ZAGREB, March 14, 2020 - The opposition Živi Zid party, prompted by the coronavirus epidemic, on Saturday urged the government to temporarily suspend Croatia's bid to join the euro zone in order to preserve the country's monetary independence.

"Economic activity has already fallen in all sectors, particularly in tourism, and this will affect the entire country which is highly dependent on tourism," the party's leader Ivan Vilibor Sinčić told reporters outside the government offices.

Sinčić said he expected the crisis to develop into a recession in the autumn.

He said that the measures proposed by Finance Minister Zdravko Marić concerning income and profit taxes and contributions would not be enough.

He called for a return to a sovereign monetary policy, suggesting that the central bank "print a certain amount of fresh money" and inject it into the economy. He also called for use of foreign currency reserves and of primary money issue.

Sinčić also stressed the importance of ensuring food sovereignty, proposing setting up a national authority for food supply to plan food supply and production by focusing on domestic producers and family farms.

Tihomir Lukanić said that such authority should comprise the leaders of all parliamentary parties to reach a national consensus on a food policy and the national economy because Croatia is highly exposed to food imports.

Damjan Vučelić warned that Croatia's entry into the ERM II mechanism would tie the hands of the government and the central bank in fighting the coronavirus crisis.

More Živi Zid news can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, June 13, 2019 – Živi Zid president Ivan Vilibor Sinčić on Thursday told those gloating that this opposition party was over that it was not and that it would come out even stronger, and he also presented the party's new MPs - Damjan Vučelić and Snježana Sabolek.

Speaking to the press, Sinčić commented on the recent departure of Ivan Pernar and Branimir Bunjac from the party, saying "the truth will be known in a very short time."

Sinčić said he was willing to forget the ugly words and insults against the party, its members and himself. "As someone who has been in politics eight years and is the party's president, I must guard Živi Zid's honour."

He said the party would continue to work because citizens wanted it to. He called on everyone wishing to join the party to do so, and presented Vučelić and Sabolek as the members who will replace him and his wife Vladimira Palfi Sinčić in parliament.

Recently Sinčić said that he would become one of the 12 Croatian MEPs, after his party won only one seat in the EP election on 26 May. A decision on who is entitled to fill that seat seemed to be the main bone of contention between him and the party's two MPs, Pernar and Bunjac, who left Živi Zid in the meantime.

More Živi Zid news can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, June 7, 2019 - Parliamentary deputy Branimir Bunjac on Friday said that he had left the opposition Živi Zid party and that he would leave the parliament in the coming eight days.

He explained at a news conference that eight days is the period during which Vladimira Palfi could reactivate her term as a Živi Zid representative in the parliament, recalling that he has so far served as a parliamentarian as Palfi's deputy.

Bunjac said that he would give back the term to the Živi Zid as it was one of the seats which the Živi Zid won in the last parliamentary elections.

Bunjac said that he and some other members of the party had left it when they realised that "one person is privatising the party, running it as her own business," and in this context he accused Palfi, who is Živi Zid leader Ivan Vilibor Sinčić's wife, of being a Croatian version of Elena Ceausescu.

Bunjac said that he was considering the possibility of joining another former party official, Ivan Pernar, in future political activities. He said that he would see together with Pernar how they could build a new political party.

On Thursday, Pernar confirmed that he and his colleague Bunjac would leave this opposition party because of the dictatorship of Palfi, who is also a vice-president of this party.

Pernar said that he was considering the establishment of a new political party as well as of returning to the non-parliamentary "Abeceda Demokracije" party whose member he used to be.

Pernar dismissed allegations that his and Bunjac's decisions were motivated by the lucrative term of a member of the European Parliament, insisting that they did not want to endure Palfi's tyranny and lies any more.

Živi Zid seems to have started falling apart after the European Parliament elections in which it won one seat. On Tuesday, Sinčić said that Bunjac had been suspended for not sticking to the party's strategy in the recent European elections and to the agreement than none of the party's MPs would go to the European Parliament.

