ZAGREB, 6 July, 2021 - The whip of the ruling HDZ, Branko Bačić, said on Tuesday the parties of the parliamentary majority supported amendments to the Trade Act, adding that shopping hours would be adjusted to seasonal activities.

Parliament will debate the amendments in the autumn.

Speaking to the press after a meeting of the parliamentary majority, Bačić said they talked about the problem of restricting shopping hours until 9 pm, notably during the summer tourist season, when they have the biggest turnover.

"We must take account of the international convention on the rights of shop workers to daily and weekly rest," Bačić said, adding that it was important to reach as much consensus as possible with those to whom the law applied.

"We'll take into account rest and adjusting shopping hours to seasonal activities across Croatia. We'll give employers the possibility to decide how many Sundays in the year they will work."

Reformists president Radimir Čaćić pushed for as much flexibility regarding shopping hours as possible, saying that family firms should be allowed to work when and how long they wanted.

He praised the proposal by Silvano Hrelja of the Croatian Pensioners Party "not to define shopping hours but the number of non-working hours, to say that a shop must have eight non-working hours. That's very good as it allows everyone to organise themselves as they wish."

Bačić said the parliamentary majority also talked about plans to make job-keeping payments in sectors affected by the epidemic conditional on worker vaccination, adding that the purpose was to stimulate employers with a high vaccination rate "for contributing to curbing the epidemic as soon as possible."

He said the government was not shifting responsibility to employers and that measures to that effect would be agreed by the government, the social partners and legal experts, taking Croatia's economic interest into account.

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 June 6, 2021 - TCN's highlights of the week. A look at the events in Croatia from May 31 through the selection of TCN's reporter Ivor Kruljac. 

From significant political changes after the local elections to the losses and preparations in sport, the week was hyped by a strive for hope in Croatia. But, the tragic murder of Nino Čengić in Varaždin was a painful kick to the stomach. Here is another weekly selection of the news depicting the bittersweet life in Croatia. 

© Patrik Macek / PIXSELL

Highlights of the week: Tomislav Tomašević officially. becomes the new mayor of Zagreb

Zagreb local elections winner Tomislav Tomašević met with Jelena Pavičić Vukičević for an official ceremony of transferring power on Friday, which makes Tomašević officially the new mayor of Zagreb.

Media attention was also caught for the fact that Tomašević was four minutes late to the ceremony because he was waiting for the ambulance on Cibona because a woman fell ill in the middle of the street. But, for the bigger public interest, it's important to note today was the first time for Tomašević to have a detailed view on the financial situation of the City of Zagreb, giving him a clear picture of the debt problem Zagreb has. 

As TCN reported earlier, Tomašević told the press after the ceremony that the situation is not good, but there are solutions. Still, so far, no more details were given on the two-thousand-odd-page reports on the 2020 budget execution and preliminary figures. Additionally, the new city assembly would hold the founding meeting on 17 June.  

© Slavko Midzor / PIXSELL

Highlights of the week: Zlatko Dalić on Croatian National Football Team

The Croatian National Football Team is preparing for the friendly clash with Belgium. As reported by TCN, Zlatko Dalić faced the press on Friday ahead of the match. 

„I am satisfied with everything except the result. We had minor injury problems. We did the rest as expected, but the draw with Armenia left a bitter taste. In that game, we had to win 4-0 or 5-0, not draw 1-1. I am dissatisfied with this result. Plus, we created 5-6 percent chances, and we didn't do that in three games in a row at the beginning of the World Cup qualifiers against Slovenia, Cyprus, and Malta. We were nonchalant and irresponsible and did not realize them. We were not specific, and that is a minus“, said Dalić to the press. 

Dalić also pointed out that the national team is aware of its obligation to the Croatian people. He spoke about the problems in the national team, the pros and cons of the draw against Armenia, and the expectations from players who are dissatisfied with their status. One of them is Andrej Kramarić, who, after 20 goals scored in the Bundesliga this season, is not safe among Dalić's starters. A few days ago, he advised the media to ask Davor Šuker what he would say after such a season. 

Expectionsare big ahead of the EURO championship, and no doubt fans will pay attention with close interest. 

© Vjeran Zganec Rogulja / PIXSELL

Highlights of the week: Anđelko Stričak, new prefect

The power transfer ceremony on Friday also took place in Varaždin where Anđelko Stričak defeated current Varaždin prefect Radimir Čačić. 

„The victory is well deserved. In the past nine years as the president of Varaždin county organization of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), and in six years as a member of the parliament, I've been to every corner of Varaždin county and talked to everybody. I heard the needs of our citizens, and I tried to solve them by cooperating with coalition partners on every level. Of course, I'm not the best, most capable or most perfect, but I will try with my team to give my best that everybody in the county feel changes for the better“, said the new Varaždin County prefect Stričak, as reported by Varaždin county's official website. 

