ZAGREB, 5 March, 2021 - Economic losses in the EU due to climate change extremes amount to €12 billion annually and energy efficiency can help adjust to climate change and create jobs, not lose them, President Zoran Milanović said on Friday after meeting with representatives of Croatia's regional energy agencies.

The meeting was held at the Bračak Energy Centre in Zabok on the occasion of World Energy Efficiency Day, observed on 5 March to raise awareness of the need to reduce energy consumption and sustainable energy use, the president's office said in a press release.

In the past 13 years, together with counties, towns and municipalities, Croatia's regional energy agencies have been implementing sustainable energy use projects. Investment in clean energy exceeds HRK 1 billion.

They successfully participate in many EU projects for the energy-efficient renovation of public infrastructure, developing new business models and financial instruments, which makes them Croatia's energy transition pioneers, it was said at the meeting.

President Milanović said there was no successful adjustment to climate change without energy efficiency and that the climate crisis was potentially the biggest global crisis of the future.

"The experience in achieving renewable and efficient energy and climate protection in Croatia, which regional energy agencies already have, is a good example to all in Croatia at local as well as national level that we can and must do even better when it comes to energy efficiency. Our children must go to better schools, the buildings we live in should be both safe and energy-efficient, our cities deserve to become smart in terms of energy," he said after the meeting.

"The economic losses in the EU due to weather and climate extremes already amount to €12 billion annually. Energy efficiency is what can help us to adjust to climate change, not to lose jobs but create them, raising the standard of living of us all," he added.

Croatia has five regional energy agencies which employ 70 experts while the EU has 350, some of which have been active more than 40 years.

There are four million green jobs in the EU today, including 1.4 million in the production of energy from renewables and over 900,000 in energy efficiency activities, said Julije Domac, the president's energy and climate advisor.

"That's what we should focus on. Croatia has the know-how, as evidenced by the fact that Croatian energy agencies regularly coordinate European development projects, provide services to the European Commission and are active across the European Union. Today it's important that each of us know that energy efficiency means better for them, for Croatia, and then for Earth," he added.

ZAGREB, 4 March, 2021 - President Zoran Milanović on Thursday received representatives of the Adriatic Aerospace Association, a non-governmental, non-profit and independent organisation aimed at promoting research and development in the aerospace sector.

The President's Office said in a press release that the representatives of the Association, whose aim is to also act as a point of contact for projects and to promote education, counselling and international cooperation, acquainted the President with their activities.

They said there were professionals in companies and institutions in the science and education sector willing to participate in the Croatian aerospace programme by designing and implementing projects in the country and abroad.

They also spoke about the development of the first Croatian 2U CubeSat satellite, called Perun 1, and the costs of its launch, which is planned for June 2023.

The Association's representatives noted that the launch of the satellite was their short-term objective, while their long-term goal was education and opening of a university programme. They said they wanted to teach students and young people about all aspects of the organisation and implementation of such a project.

ZAGREB, 3 March 2021 - President Zoran Milanović on Tuesday took part in the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Labin Republic, held on the occasion of the historic event of 2 March 1921, when the miners of Labin rebelled against the Italian administration in Istria.

On Tuesday evening, Milanović participated in a ceremony at which the permanent lighting of the steel mining tower "Šoht" at "Pijacal", a protected complex of industrial cultural heritage, was put into operation.

The Labin Republic was a short-lived self-governing republic of Istrian Croats, formed during the mining uprising in the area of Labin in Croatia, from 2 March to 8 April 1921. The miners of Labin rebelled against the Italian administration and went on a 37-day strike and organised self-government over the mine.

The event, which historians describe as the first organised uprising against emerging fascism in Europe, was violently quelled on 8 April 1921, and at the place where it all began, Krvova Placa at Vinež, wreaths were laid by President Zoran Milanović, Labin Mayor Valter Glavičić, the Honour Guard Battalion of the Croatian Armed Forces and other delegations.

At the formal session of the Labin City Council, which was the central part of the programme, it was said that the Labin Republic was actually the first organised anti-fascist uprising which every inhabitant of Istria is proud of.

"Today, when everything is more connected than ever, to recall that in 1921 here on the east coast of the Istrian peninsula, our miners created anti-fascism as an universal value, that is a great reason to be proud," said Labin Mayor Glavičić.

President Milanović said, speaking about the hard labour of miners, that it was good that people today no longer had to do such a hard, arduous and unhealthy job in which they could get sick or get killed.