More Živi Zid news can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, June 6, 2019 – Živi Zid parliamentary deputy Ivan Pernar on Thursday confirmed that he and his colleague Bramimir Bunjac would leave this Opposition party because of the dictatorship of party leader Ivan Sinčić's wife Vladimira Palfi, who is also a vice-president of this party.

Pernar said that he was considering the establishment of a new political party as well as of returning to the non-parliamentary "Abeceda Demokracije" party whose member he used to be.

Pernar dismissed allegations that his and Bunjac's decisions were motivated by the lucrative term of a member of the European Parliament, insisting that they did not want to endure Palfi's tyranny and lies.

He declined to confirm or dismiss allegations by former Živi Zid member Hrvoje Runtić, who two years ago left Živi Zid, citing suspicious donations to the party, and said that the real reason for Runtić's departure was Palfi's behaviour.

After Pernar and Bunjac earlier in the day demanded that Palfi step down or they would leave the party, Sinčić called for dialogue and said that ultimatums were not the way to solve the problems and that he planned to hold a series of intra-party meetings in the coming days.

Živi Zid seems to have started falling apart after the European Parliament elections in which it won a seat. On Tuesday, Sinčić said that MP Bunjac had been suspended for not sticking to the party's strategy in the recent European elections and to the agreement than none of the party's MPs would go to the European Parliament.

In the meantime, a video has appeared showing Živi Zid officials meeting in a flat, with Bunjac nearly getting into a fight with party member Dominik Vuletić. The bone of contention seemed to be who would fill the sole seat in the European Parliament the party has won.

Sinčić insisted that the idea had been to rotate five low-profile party members in the EP, but that since the deal was thwarted, they decided that he (Sinčić) would go to the EP and stay there until the next parliamentary election in Croatia.

Pernar criticised the release of the video as an attempt to besmirch Bunjac's reputation, while Sinčić accused Pernar and Bunjac of fame-seeking, and announced intra-party elections within the next three months.

Bunjac, who on Tuesday was suspended from the party, told reporters on Wednesday that over the past year, Živi Zid had become the property of one person, "and that person is Vladimira Palfi."

More Živi Zid news can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, June 5, 2019 - One of the three parliamentary deputies of Živi Zid, Ivan Pernar, said on Wednesday that he would leave this Opposition party if his colleague Branimir Bunjac was ousted.

Pernar's statement ensued after party leader Ivan Vilibor Sinčić on Tuesday said that MP Bunjac had been suspended for not sticking to the party's strategy in the recent European elections and to the agreement than none of the party's MPs would go to the European Parliament.

Pernar today appealed for a reasonable solution to the intra-party crisis, and underscored that he was against seeking solutions through media. "I think that that is counterproductive. I condemn those who organised yesterday's news conference in Zrinjevac Park to vilify Bunjac," Pernar told the press in the parliament.

Asked by reporters whether this would usher in the collapse of Živi Zid, Pernar said that it did not depend on him.

He went on to say that only one person could decide on it, alluding to Sinčić's wife, Vladimira Palfi, whom he previously accused of pulling all the strings in the party. Today, however, Pernar stopped short of naming her explicitly.

He reiterated that he would not leave the party as long as Bunjac was one of the party's parliamentary deputies.

As soon as Bunjac is removed from the parliament, I will leave the party, he said.

In the meantime, a video has appeared about Živi Zid officials meeting in a flat, with Bunjac nearly getting into a fight with party member Dominik Vuletić. The bone of contention seemed to be who would fill the sole seat in the European Parliament the party has won.

Sinčić said on Tuesday that the idea had been to rotate five low-profile party members in the European Parliament, but that since the deal was thwarted, they decided that Sinčić would go to the EP and stay there until the next parliamentary election in Croatia.

Sinčić said that Bunjac "sees himself in the European Parliament" and was against Sinčić's proposal that Tihomir Lukanić might be the MEP of Živi Zid.

Pernar today criticised the release of the video as an attempt to besmirch Bunjac's reputation.

