The total revenues increased by almost 120,000 kuna, earnings from abroad rose while those from Croatia declined, and net profits exceeded half a million kuna. This is the 2018 financial statement of the EuroAlba Advisory company, a consulting firm that was founded three years ago by former Croatian Prime Minister and a potential candidate at presidential elections later this year Zoran Milanović, reports Jutarnji List on February 27, 2019.

The former SDP boss, who is the preferred presidential candidate for many members of his party, as well as most parties of the Amsterdam Coalition, is currently the only employee of the company headquartered at Miramarska Street in Zagreb.

The company's total revenues in the previous year amounted to 744,970 kuna, an increase of 20 per cent compared to 2017 when revenues amounted to 625,000 kuna. About 115,000 kuna were the total expenses of Milanović's company, only 13,000 kuna higher than in the previous reporting period.

Gross profits amounted to 629,000 kuna, or 552,952 kuna after tax payments, indicating that net earnings in relation to 2017 increased by about 93,000 kuna. It is as if he received a monthly salary of 46,000 for the whole year. However, the financial report reads that the former Croatian Prime Minister receives only slightly over 3,000 kuna a month. Namely, in the staff costs category, the annual net salary for employees amounted to 40,010 kuna, or 3,334 kuna per month. Milanović did not employ anyone last year, but remained the only employee, as he was in 2017.

According to publicly available data, the company whose sole business activity is "business and management consultancy", had 209,000 kuna of revenues from "selling goods or services abroad" in 2018, which is an increase of almost 140,000 kuna compared to 2017.

At that time, Milanović's consulting services abroad were linked to Edi Rama, the Albanian Prime Minister, regarding the country's accession to the European Union. Whom Milanović advised in 2018 is unknown, but his acquaintances say that last year he travelled to China and Russia several times.

From consulting services in Croatia, Milanovic last year raised 535,000 kuna, or 20,000 kuna less than 2017. The media often linked the former SDP prime minister with the Crodux oil company.

In addition to his consultancy business, Milanović is the president of the Diplomatic Council of the Dag Hammarskjöld School of International Relations and Diplomacy. Before that, the post was held by Budimir Lončar, a former adviser to presidents Ivo Josipović and Stjepan Mesić. The dean of the college is Joško Klisović (SDP). Milanović founded the company in 2016, two months after he lost parliamentary elections.

More news about the former prime minister can be found in the Politics section.

Translated from Jutarnji List (reported by Tomislav Mamić).

ZAGREB, February 24, 2019 - The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has joined the two-week boycott of the Croatian Radio Television public broadcaster, launched by NGOs in a show of support for journalists and media outlets that have been sued by the public broadcaster, the SDP said in a press release Sunday.

The SDP will not appear on or give statements for HRT in show of support to journalists and the media, the press release said.

Thirty civil society organisations earlier this month said they would boycott the HRT until March 2, for when a protest rally of journalists has been scheduled, in a show of support for journalists and media outlets that have been sued by the public broadcaster.

They said in a letter that the purpose of their boycott is to draw attention to the absurdity of the situation in which a public broadcasting service is suing media outlets and journalists over their reporting on how public money is being spent, thus undermining freedom of the press in Croatia through intimidation and pressure.

The HRT has so far filed at least 36 lawsuits against media outlets and journalists, seeking 2.3 million kuna (311,000 euro) in damages.

Rather than with lawsuits and pressure, a public media service should protect its reputation and independence by supporting journalists, improving the quality of its programming and management, and with other activities aimed at protecting and not undermining freedom of the press, the letter said.

The letter said the official position of the European Federation of Journalists is that the HRT is the worst public service in Europe in terms of independence, adding that filing lawsuits is a problematic way of spending taxpayers' money and an unprecedented practice of a public broadcaster in Europe.

More news on the Croatian Radio Television can be found in the Business section.