"Our people of Labin stood up and started fighting for their rights and a life worthy of man," said Pula Mayor Boris Miletić.

He underscored that everyone in Istria was obliged to "defend the progreessive values of the modern world".

The City of Labin and municipalities in the area of Labinština will hold a series of events until 8 April to commemorate one of the most important historic events that took place on the Istrian peninsula in the 20th century -- the uprising of Labin miners and the first organised act of anti-fascist resistance in the world, which, it was said, paved the way for Istria and Europe towards anti-fascism as the foundation of the European Union and the European civilisation.

ZAGREB, 25 February, 2021 - President Zoran Milanović on Thursday met with a delegation of the Student Association of Mechanical Engineering Faculties (HSA-SF), who presented their FSB Racing Team, which has been constructing racing cars for 17 years and competing at intentional competitions.

The FSB Racing Team project is one of the biggest student projects in Croatia. It has 117 members from various faculties of Zagreb University and so far it has built nine racing cars and has successfully competed at international Formula Student races, the association's leader and project head, Mislav Bošnjak, explained.

The students said that they had built the first electric racing car in Croatia and in the region, and were now transforming it into an autonomous vehicle so they can be the first Formula Student team in Croatia to build a self-driving racing car.

The students said that their mission was systematic transfer of the know-how which they consider to be the most valuable part of their project.

The project is mostly financed with donations and sponsorships while the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture has supported the team from the very start. Their sponsors also include the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing as well as more than 80 companies from Croatia and abroad which have recognised the potential of the project.

President Milanović expressed his full support for the project, telling the delegation that what they were doing was important and that they should always compare themselves and compete with the best.

ZAGREB, 19 February, 2021 - President Zoran Milanović has announced that he will not support any of the three candidates running for President of the Supreme Court and that he will reveal the name of his candidate shortly.

"I will not accept any of those persons. It's nothing personal. This is a serious deviation in constitutional practice and custom," Milanović said in an exclusive interview with the commercial television channel Nova TV on Thursday evening marking his first year in office.

"I have been thinking about this for a while, talking about it and trying to keep it discreet. I want to come out in public with my proposal in good time, proposing a person who meets my criteria and who is acceptable to both the ruling majority and the opposition," the president said.

He said that he would discuss the matter with the prime minister and the leader of the opposition Social Democratic Party, "and possibly with someone else so that I do not go with a candidate who is a thorn in someone's side, but that we try and find a compromise."

Asked when the public would learn the name of his candidate, Milanović said that it would be "in due course". He said he did not want it to be like four years ago "when the current Supreme Court president was chosen at the last minute because the president (Kolinda Grabar Kitarović) had her own candidate who was unacceptable to (Prime Minister) Plenković." He added that he wants the person he opts for to be present in the public for a while and that it would be good if that person was not a Supreme Court judge.

Speaking of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19, Milanović said that Croatia should look after its own interests and that the government' should buy this vaccine because it was its "fundamental duty and loyalty to its people".  

Commenting on the appointment of Metropolitan Porfirije of Zagreb and Ljubljana as the new patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), Milanović described Porfirije as a high dignitary of the SPC "who is above the standard of those before him." 

"He will come under great pressure because the SPC is part of the Serbian state, while the Catholic Church in Croatia is not part of the Croatian state," Milanović said, adding that the SPC wielded great influence on politics, particularly in Montenegro. "It now has great influence in Montenegro, and not good influence at that. We will see. There are a lot of challenges."

 Milanović said he could not see how the new SPC leader could serve as a bridge to his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vučić. "We are secular statesmen. I am the president of a democratic European country, while Vučić is the president of a country with a different political system and a different approach to democracy," he added.

On the subject of local elections in May, Milanović said he would not vote because he wanted to be consistent. "I should be consistent here. I did not vote (in the parliamentary election) because I strongly believe that in the present scheme of things the President of the Republic should not vote and provoke questions as to who he voted for. The President should be exempt from that. You will not see me in the polling station."

Asked about his presidency, Milanović said that being President "is not a job, but a calling, it's a lifestyle." Asked what he will be remembered for, he said: "You will remember the year, not me, for bad things." He added that "there were certainly some good things and some less good things, and some things were possibly too impulsive."

Milanović said that his style was unique and that his voters were aware of it. "People knew very well who they were voting for and I do not think they were surprised at all. What you see is what you get."

As for his relationship with Prime Minister Plenković, Milanović said that it was such that "in all sensitive and difficult matters" he was sympathetic and supportive. "I did not analyse too much, I did not criticise, nor did I follow every move made by the government and comment on each of its tactical measures because that would be unfair."