© Sanjin Strukic / PIXSELL

Highlights of the week: Croatia Loses to Spain in the Under-21 European Championship

Spain was better than Croatia after extra time in the Under-21 European Championship quarter-final in Maribor on Monday. The match ended 2:1. As reported by TCN, Croatia was solid in the first half and threatened the Spain goal on a few occasions. Despite Spain's high pressure, Ivanušec had a chance from 20 meters in the 7th minute, and in the 23rd, Bradarić's shot was blocked by the Spain defense. Spain retaliated with a Diaz shot from 20 meters, but Croatia's defense made it difficult for them to do much more. 

The young Croatia national team fought against Spain for a spot in the semifinals. 

Igor Bišćan's side met Spain at Ljudski Vrt stadium in Maribor. 

"The guys are aware that we have a great chance, they are motivated to do something, and we are all around them to give them that chance and be supportive. They have quality," Bišćan announced before the match.  

© Vjeran Zganec Rogulja/ PIXSELL

Highlights of the week: Nino Čengić funeral in Varaždin

The Funeral of the English professor Nino Čengić who passed away last Sunday, was held on Wednesday. Nino Gengić, a substitute English professor in one Varaždin school, was brutally beaten with bats and chains in front of the local club in Varaždin called Kulturana. He was 35 years old.

As Jutarnji List reports, four suspects aged 24-29 are currently in custody while the investigation is ongoing as to what lead to this attack. Suspect's apartments were searched, and one suspect illegally possessed a considerable amount of ammo and fire weapons to match. All suspects were previously known to the police for troubling behavior, and the most tragic was the fact that 15 people witnessed the beating, but nobody stopped it.

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February the 3rd, 2021 - Radimir Cacic has stated that the ever louder desire to remove the need for membership fees paid to the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) are irresponsible, claiming that HGK needs reforms, but that it shouldn't be dismantled. Many who pay their fees would strongly disagree.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, after a recent coalition meeting, Varazdin County Prefect Radimir Cacic gave a short statement to the media, more precisely to N1.

"My position is that everyone had a chance - MOST, SDP, HSLS and HNS. Everyone has had the opportunity from 1991 until today,'' said Prefect Radimir Cacic after a coalition meeting when asked by a journalist to comment on the proposal to abolish what many consider to be a banal and pointless membership fee to the Croatian Chamber of Commerce.

He then added: ''Everything they wanted to do... they did. What we've now heard from the gentlemen of MOST consists of one terrible amount of effort made to change one article in the 1991 law that says the Chamber should be abolished. Once you stop funding it, and keep everything else that the law proposes obligations, public authorities… At that moment you can say that the chamber doesn't exist,'' said Radimir Cacic in his usual style of speech.

He then expressed his opinion on the proposal: ''Unserious, irresponsible, dangerous, populist. This is something that I personally, neither we as Reformists, have ever been able to, nor will we ever support,'' he said.

He also noted that the Croatian Chamber of Commerce should be reformed, but not abolished entirely. "The chamber needs to be redefined, it needs to be sent out onto the market to a large extent, but it also needs to recognise its public powers. No to populism, yes to reforms. The chamber isn't good enough, not even close to good enough, but on the other hand, it doesn't occur to us to support the destruction of one of the institutions that is important for the Croatian economy and society,'' he concluded.

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December the 28th, 2020 - The Pfizer vaccine might be here and the number of new infections in Croatia might be dropping, but Radimir Cacic still isn't confident cafes, restaurants and other catering and hospitality facilities will be open before spring comes around.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, in Varazdin County, which suffered horribly recently with the spread of the novel coronavirus, vaccination is beginning with the most vulnerable group in a Home for the Elderly which has 360 beds.

Radimir Cacic, the Varazdin County Prefect, explained what the vaccination plan for that particular previously hard hit Croatian county is going to look like.

''I'm definitely going to get vaccinated, but unfortunately, regardless of my age, I'm not going to be among the first to receive it. I won't be in the first group of people. Dr. Proskura, who is 88 years old and who is one of the users of the home, as far as I know, will be the first citizen of Varazdin County to be vaccinated today. After the first five vaccinations here [in the home for the elrderly], employees at the Varazdin Emergency and General Hospital will be vaccinated. There are 525 vaccines all together at the minute, so we'll deal with this quickly,'' Radimir Cacic said in conversation with RTL.

According to all statistical indicators, the number of newly infected people is, thankfully, declining.

"It was allvery clear. I understand the caution, but we've seen a decline in all indicators for four weeks now. Therefore, there can be no coincidence anymore. Things are completely clear. We've dropped from over 1200 to just over 300 newly infected people today. So the incidence has been reduced by four times. Now we're looking at completely different numbers,'' stated Radimir Cacic.

He also commented on the return of life to more normal conditions and the abolition of anti-epidemic measures.