ZAGREB, February 20, 2019 - Social Democratic Party (SDP) members of parliament on Tuesday defended for more than four hours about 300 amendments they submitted to the INA Privatisation Act, dissatisfied with the fact that it is being discussed under fast-track procedure, telling MPs of the ruling HDZ party that the government was turning over INA to the Hungarian energy group MOL and betraying national interests.

"This law regulates the privatisation of Croatia's biggest company and requires a serious and comprehensive debate. But the government has changed its approach, organising a public consultation... during the Christmas holidays, and it did not even last for the full 30 days, after which the amendments were submitted to be discussed under fast-track procedure," said Social Democrat Peđa Grbin.

He said that the government's claim that the purpose of the bill was to align the law with EU rules was not true.

"The fact that the European Commission considers a law as not being in line with EU law does not mean that that is true. The EC is not the one to make decisions on whether laws are in line with EU law, that is what the EU Court of Justice does," said Grbin, criticising the government for not even trying to prove that the existing law was not in line with EU law.

"A normal country and a normal government should define the energy development strategy. Judging by the information at hand, we cannot see any ambitious energy strategy plan," SDP MP Sinisa Hajdaš Dončić said, expressing concern about the country's energy sovereignty.

Another SDP MP, Željko Jovanović, said that the HDZ's election slogan "Credibility" was totally missed, recalling that two governments had fallen over INA (both were HDZ-led governments, one led by Ivo Sanader and the other by Tihomir Orešković, a PM chosen by former HDZ leader Tomislav Karamarko), adding that he hoped the HDZ would lose the next election over INA again.

"If this government had a plan, the PM would not have just said, off the top of his head, on Christmas 2016, that 'INA will be restored to Croatian ownership'," SDP MP Sasa Đujić said, claiming that the government was betraying national interests.

Objecting that the amendments envisage two Croatian government representatives overseeing INA's operations while currently Croatia has three seats on the INA management board, MP Domagoj Hajduković wondered if the proposed amendments were a result of arrangements between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and PM Plenković.

"The Croatian government's representatives will continue to sit on INA's management board as will two independent members," State Secretary for Energy Ivo Milatić said, rejecting the SDP's amendments.

In an ironic remark to a recent statement by President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, SDP MP Predrag Matić said that "the President has discovered that corruption in Croatia dates back to the times of the Habsburg monarchy, while the HDZ is making it possible for us to return there.

"In the 1990s we sold our banks to Austrians, we will now sell INA to Hungarians, and chances are we will again be living in the Habsburg monarchy," he said.

SDP MPs said they would insist on a vote on their amendments. "You don't have to accept the amendments. It is clear to everyone that they were submitted to point to a problem. Accept our proposed conclusion and let us have a second reading on the bill," said Grbin.

The INA Privatisation Act, which went into force in 2002, defines the company's privatisation. The current bill of amendments changes Article 10 under which Croatia has the exclusive right of control over changes in the company's ownership structure as well as the right to veto certain decisions of the company's management and the right of pre-emptive buying of the entire company or parts thereof at an estimated market price in case the process of its liquidation is launched.

Under the bill, a party acquiring INA shares and wishing to own an interest of more than 50% should inform the relevant minister about this and submit to the minister a long-term business management plan.

Based on the minister's opinion, the government makes a decision on its consent for the acquisition of shares within a 30-day period.

The government can withhold or withdraw its consent if it decides that it constitutes a serious threat to public security and puts the country at serious risk of losing secure, reliable and regular energy supply.

More news on the INA-MOL issues can be found in the Business section.

ZAGREB, Feb 16 (Hina) - The Social Democratic Party (SDP) Women's Forum said on Saturday that member of parliament Ines Strenja Linić of the MOST party engaged in discrimination of women by saying that young girls who start drinking early in life were certain to experience unwanted pregnancy.

Alcohol consumption is one of the many serious problems affecting young people in Croatia, but to single out girls in that context is discriminatory, the SDP Women's Forum said in a comment on the statement Strenja Linić made during a parliamentary debate on Friday.