More news about Živi Zid can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, June 5, 2019 – Živi Zid president Ivan Vilibor Sinčić said on Tuesday that MP Branimir Bunjac was suspended from the party for not sticking to its strategy prior to the recent European elections and an agreement than none of the party's MPs would go to the European Parliament.

"That was the deal, that's how the slate was compiled, that's how the campaign was done," Sinčić told reporters, adding that Bunjac "thwarted that deal" and that he "sees himself in the European Parliament."

Sinčić said the idea had been to rotate five low-profile party members, but that since the deal was thwarted, they decided that Sinčić would go to the EP until the next parliamentary election in Croatia.

He explained that due to preferential voting, he could not leave his seat in the EP to the Tihomir Lukanić, and that Bunjac did not want to leave his seat to Lukanić.

Lukanić was the lead candidate on the Živi Zid slate for the EP elections. Sinčić, although last, won the most preferential votes, followed by Bunjac. After the elections, in which the party won one seat in the EP, Sinčić said Lukanić was his choice for going to Brussels.

"I didn't expect Branimir Bunjac to act like this and once again call on him to act honourably, to respect the pre-election agreement and enable me to leave my seat to Lukanic," said Sinčić.

He said he did not wish to go to the EP, that everyone expected the seat to go to Lukanić and that he would do his best to make it happen, but that Bunjac was "the only obstacle."

Sinčić said the heads of the party's county branches unanimously decided that Bunjac must honour the agreement and leave the seat to Lukanić.

Bunjac's fate, ranging from a warning to ousting, will be decided by the party's disciplinary commission. His suspension is effective June 5. "There's no split in the party. This is simply about a man who is acting dishonourably against the whole party," said Sinčić.

Lukanić, who recently resigned as the party's secretary-general, will now be its political secretary.

More news about Živi Zid can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, May 13, 2019 - The civil initiative "Take money from political parties" is starting to gather signatures as of midnight on Saturday for a referendum to end the financing of political parties from the state budget, its activists announced at a press conference in Zagreb's main square.

The initiative calls for amending the Constitution to ban the financing of political parties from the central, regional and local government budgets. It will be gathering signatures until May 26.

Signatures will be gathered at more than 500 locations across the country by over 4,000 activists, half of whom are members of the opposition Živi Zid party.

" Živi Zid is the only party to have joined this initiative so far," one of the organisers, Denis Martinić, said, calling on other parties to join them and "bring about true changes in society."

Also attending the press conference were Živi Zid's Ivan Vilibor Sinčić and Tihomir Lukanić.

"With this referendum we are doing away with the corrupt HDZ and SDP parties. We are ending a sad and dark period in Croatian modern history and starting to build a new system without parasitic parties, a system based on empathy rather than on corruption and materialism," said Lukanić, Živi Zid's secretary general and lead candidate for the European Parliament, calling on citizens to sign their petition.

"The money that the political parties receive from the state budget is taxpayers' money, the money of all Croatian citizens," Lukanić said. He called on citizens to consider whether they wanted their money to end up in the pockets of political parties that did not represent their interests.

Sinčić, the party's leader and candidate for the European Parliament, called for radical changes to the political and electoral system.

"Now is the time to say a clear 'no' to the parties around the HDZ and the SDP. You have no results to show for yourselves, so you must go," Sinčić said, stressing that the political system had to be more efficient, cheaper and more transparent.

More referendum news can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, May 7, 2019 - The Ethics Commission on Tuesday issued a warning to the Živi Zid party and ordered it to remove without delay numerous 'hate' comments below two articles about migrants that incite hate and violence, and called on the party's members to publicly apologise for violating the election ethics code.

The commission determined that Živi Zid had violated the election ethics code because of the negative comments on the party's official Facebook profile below links to articles published by two web portals about migrants and that the party did not delete 'hate' comments or those inciting to violence.

The commission was referring to comments made following an article by the Teleskop.hr web portal about houses being broken into and crosses and property being destroyed by migrants. The RTL private TV station also ran a story about a married couple whose house was broken into by migrants while they were sleeping.