"That won't be done before we've finished with vaccinating the most high-risk groups of people, so I don't expect much before spring. The measures will most certainly remain in place until spring,'' concluded Radimir Cacic.

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ZAGREB, November 21, 2019 - Varaždin County prefect Radimir Čačić will again head the Alps-Adriatic Alliance (AAA) over the next two years, the Alps-Adriatic-Council decided in Varaždin on Thursday.

Čačić was elected Council chairman in Klagenfurt in 2017 as the first prefect from Croatia.

The emphasis in the next term will be to have big joint projects, not just small ones, financed from European Union funds, he said, adding that Varaždin County had also founded the Alps-Adriatic Association as an operational core to which all member states were invited.

AAA secretary-general Thomas Pseiner said he and his Steering Committee had approved 66 projects over the past two years, mainly for culture, but also for cross-border defence from natural disasters.

Čačić said there was interest for the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina to join the AAA.

The AAA has been active 41 years and comprises the Austrian regions Burgenland, Carinthia, and Styria, the Croatian counties Istria, Karlovac, Krapina-Zagorje, Koprivnica-Križevci, Međimurje, Primorje-Gorski Kotar and Varaždin, the Association of Cities and Towns of Slovenia, and the Hungarian county Vas.

More Varaždin news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, January 8, 2019 - The Reformists are leaving Milan Bandić's parliamentary group, party president Radimir Čačić and Reformists MP Darkinko Dubmović told N1 broadcaster on Monday, after Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) president Krešo Beljak and Social Democratic Party MP Zvane Brumnić earlier in the day gave depositions to the police and the USKOK anti-corruption agency about possible political corruption in the wake of HSS MP Mladen Mađer's defection to the parliamentary group led by the party of Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić.

Čačić told N1 that Reformists would in the future act independently in parliament.

Asked if the party had notified Bandić of its decision, Čačić said they have not formally talked to him yet. A total of 12 deputies have recently crossed the floor and joined Bandić's group.

Earlier, HSS leader Beljak gave a deposition to police on possible political corruption in the wake of HSS MP Mladen Mađer's defection to the parliamentary group led by the party of Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić, but he would not tell reporters whom he had reported to the police or where he got the information from regarding the alleged buying of parliamentary deputies.

Beljak gave his deposition to police after the USKOK anti-corruption office confirmed last week that it was conducting a preliminary investigation.

In a statement to Hina, Brumnić denied having been offered anything either directly or through a middleman.

The head of the parliamentary group led by the party of Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić, Robert Jankovics, told Nova TV on Monday that he regretted that MP Darinko Dumbović of the Reformists had left the group as the cooperation with Dumbović was good, stressing that he believed Dumbović and his former parliamentary group would continue to support the Andrej Plenković government together.

That Dumbović is leaving the parliamentary group led by the Work and Solidarity Party was announced earlier on Monday evening by the leader of the People's Party - Reformists, Radimir Čačić, and MP Dumbović.

At the beginning of the current parliament's term, the parliamentary group led by the Work and Solidarity Party had only one member. Since then, a number of MPs from other parliamentary groups have crossed the floor to join this group. After Dumbović's departure, the group has 12 members.

"I understand politics. His party leader Čačić, too, has said that they want to be more politically visible, they probably could not achieve that in the current circumstances. I hope and believe that we will continue to support together the government led by Andrej Plenković, unfortunately not as members of the same parliamentary group," said Jankovics.

Asked if their credibility was undermined by cooperation with people who at the time of the election did not share the same political views and values that their parliamentary group now advocates, Jankovics said that that would be the case had they used their status in the parliamentary majority to get posts of ministerial secretaries, ministers and assistant ministers.

"All that we have done together in this group, since the time when it had four members to the present, when the group has 11 or 12 members, is to support the Andrej Plenković government and decisions made by ministers from the HDZ and the HNS," said Jankovics, the Hungarian minority MP.

Asked if he had been contacted by the USKOK anti-corruption office in connection with reports related to political corruption, Jankovics said that he had not been contacted by anyone.

Asked how the parliamentary group of which he was a member functioned except for the main condition - support for the Plenković government - Jankovics said that with regard to worldview issues, notably those causing divisions in society, the group was open to discussions and agreement.

"Some of our most important decisions were not made unanimously, we did not vote the same way on the budget. The opinion of each group member counts and we will continue working that way," he said.

Asked if they expected new defectors to join their group, Jankovics said that it was difficult to say for the time being if more new members would join the group.

He noted that it was pity that main left and liberal parties were in a difficult situation and "facing disappearance. If more new members join our group, that will be exclusively due to the difficult situation in those parties."

More news on the Zagreb mayor can be found in our Politics section.

The five counties want the government to establish the Council for Central and Northern Croatia and implement a number of projects.

County prefects from Northern Croatia discussed cooperation among the five counties.

The Mayor of Zagreb will head the “For Prime Minister Coalition”.

23 more days to go