The statement contains the stereotype that young women are the only ones responsible for risky sexual behaviour when drinking alcohol, the SDP Women's Forum said.

"Children urgently need quality, scientifically based and comprehensive education about the importance of gender equality, health protection, sexuality, various types of addiction... Considering the frequency of inappropriate statements coming from people in important and responsible positions who influence public opinion in many ways, a large number of adults, too, could benefit from such education," the SDP Women's Forum said.

More news on the status of women in Croatia and the debates surrounding this issue led among the political parties can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, February 7, 2019 - The government on Thursday unanimously adopted a report on an interpellation submitted by 16 Social Democratic Party (SDP) MPs about its performance in the procurement of fighter jets, assessing the claims in the interpellation as unfounded.

"The government conducted this very complex process systematically and responsibly, guided solely by Croatia's national interests, in line with the Defence Act and the Public Procurement Act. The selection of the multipurpose fighter jets was conducted transparently, with clear criteria and equal terms for all interested parties," Defence Minister Damir Krstičević said presenting the report.

He said no bidding country complained about the procurement procedure. He said the parliamentary defence committee and the Defence Council were included in the process from the start and were informed about the procurement in time and in detail.

Israel's bid cost 475 million dollars. Greece's cost 171 million euro, although additional costs were not defined, the aircraft were not modernised and total costs could not be estimated. Sweden's bid cost 933 million euro and total costs were estimated at 1.11 billion euro. The basic US offer cost 1.553 billion euro, excluding weaponry and training costs and total costs could not be estimated.

Krstičević said "it was concluded that Israel's bid would be complete and the most acceptable, including financially." He said Israel provided preliminary approval for the transfer of technical data in the configuration requested so that its bid could be valid.

It was Israel's obligation to obtain the US government's final permission for the delivery of the aircraft in the appropriate configuration and Israel officially notified Croatia that, contrary to the obligation undertaken, it could not obtain permission from the US for the delivery of F-16 Barak aircraft.

Croatia could not influence that and is not responsible, the minister said. "We asked all the necessary questions and received the appropriate guarantees."

He underlined that Croatia had not undertaken any financial obligations and that it suffered no consequences in the procurement procedure. "The government acted with due attention and we didn't ignore the views presented during the procurement procedure," he said, adding that, "with the intention to obtain all the necessary information and examine the procedure and terms of acquiring the transfer, additional consultations were made with the most relevant interlocutors in Israel and the US."

During the whole process, the government showed determination to ensure the best aircraft for the most affordable price.

"Croatia remains a key strategic partner to the US and this won't change. We underline that no action in this process has threatened the long-term stability and viability of the Croatian Air Force," said Krstičević.

The government will continue to seek a solution for maintaining the capability of the fighter jets we developed during the Homeland War, he added.

"It's important that we continue to have good relations with Israel and the US. And when it comes to defence cooperation, we will adopt some decisions at this meeting, which further confirms the continuity and intensity of our cooperation," said Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.

Late last month, the opposition SDP submitted an interpellation to parliament on the government's failure to procure F-16 Baraks from Israel, demanding that the government tell parliament why the procurement had failed.

The SDP wants parliament to establish if Krstičević and Plenković were responsible for the failure and to ensure that future procurement procedures, especially such expensive ones, be carried out transparently and in line with the Defence Act.

The interpellation signatories maintain that the government, notably the Defence Ministry, did not act transparently and with due attention, claiming that they did not take into account Croatia's overall interests and the positions of the US as the third party. Citing Croatia-US correspondence published in the media, they say the US clearly indicated that it was against the procurement as Krstičević wanted to implement it.

More news on the fighter jet debacle can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, January 31, 2019 - The leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Davor Bernardić, told a press conference on Wednesday that his party had sent a draft bill on the medical procedure of pregnancy termination to a 15-day public debate and underscored that abortion in Croatia had to be legal, free and accessible.