He said that he was against the state of emergency in the country imposed by "a group of unknown and unelected people who have been formally deciding about our fundamental human rights and freedoms for a year now."

Asked about his Facebook comments on women victims of sexual violence, which were seen by some as downplaying their plight, Milanović said that he was elected by Croatian citizens, both men and women, and that he treated women "gender neutrally, as conscious autonomous beings fighting for their rights."

ZAGREB, 4 February, 2021 - President Zoran Milanović said on Thursday it made no sense any more for the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) to be funded by everyone in business who did not know what they were getting in return, adding that the mandatory monthly membership fee should be abolished.

"The mandatory fee is a parafiscal levy par excellence," he told the press.

Milanović said the HGK was "a political den," much more so than the Croatian Chamber of Trades and Crafts which "has a certain function, although politics managed to become implanted there as well, and deeply. But it has its point, its function and use for Croatia's economy and enterprise."

He said the HGK was not an essential institution of the Croatian people and state, but a useful institution which had become useless. "Political showdowns are taking place there on a weekly basis. The election of a new HGK president after Nadan Vidošević left has turned into a political showdown."

Milanović said that he too had paid a monthly HGK fee but received nothing in return. However, he stressed, he is not for abolishing the HGK.

He agreed with the demand by the Voice of Entrepreneurs NGO for abolishing the mandatory HGK membership. He said that when he was prime minister, his cabinet failed to do so because of serious and deep problems. "That should be done right away."

Asked about yesterday's protest in Zagreb, organised by the Voice of Entrepreneurs to show dissatisfaction with how the COVID-19 crisis is being dealt with, the president said the epidemiological measures were not equal for all.

However, he added, he does not see in that "any devious scheme or conspiracy" by the national COVID response team, only inconsistent messages. "I see no evil intent in that, but it should be elaborated further".

Protests were expected

Milanović said that the protests were expected because when people give up something they demand consistency. He recalled that he had been warning from the start that restrictions must be clearly based in law and logic.

"Legally, the measures should have been passed by a two-thirds majority in parliament because this is a state of emergency," he said, adding that some people were fed up with the state of emergency and the government should talk to them.

Asked about the appointment of former deputy prime minister Martina Dalić as the president of the management board of the Podravka food company, he said that pension funds had a lot of shares in this company with an annual revenue of HRK 4.5 billion. If Podravka had not been restructured and recapitalised in July 2015, the government would now hold less than 25% and would not have such influence on the appointment of the board president.

"This is obviously a political appointment, but it does not necessarily mean that it will be a bad one. We'll see," Milanović said. He recalled that between 2012 and February 2017, when the company was led by the Social Democratic Party's Zvonimir Mršić, Podravka had doubled its stock-exchange capitalisation and increased its revenue during deflation by a quarter. He warned that in the last four years Podravka's revenue had increased by the difference in prices.

"It's a company with millions and millions in savings and our future pensioners also have expectations from it. There is also the responsibility of pension funds and pension insurance fund management companies which apparently agreed to the political demand of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. If the company grows, and it has been stagnating for years, fine, but if it does not, the question of political appointment will be raised because Martina Dalić was never in this business," the president said.

As regards the planned purchase of multi-purpose fighter jets, Milanović said he understood that a decision was delayed because of the present situation, but stressed that a decision must be made in the months ahead.

Commenting on the decision by some of the banks to withdraw from arbitration proceedings relating to the conversion of Swiss franc-denominated loans into euro loans, Milanović said he was pleased with his contribution because when he had served as prime minister his government passed the conversion law.

Asked about the shortage of coronavirus vaccine, the president expressed regret, saying that it was a problem of procurement and agreement with pharmaceutical companies.

ZAGREB, 25 January, 2021 - President Zoran Milanović on Monday received representatives of the Končar Electrical Industry Group, on the occasion of the company's 100th anniversary, the President's Office said in a press release.

The President of Končar's Management Board, Gordan Kolak, presented the members of the new management board to President Milanović, as well as the current business operations and the existing business activities and development plans of the group, which consists of 14 companies.

Representatives of Končar said that the company's focus in the future would be on electrical energy and on increasing exports, which already make up nearly 60% of total revenues.

As one of Croatia's largest exporters, Končar is planning to export mostly to Germany, Sweden, Austria, Latvia, Hungary, North Macedonia and the UAE.