The Gong NGO that monitors election procedures submitted a complaint to the ethics commission about the contentious comments on the Živi Zid’s FB profile regarding the two stories.

The commission determined that by posting links to the two stories about migrants the Živi Zid knew that this would lead to negative comments which contained hate speech and, as such, acted irresponsibly and in contradiction of election ethical standards.

The commission added that it regrets that public space in Croatia is burdened with a low level of culture in communication and with rampant hate speech, particularly in Facebook comments on media reports. However, in the context of the election process, special responsibility lies on those participating in the election to promote a culture of dialogue and to prevent any form of hate speech and incitement to hate and violence, the Ethics Commission said.

More news about Živi Zid can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, May 4, 2019 - Leaders of the opposition Živi Zid party visited Karlovac on Friday as part of their campaign trail for the European Parliament elections, accusing the government of being unable to deal with the migrant crisis and calling for the deployment of troops along Croatia's borders.

"The Croatian authorities are unable to cope with the migrant crisis. With warmer weather coming soon, migrations will increase, and Croatia could become a hotspot and temporary shelter for illegal migrants," said the top candidate on the party's election slate, Tihomir Lukanić.

Lukanić proposed that army troops assist the police along the border and that the issue of increasing migrations be dealt with at their source, in Asia and Africa. He added that Živi Zid would enter the EP in cooperation with kindred parties and platforms, citing Italy's Five Star Movement.

"In the EP we are going to fight institutionally for halting the migrant tide in the countries from which migrants are coming," Lukanić said.

The party leader Ivan Vilibor Sinčić said that "Croatia is not controlling its territory as its borders are highly porous."

The Croatian army is "at the Russian border and in Afghanistan instead of at the Croatian border while the Austrian army is at the Austrian border, the Hungarian army is at the Hungarian border, the Slovenian army is at the Slovenian border and the Bosnia and Herzegovina army is at the border of Bosnia and Herzegovina," said Sinčić.

"There are not enough personnel and equipment at our border, we should take this problem seriously rather than ignore it. We should deploy the army," he added.

Sinčić went on to say that the population on the African continent currently stands at 1.2 billion and that United Nations estimates indicate that it would rise to 2.5 billion until 2050.

It is evident that the only solution is to create conditions for a normal life there and not allow migrations, he said.

More news about the migrant crisis can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, April 12, 2019 - The Živi Zid parliamentary party on Friday called on the Chief State Prosecutor's Office (DORH) to investigate the alleged unlawful siphoning of farm subsidies based on suspect registration in the ARKOD register for the identification of farmland and accused the Belje Plus company, a subsidiary of the former Agrokor Group, of taking over the lease of land formerly used by the now defunct Belje company without any legal grounds.

The Živi Zid told a press conference that after the Agrokor conglomerate ceased to exist, about 33,000 hectares of farmland was transferred to the Fortenova Group which has taken over Agrokor's business operations even though annexes to original lease contracts for that farmland have not been signed with most municipalities and towns where the land is located.

Party leader Ivan Vilibor Sinčić said that the Belje Plus company took over the lease of the land that previously belonged to the Belje company even though it did not meet the necessary criteria. According to regulations, he underscored, it is necessary to present evidence of ownership, which requires annexes to the original contracts which do not exist because the mayors of the municipalities and towns where that land is located have not signed any annexes. It is also necessary to obtain cadastral certificates from documents of title, which also do not exist, he said.

The party's secretary-general, Tihomir Lukanić, said that according to some estimates, Agrokor took about 150 million kuna in farm subsidies a year. "While the government's hawks are claiming that the majority of mayors have agreed to and signed the annexes in question, we are getting information from the field that that isn't true. We conducted a survey and six mayors did not respond, Vinkovci town authorities said that the procedure was underway while 22 towns and municipalities said that they had not signed any annexes," Lukanić said.

He wondered what the parliamentary Conflict of Interest Commission has been doing for months as it has not responded to the Živi Zid's report against Prime Minister Andrej Plenković in connection with the Agrokor affair.

More news about Agrokor can be found in the Business section.