in my opinion, it is not wise and in that sense, I take note of it. I cannot go against it, but I will not keep silent and will defend the Constitution and constitutional freedoms the way I understand them," Milanovic told reporters.

The Constitutional Court is a political body, which in the case of the COVID-19 response team has made a political decision, the president said, adding that this was a rule of democracy.

President Milanovic, who is also the Supreme Commander of the Croatian Armed Forces, was answering reporters' questions at Pleso Airport, where he attended a welcome ceremony for the 12th Croatian contingent returning from the Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan.

Milanovic reiterated his position that there was a state of emergency in Croatia, a state of natural disaster, just as in the whole of Europe, and that debates about the constitutionality of decisions made by the team managing the coronavirus crisis would not stop.

He added that a few months ago he had warned that "in the case of the COVID-19 team a house was being built without legal foundations."

He believes that the situation could have been avoided elegantly and one could have avoided "questions about jurisdiction, whether one has the right to issue orders and whether those orders exist or are fiction."

Milanovic believes decisions of the Constitutional Court should be debated because they concern important social topics.

"That is called making the nation literate. People should be able to discuss anything, and if something is unjust, they should be able to oppose it. This is simply fear of criticism," Milanovic said when asked to comment on the view of some HDZ members that decisions by the Constitutional Court should not be debated.

Milanovic, however, does not share the view of some of the opposition parties that the Constitutional Court should be abolished.

"Of course not; but it is a political institution, it is not a regular court. There is no close connection with classic adjudication," he added.

The decision on fighter jets political

Asked about the condition of MiG jets, which at the time of his government's term in office were overhauled in Ukraine, Milanovic said that the jets were in the best possible condition compared to the condition they could be in.

"When their age is taken into account, one can say that they were saved with the overhaul in Ukraine, which cost the state US$ 10 or 15 million. That's an insignificant amount for the state. It was an absolutely good job back then. If we had not done it, we would not have any jets today, but we still have a certain number of jets that fly... it was a necessary move, but it has its shelf life," Milanovic said.

He repeated that now one should buy new planes, that the government was in charge of the process but that he believed the US offer should be given priority for a number of reasons.

"They have just donated us two helicopters. Those are all factors that should be taken into account when making a decision. The government must be as neutral as possible but eventually, the decision is a political one," Milanovic said.

ZAGREB, Sept 9, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic said on Tuesday evening while attending a formal session of the Varazdin County Assembly marking County Day, that renewed division of Croatia into regions would be disintegration.

"What was done in 1993 without a referendum, at the height of the war, when there were more pressing priorities than local government, will not be easily reversed," he said and added that the counties, as the form of administration and "transmission between the central government (and regional government) in a country of just four million people", made more sense than regions.

A renewed division of Croatia into regions would be disintegration, the president said.

He expressed hope that Varazdin County would continue "in the good direction", emphasizing the importance of absorbing EU funding as a measure of success.

PM: A harmonious approach to the development of northern Croatia

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, who also attended the ceremony, spoke of the efforts made by the government in its previous term to ensure a more balanced development of the country.

"That's the foundation of our policy which is based on four pillars: continued, steady and open dialogue, functional decentralization, fiscal decentralization, and project cooperation," the prime minister said.

He also recalled government aid to employers and workers, including those in Varazdin County, to help them cope with the crisis caused by the global coronavirus pandemic.

"The government has so far provided HRK 300 million (€40m) for the benefit of workers. Had we not done that, they would probably be in trouble now, many of them would possibly be out of work," Plenkovic said, that 34,000 workers in Varazdin County were covered by the government's aid measures.

He said that Croatia was facing the challenges of recovery and development which required aligning priorities for "a harmonious approach to the development of northern Croatia."

County Prefect Radimir Cacic said that for three years in a row Varazdin County was by far the most successful county in absorbing EU funds in the segment of energy renovation.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

ZAGREB, Aug 5, 2020 - The President of Croatia and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces, Zoran Milanovic, at a ceremony in Knin on Tuesday evening, presented medals to Croatian Army (HV) generals and Bosnian Croat HVO guards brigades for their contribution to the liberation of Croatia 25 years ago.

"There is time for everything. Twenty-five years after a great victory in the Homeland War, it is time for us to get together and repeat that a small group of good people did a great thing for a large group of people, putting themselves, their lives and safety, in jeopardy," Milanovic said in an address to a reception held on the Knin Fortress on the occasion of Victory Day, Homeland Thanksgiving Day, Croatian Veterans Day and the 25th anniversary of Operation Storm.

He said that the war that was imposed on Croatia was just and inevitable, and that "never, despite certain lapses, did we fall into an abyss of moral catastrophe." He also said that there had been attempts to portray the Croatian war of liberation as a criminal enterprise, but "luckily they failed".

Milanovic said he was honoured to decorate the Bosnian Croat units. "It is our debt of honour," he said.

"Today, 25 years on, we are here. We are looking back, but most of all we are looking forward, aware of all the challenges, traps, and unknowns. What I can say with a deep conviction is that the wars are over and that Croatia won them. Long live Croatia!" the President said.

Gotovina: It's never too late to do good

Retired General Ante Gotovina said that a lot of time had passed since the war, "but it is never too late to do good, to do right."

"Dear friends, with your courage and your selfless dedication to the country at that fateful time for our people, through the unity of us all, we built a Croatian army capable of defending itself, ending an imposed war and creating conditions for lasting peace," Gotovina said.

ZAGREB, Aug 4, 2020 -  Addressing the First Croatian Policeman unit on Tuesday, President Zoran Milanovic warned of the "stupid fabrication" to present the Croatian defence war as a joint criminal enterprise.

Milanovic decorated members of the First Croatian Policeman unit with the Order of Nikola Subic Zrinski on the 30th anniversary of the assembly of 1,800 personnel who then began training to liberate the country from Serb occupation.

"We won the war. The war is over and after the war, there were attempts to present all that before the tribunal in The Hague as a joint criminal enterprise, but that attempt failed," Milanovic said.

Joint criminal enterprise is one of those stupid and ugly lies

"We were lucky that not one of our generals, and they were acting under orders from the state leadership, was tainted and convicted for that 'joint criminal enterprise', which is one of those stupid and ugly lies they tried to pin on Croatia's back," he underscored.

"I don't know who is to blame for that but I am glad that that poor attempt failed. It is up to us to be benevolent in peace and to show good faith," he added.

He greeted the families of those who fell as casualties or went missing and who paid the highest price.

Regret that the First Croatian Policeman was not given the status of a war unit earlier

"I am pleased to be able to decorate you and the brigades from Bosnia and Herzegovina that liberated Croatia. That is our and my debt of honour to you and to them," the President said, adding that he regretted that the First Croatian Policeman had not been accorded the status of a war unit earlier.

The celebration was held in the same place where 30 years ago about 1,800 Croatian police officers began training so that they could be put to the service of defending the homeland, it was said at the celebration.

This government has corrected an injustice

Veterans' Affairs Minister Tomo Medved expressed his congratulations on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the First Croatian Policeman unit underlining that with this the government has corrected an injustice by deciding that the the First Croatian Policeman was the first armed unit of the Interior Ministry.

Ahead of the 25th anniversary of the military-police operation Storm, he thanked the troops for all they had done during their service in the Homeland War.

"Let's be proud of everything we achieved together and ready for challenges that each new day brings. With optimism and faith, we are continuing towards a better future," said Medved.