ZAGREB, May 28 2021 - The incidents against Bulgarians in Zagreb over which Prime Minister Andrej Plenković has accused President Zoran Milanović of incitement consisted of verbal abuse against two Bulgarian nationals by a seller at a farmers' market and a taxi driver, Jutarnji List said on Friday.

Police are investigating the two cases, while a third one was solved by intervention of the Bulgarian Embassy, the daily said.

According to the first police report, the target was an elderly Bulgarian lady who said that after she entered a taxi, the driver rudely told her that she had closed the door too hard.

He asked her where she was from and when she told him, he told her, "You Bulgarians with your dirty politics towards Macedonia are coming here to live in our beautiful Croatia," the report says, adding that the driver stopped the car and asked the lady to pay and leave.

She did so and asked him to help her get her heavy bag from the trunk, the report says, adding that he threw the bag, causing the lady to fall to the ground.

In the second case, another Bulgarian woman reported that objects were thrown at her husband in a farmers' market after a discussion on the origin of the goods on sale, which led to a question about the man's origin.

The seller started insulting him, saying that "Bulgaria is blackmailing the unfortunate Macedonia," and threw an object at him, the report says.

In the third case, the son of a Bulgarian woman was allegedly banned from a Zagreb kindergarten, but, Jutarnji List said, the case was solved following suspicion of discrimination and an intervention by the Bulgarian Embassy.

Plenković said on Thursday that Milanović was responsible for a complaint the government and the Foreign Ministry received from the Bulgarian Embassy following assaults on three Bulgarian nationals in Croatia because, he said, of Milanović's recent statements about Bulgaria.

During the Brdo-Brijuni summit on the Western Balkans last week, Milanović criticised Bulgaria, without naming it, for demanding that North Macedonia change its history textbooks as a condition for its EU accession.

Bulgaria's Director General for European Affairs Rumen Alexandrov called Milanović's statement "unacceptable and unwarranted," however Milanović stood by his words.

For more, follow TCN's news section.

ZAGREB, 4 March, 2021 - Regional Development and EU Funds Minister Nataša Tramišak met with Petrinja Mayor Darinko Dumbović on Thursday to discuss an intervention plan for the reconstruction of the city after a devastating earthquake in December, after which a group of disgruntled people verbally attacked the mayor.

The intervention plan is aimed at the social and economic regeneration of small towns, it was said.

The minister said Petrinja had been implementing HRK 140 million worth of EU-funded projects until 2020 and that several more remained to be contracted.

She said the goal was to utilise the funds available until the end of 2023 in the Petrinja area and invest in infrastructure and ongoing projects.

Tramišak said €111 million had been ensured for building new state-owned flats in Petrinja, Sisak, Glina and other towns affected by the earthquake.

If standardised buildings and houses will be built, construction could begin soon, she added.

Mayor Dumbović said he was satisfied with the solutions proposed and that the Culture Ministry had promised that Petrinja would look as it did before the earthquake. 

Mayor verbally attacked by protesters

Several dozen protesters rallied outside the venue of the meeting, complaining about the lack of transparency in decisions concerning the right to reconstruction aid and about the distribution of humanitarian aid.

The demonstrators blocked the exit of the fire station where the meeting was taking place, preventing the mayor's car from leaving the venue and announcing new protests.

Dumbović told the RTL commercial television channel in the evening that the incident was politically motivated. Asked who was behind the demonstration, he named Luca Gašpar Šako, the local coordinator of the opposition Bridge party.

"They are not aware of the damage individuals are doing to Petrinja. Petrinja did not deserve this. It turns out that we are lawless cowboys wanting to achieve something by force," the mayor said.