November 01, 2020 -  At the very end of his term, Mayor Andro Krstulovic Opara, just like his predecessor Ivo Baldasar, has decided to regulate the drinking of beverages in public areas.

A little more than a month and a half ago, this issue was raised at the City Council, and in the meantime, Krstulovic Opara appointed a Commission to draft a Decision banning alcohol consumption in public areas in Split with the task of drafting, more precisely, preparing a draft ban document, which will go to public consultation 30 days before the city hall.

Goran Dlaka, head of the Police Department, Leona Grgic, senior advisor for business management and control of city companies, and Jurica Salinovic, recently appointed chief municipal warden, were elected to the task.

The main problem is to determine whether the ban will refer to all public places or only to some. I think that the direction will go in the way of allowing it Matejuska, ballots, and banning it in front of shops, in close proximity to schools, kindergartens ... they told us from Banovina.

Baldasar's proposal, which didn't reach the councilors three years ago, was a ban on the consumption of alcoholic beverages in public areas, for which a fine of 500 and 250 kuna, respectively, would be imposed.

As we find out, this draft will also serve as a guide.

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ZAGREB, Sept 15, 2020  - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Tuesday that Split Mayor Andro Krstulovic Opara enjoys his support when asked if Krstulovic Opara would run in the next local election, set for May 2021.

Plenkovic made the statement for the press after meeting with Krstulovic Opara and Split County head Blazenko Boban, also a member of the HDZ party.

HDZ has a lot of candidates for local election

Asked who could be the HDZ's candidate for the mayor of Zagreb, Plenkovic said that "the HDZ has a lot of candidates."

"We will have good candidates, there is enough time left for that. The HDZ has a lot of candidates," Plenkovic said, denying speculation by some media outlets that Finance Minister Zdravko Maric was a likely candidate for the post of Zagreb Mayor.

Plenkovic also commented on the Constitutional Court's decision of Monday that laws on the powers of the national COVID-19 response team, passed by the parliament, were in line with the Constitution and that most of the team's decisions were lawful.

Constitutional Court's support very good in terms of legal security

"The COVID response team and the government yesterday received support from the Constitutional Court which either dismissed (complaints) or declared that practically all of the team's decisions were constitutional and in line with relevant laws. I believe this is very good in terms of legal security and the fact that our actions were based on Article 16 of the Constitution and we made decisions in the context of a declared epidemic, to protect citizens' health," he said.

If the fight against COVID-19 in the spring had not been successful, we would not have achieved 50% of the results of last year's tourist season, which was the best ever, he stressed.

Commenting on the HDZ's pre-election promise about a Sunday trading ban, and the fact that the Constitutional Court ruled that the COVID-19 response team's decision to ban Sunday trading was not in line with the Constitution, Plenkovic recalled that some surveys showed that as many as 80% of Croatians were in favor of a Sunday trading ban.

Gov't to put forward balanced law on non-working Sunday

"We believe it would be good and in the interest of the family and a healthy balance between work, rest, and spending time with one's dearest ones. During this term the government will put forward a bill that will seek a balance between a non-working Sunday and a certain number of working Sundays," he said.

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August 20, 2020 - The Split Mayor, Andro Krstulovic Opara, said that the recently increased number of newly infected in Split-Dalmatia County was "a consequence of a larger number of tourists and a larger number of young people enjoying nightlife." He sharply called out the irresponsible caterers.

T.portal reports that Krstulovic said that the city's Civil Protection Headquarters reacted as soon as they noticed the sudden growth of the newly infected, convening an emergency meeting on Monday, N1 reports.

"These are not worrying numbers, but we had to intervene," said the mayor, noting that the meeting was attended by the director of the Split-Dalmatia County Teaching Institute for Public Health, Zeljka Karin, and the president of the Croatian Chamber of Trades and Crafts (HOK) for Split, Jozo Tomas.

The meeting was convened, the mayor explained, "to harmonize the work with the work of the inspection services to prevent those little anomalies and those rare greedy recidivists." The term “greedy recidivists” referred to the group of caterers who did not implement epidemiological measures.

Krstulovic Opara believes that the number of infected will "drop soon".

The N1 reporter was interested in whether the reaction came late, because, for example, out of Wednesday's 66 new cases in the county, as many as 18 are from Imotski, which seems to be a possible focus, as he stated.

"Time will tell if the reaction is timely," the mayor replied, adding:

"We're at 70 percent overnight stays compared to last year. The economy has finally started... It would be dreadful to jeopardize results like this now because of a few."

He believes that the national headquarters made the right decisions and quality instructions in a timely manner, but that, apart from the irresponsible caterers, the problem is overburdening inspectors. On limiting the work of bars, cafes and catering clubs, the Split Mayor said:

"If they (the caterers) would stick to the measures, as far as we are concerned, they could work all night. It can already be seen that there is a smaller number of those who violate the measures."

Opara concluded by saying in the autumn, he "would not say that it will be difficult, but that it would be demanding."

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July 11, 2020 — Split’s Mayor Andro Krstulović Opara was attacked last night.

Split Mayor Andro Krstulović Opar,53, was attacked Friday night at 8 p.m. by two young men who first insulted him and then hit him. The mayor reportedly did not seek medical help.

Authorities arrested a man and launched a criminal investigation into the incident, which took place on Solurat Street, the Split-Dalmatia Police Department reported.

Opara announced on his Facebook profile that there is no reason for concern and that if it was someone other than him, probably this incident would not be worth mentioning.

“Good people, thank you for caring,” he wrote. “ I'm fine and nothing terrible has happened. If anyone else had been in my place this wouldn't have been any news. It's not worth mentioning.”

At the same time, politicians from across the political spectrum in the city of Split condemned the incident, from the Social Democrats to the Smart party.

The Split SDP also spoke out against the attack on Opar.

"We unreservedly and strongly condemn the attack on the mayor of our city, Andro Krstulović Opar,” said Goran Kotur, president of the SDP in Split. “We believe that the agenda of the Split City Council session should include a discussion on the report of the Split-Dalmatia Police Administration on the security situation in the city of Split. At a thematic session on the security situation in Split, the council decided that this topic would be on the agenda in the second quarter of each year.”

The mayor of Split comments on his work thus far, his plans for the future and the highly anticipated Žnjan project.