"We have witnessed individuals and political parties in Croatia advocate banning abortion and taking us back to the 18th century and SDP will stand against discrimination and reactionary forces in society," SDP's leader said.

He announced that the SDP-sponsored bill regulated the right of women to self-determination, freedom to decide to give birth to children or to abort, the right of minors and disabled persons to abortion, abortion legal time limit, the protection of health and lives of pregnant women, counselling prior to abortion, sterilisation, education for everyone, free contraception, choice between surgical or medication abortion, who has the right to perform the procedure, supervision of authorised institutions and clinics, conscientious objection, financing the cost of abortion and penalties for violation of the law.

He recalled that according to the Constitutional Court ruling the Abortion Act has to be amended by the end of February and "Health Minister Milan Kujundžić's announcement that the new bill won't be adopted within the said deadline," Bernardić said, "just shows his attitude toward the Constitutional Court and toward women's rights."

"This arrogant government obviously has no problem with not respecting a Constitutional Court ruling and it would be good for it to explain why it isn't respecting set deadlines, what does it consider to be disputable and what is the problem," Bernardić added.

Responding to reporters Bernardić said that it would "be nice if the opposition had a candidate for the presidential election and that SDP as the strongest opposition party, would have its candidate." Asked whether that might be Zoran Milanović, he said that he first needs to say whether he is willing to run for the presidency after which the party would talk about that and make its decision after the European elections.

More news on the abortion issues in Croatia can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, January 27, 2019 - The former president of Croatia and leader of the non-parliamentary Forward Croatia party, Ivo Josipović, announced on Saturday that next week he would begin talks on merging his party with the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

Speaking in an interview with Croatian Radio, Josipović said that he was not entering into talks with the SDP to be the SDP's presidential candidate, adding that he would support former SDP leader and prime minister Zoran Milanović in the presidential race if he showed that he was able to defeat the incumbent Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović at the ballot box.

Josipović said that his talks on joining the Civic Liberal Alliance (GLAS) had ended in failure because that party wanted the new party to be predominantly liberal rather than social democratic, while the SDP had recognised the need for uniting leftist liberal opposition parties. He said he was certain that this process would continue and that talks would be launched with two more parties.

Josipović said that the moves made by SDP leader Davor Bernardić to unite similar centre-left parties were very good. "The mood in the SDP about my return is very positive, despite a few dissenting voices," he said, announcing that a majority of 1,100 members of his party would join the SDP.

Josipović resigned from the SDP after becoming President of Croatia early in 2010. Five years on, he ran for a second term in office but was defeated by the incumbent president Kolinda Grabar Kitarović, who was nominated by the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). He did not return to the SDP then, but instead formed the Forward Croatia party.

More news on political developments in Croatia can be found in the special section.

ZAGREB, January 24, 2019 - Social Democratic Party (SDP) MP Arsen Bauk said on Thursday that the SDP would launch the interpellation procedure by Monday to address government activities regarding the failed purchase of F-16 fighter jets from Israel until Monday.

"The interpellation has been prepared. For it to be sent into the parliamentary procedure, it is necessary to have the support of only 10% of lawmakers, and therefore we are not going to ask other opposition parties to support the submission of interpellation, but we expect their support during the vote on the matter," Bauk said.

Asked by the press whether the latest scandal about fake photos showing Agriculture Minister Tomislav Tolušić in an embarrassing situation has pushed the failed acquisition of fighter jets to the back burner, Bauk answered: "Certainly, if you have something that can distract media attention from a certain matter, you can say that media interest in that matter has lessened."

"However, I don't want to believe that the Tolušić affair was intentionally spun to overshadow the failure to acquire the fighter jets," the SDP parliamentarian said.

Asked how come that former defence minister Željka Antunović of the SDP said that this was not Defence Minister Damir Krstičević's fault, Bauk said that she had the right to think so. "Mrs Antunović was one of the best defence ministers, and her opinion should be respected. However, it is not certain if she expressed her opinion based on all information. It seems to me that she commented on the case before it became evident that contacts between the US and Croatia were more frequent and more intense than originally indicated. True, it is unusual that she has a diametrically opposite position to the SDP's view," Bauk concluded.