At today's meeting, it was said that professional and educated employees were important for Končar's development and successful competition.

The company currently has 3,500 employees.

As the biggest business successes in 2020, the company's representatives mentioned the production of transformers for substations for a buyer from the USA, the production of low-floor trams for a buyer from Latvia, the construction of the biggest solar power plant in Croatia on the island of Vis, and the continued production of electric trains for the HŽ Passenger Transport company, the press release said.

ZAGREB, 22 January, 2021 - President Zoran Milanović on Friday cancelled his attendance at an event commemorating the 28th anniversary of the combined military and police operation "Maslenica 93" in Zadar after he learned that two persons wearing clothes with Ustasha symbols were participating in the event.

Nikola Jelić, spokesman for the Office of the President told Hina that President Milanović arrived in Zadar for the ceremony marking the 28th anniversary of Operation Maslenica 93 and that "after it was noticed that among the participants in the event there were people wearing Ustasha insignia and the Ustasha salute, the President phoned Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and warned him that that was unacceptable."

"Since after that it was established that persons wearing clothes with Ustasha symbols, including the Ustasha salute, would take part in the official part of the event, the President cancelled his attendance," Jelić said.

Acting on orders from President Milanović, who is the Armed Forces' Supreme Commander, the Armed Forces Chief-of-Staff, Admiral Robert Hranj, and all other military commanders left the event after the first part of the ceremony, Jelić added.

Last year Milanović left a ceremony marking the anniversary of the 1995 military and police operation "Flash" in Okučani, the reason again being persons who participated in the official part of the event and who wore T-shirts with the sign "For the homeland ready", the Ustasha salute used in Nazi-allied Independent State of Croatia (NDH).

ZAGREB, 15 January, 2021 - President Zoran Milanović issued a message on Friday marking the Day of International Recognition and the Day of the Peaceful Reintegration of the Danube Region. 

"Today we commemorate the 29th anniversary of the international recognition of the Republic of Croatia. On this day we remember an important moment in recent Croatian history when the world accepted and recognised the autonomy and independence of the Croatian state," Milanović said.

After a vast majority of Croatian citizens voted in favour of independence and the Croatian Parliament, based on the will of the people, adopted a resolution on independence and severed all constitutional ties with the other republics and provinces of the Yugoslav federation, the international community received all democratic arguments to recognise the irrevocable independence of Croatia, he recalled.

The strongest arguments were made by Croatian defenders who demonstrated their desire to live in a free and independent state through their selfless readiness to sacrifice themselves in the 1991-1995 Homeland War. "Their sacrifice and death are the greatest contribution to the freedom and international recognition of the Republic of Croatia and we are forever grateful to them for that."

Milanović said that 15 January should also be a reminder of "our ability to survive in the most difficult of times and our obligation to build the Croatian state as a democratic and successful country that will make future generations proud."

"The peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danube region, which followed in 1998 and which we also remember on this Remembrance Day, is an example of success in peace building and democratic development of the Republic of Croatia in the years after the international recognition," the President said in his message.

ZAGREB,3 January, 2021 - President Zoran Milanovic said on Sunday that the government should declare a state of catastrophic emergency due to the 29 December devastating earthquake that hit Petrinja and other areas of Sisak-Moslavina County.

"I do not know why a state of catastrophic emergency has not yet been declared. Those are important matters legally," Milanovic said in an interview with the N1 commercial broadcaster on Sunday.

Milanovic explained that the declaration of a state of catastrophic emergency was necessary so as to define the command chain and to know who would disburse the money needed for addressing the aftermath of the earthquake.

The president, who is the supreme commander, praised the engagement o the army in Petrinja and other quake-hit areas.

Milanovic believes that the National Civil Protection Authority could manage the quake aftermath, provided that it was given enough money and responsibilities.

Comparing the situation on Petrinja, hit by the 6.2-magnitude earthquake and in Zagreb after the 22 March earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale, Milanovic said that Petrinja was razed to the ground while Zagreb would always have the financial strength for the reconstruction.

He, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs in the capital city, claiming that Zagreb was in a negligent state and he pointed out examples of unkempt city properties.

As for the coronavirus infection, Milanovic again called for inoculation of the population.

He added that since the start of his presidential mandate, he had been fair in the relationship with the government.

On Sunday afternoon the parliamentary party Centar also called on the government to declare  a state of catastrophic emergency and criticised the Plenkovic cabinet for how it was dealing with the aftermath of the quake in Sisak-Moslavina County.