ZAGREB, 5 March 2022 - Women and men are still not equal in the EU, although considerable progress has been made in the last decade, it was said in Split on Saturday at a round table on women in business and politics organised by Croatian MEP Željana Zovko.

She said exceptional attention was being paid in the European Parliament to valuing women's work in the workplace and in the household.

Young women and girls should be made aware to raise their voices and take a more decisive role because their participation in this insecure world is more than essential, she added.

There is a war in Ukraine, insecurity on EU borders and women are expected to participate, not just to treat wounds and provide comfort, but to sit at the table when important and difficult decisions are being made, Zovko said.

"The world of today is chaotic, we don't have resolute people and we lost a lot with the departure of Angela Merkel who, in a way, provided stability in the European Union," she said, adding that she is proud that the presidents of the European Parliament and the European Commission are women, Roberta Metsola and Ursula von der Leyen, respectively.

Women earn 16% less than men

Women in the EU earn 16% less than men on average and, according to the Croatian Employment Service, they make up 56% of the jobless, said Danica Baričević, president of the Split-Dalmatia County Gender Equality Commission, which co-organised the conference.

She added that some Croatian political parties did not comply with legal requirements on women's representation in politics and election slates.

Under the Gender Equality Act, women must make up 40% of the candidates on the slates.

Only 25% of the members of the Croatian parliament are women and only two Croatian counties are headed by women, Požega-Slavonia County (Antonija Jozić) and Karlovac County (Martina Furdek Hajdin).

In February 2021, MEPs warned that gender equality had not been achieved in even one EU member state.

The participants in the round table extended support to the women of Ukraine and their families who left their homes as well as to those who stayed to defend their country. They extended their support also at a protest against the aggression on Ukraine held in Split.

ZAGREB, 29 May 2021 - The new European Bauhaus, an initiative about climate adaptation of the built environment, is an opportunity for Croatia to raise the architectural and living standards, notably in the quake-hit areas, Croatian MEP Željana Zovko told Hina on Saturday.

The idea about a new European Bauhaus was presented by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her State of the Union speech last year. In her address to the European Parliament on that occasion, she outlined her plan to create a "new European Bauhaus" to kickstart a cultural and sustainable movement in the European Union.

The New European Bauhaus, named after the influential German design school founded by Walter Gropius in 1919, will be part of the €750 billion NextGenerationEU investment and recovery plan put in place following the coronavirus pandemic. 

Zovko, a member of the European Parliament from the ranks of the European People's Party (EPP), says that the initiative "is still in its infancy", however, the purpose is to encourage citizens, experts and professionals to develop their communities in accordance with the principles of energy sustainability and taking spatial planning approach.

The European Union is set to provide financial support to innovative ideas in that regard, with the aim of ensuring the green and digital transformation of aesthetically pleasing structures, according to this Croatian MEP.

Green construction will be the basis of a new vision of cities and rural areas in the European Union, she said.

"The new European vision will satisfy climate neutrality, and at the same make cities and villages tailored to man" she added.

The European Commission has recently published "Renovation Wave", explaining that a refurbished and improved building stock in the EU will help pave the way for a decarbonised and clean energy system, as the building sector is one of the largest energy consumers in Europe and is responsible for more than one third of the EU's emissions.

The EC calls for effective action to make Europe climate-neutral by 2050.

Until 2030, 35 million buildings are supposed to undergo energy efficient renovation.

Thus, the EC aims to double annual energy renovation rates in the next ten years. "These renovations will enhance the quality of life for people living in and using the buildings, reduce Europe’s greenhouse gas emissions, and create up to 160,000 additional green jobs in the construction sector," the EC says on its web site.

New Bauhaus seen as opportunity for post-quake reconstruction of central Croatia

Earlier this year, Zovko sent a request to the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, for expanding the New European Bauhaus initiative to include the safety of construction and architecture, having in mind two devastating earthquakes that hit Croatia in 2020.

Zovko is confident that funds envisaged under the New European Bauhaus scheme could be made available for reconstruction of the quake-affected areas.

ZAGREB, Aug 25, 2020 - Croatian Journalists Association (HND) president Hrvoje Zovko said on Tuesday that the Rijeka County Court had rejected an appeal by the HRT public broadcaster, confirming that the HRT's having fired him in September 2018 was an unlawful decision and that he had to be reinstated. 

Zovko must be reinstated as editor-coordinator within eight days and the HRT must compensate him for the income lost, plus interest.

Zovko thanked the HND, the Croatian Journalists Union, international journalists' associations, and numerous colleagues for support.

He was fired in September 2018 after the HRT management made a decision on an instant dismissal of its reporter and HND president.

The dismissal was initiated based on a complaint by the editor-in-chief of Croatian Television's (HTV) news service, Katarina Perisa Cakarun.

Some ten days before that, Zovko tendered his resignation as the editor-in-chief of the HTV Channel 4, saying in a letter that his decision was due to pressure, censorship, an unprofessional choice of topics, lack of organisation and serious technical problems on Channel 4.

This was followed by a meeting with Perisa Cakarun, at which she accepted his resignation. However, only two hours later, Zovko was invited to a second meeting at which an argument erupted between him and Perisa Cakarun.

HRT said Zovko had been dismissed due to a grave breach of rules of office and conduct, a number of insults he said, inappropriate conduct and inappropriate and unprofessional statements, adding that the incident happened during working hours in HRT offices.

The HRT Staff Council voted against Zovko's dismissal but its opinion was not binding on the HRT management.

With its ruling, the Rijeka County Court has upheld a 2019 ruling which said that Zovko had been fired unlawfully.

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