More news on the failed deal can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, January 23, 2019 - After negotiating his possible entry into the opposition's Civic Liberal Alliance (GLAS) party for three months, Ivo Josipović, a former Croatian president and the current leader of the non-parliamentary party "Go-Forward, Croatia – Progressive Alliance," said Wednesday that he had abandoned the project of joining GLAS and that he would again join the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

Following the latest developments, GLAS leader Anka Mrak Taritaš told reporters that they should ask Josipović if he had negotiated his admission to GLAS with a hidden agenda, and added that her party would like to be "a place of gathering."

"We do not make promises, we do not blackmail or have hidden agendas, and after the negotiations Mr. Josipović said that he is after all a social democrat, and that the SDP is much closer to him, which is all right, people go where they feel better," said Mrak Taritaš. She said that her party would remain open to the SDP once the biggest opposition party stablised itself.

According to Mrak-Taritaš, in the event that Josipović is again the SDP presidential candidate, the GLAS-led Amsterdam Coalition will analyse the options to establish who of the prospective challengers stands the best chance to unseat the current president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović.

Josipović, the third Croatian president who was in office from mid-February 2010 to mid-February 2015 and a former SDP official, ran for the second term but was defeated by the incumbent president who was nominated by the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). Grabar-Kitarović's first term expires in a year, however, she has not yet explicitly stated if she would run again.

Krešo Beljak of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) said that Josipović's return to the SDP was four years late. He should have returned to the SDP after he gambled away a certain election victory, said Beljak whose party is a member of the Amsterdam Coalition. Beljak said that he was sorry to see that Josipović had wasted away his political career.

Predrag Matić of the SDP said that he was glad to hear Josipovic was returning to the SDP.

Mirando Mrsić, who used to be the head of Josipović's campaign team, said that the left-of-centre option should propose a candidate that can defeat Grabar-Kitarović and that he believed that it could be Zoran Milanović, a former SDP leader.

More news on former president Josipović can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, January 20, 2019 - Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Davor Bernardić said on Saturday that the opposition party was ready for the European Parliament elections, which will be held in May, and for early parliamentary elections if they are called.

Bernardić said that the current makeup of the government did not mirror the will of citizens and insisted that the makeup of the Croatian parliament was made up based on "a political corruption".

"The SDP is ready any time to take over responsibility and pull Croatia from this morass of political corruption, clientelism, sinecurism and crime. We have been able to save Croatia two times so far, and we are also now able to do that," Bernardić said at a meeting of SDP women’s forum in Zagreb.

During this meeting he said that his party would table its proposal of the new abortion legislation, suitable for the 21st century.

Termination of pregnancy should be available and free of charge to all women, he said in that context.

As for the recent incident in Vukovar in which a Serb teenage boy was assaulted at a bus station and reporters' question if the incident could be connected with Vukovar Mayor Ivan Penava's statements and video footage of Serb students refusing to stand for the Croatian anthem, Bernardić said that in Croatia hatred against others was again being spread, and that hatred against others, based on their ethnicity, had recurred.

He thinks that it is high time for HDZ leader and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković to opt either for Penava or for the Croatian Serb leader Milorad Pupovac whose Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) is a part of the ruling coalition.

Bernardić ruled out any possibility for the SDP to support the incumbent President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović's candidacy for her second term.

The speculations about the SDP backing of Grabar-Kitarović's decision to rerun for the presidency have appeared since both the HDZ and the SDP members of the parliamentary Domestic Policy and National Security Committee voted for the committee's conclusion that the Security and Intelligence Agency (SOA) made no wrongdoings in the treatment of former presidential advisor Mate Radeljić.

The committee chairman Ranko Ostojić of the SDP said then that the Radeljić case was over for the committee.

More news on the SDP can be found in the Politics section.