Reforms: What can Croatian Workers and Pensioners Hope for in 2020?
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 30th of December, 2019, next year will show the results of the Croatian Government's reform package. Tax and pension reforms are part of a series of legal changes that should improve citizens' lives on the whole, for both Croatian workers and Croats drawing their pensions.
However, Croatian retirees will not receive a higher pension next year either. For Željko, for example, the pension adjustment towards the end of the summer brought him only a small increase.
"It raised it by some 50 or 60 kuna. They raise the pensions a little, and then the rest goes up,'' Željko told Dnevnik.hr.
An increase in the pension for 10,000 pensioners meant a loss in actuality, because they were left without free supplementary health insurance due to the income census. However, there was a solution to this problem.
"In the first month of 2020, the law will increase this threshold to 2,000 kuna and adjustments will occur to that threshold," stated Višnja Fortuna of the National Council of Retired and Older Persons.
Tax benefits await Croatian workers, too, as long as they are under the age of 30. In order to secure higher wages for young people, the government has prepared a type of tax relief in the form of an income tax deduction. This tax is 100 percent lower for those under 25 and 50 percent lower for young people between the ages of 26 and 30.
For 23-year-old hairstylist Ingrid, this is good news: "I'm glad the taxes are being reduced, I'm only sorry that this happens once a year and at the end of 2020. It would be good to do it every month," she said.
She also added that she hoped for better conditions: "Higher wages, an increase in the minimum wage, because we're actually more or less working for minimum wage."
Minimum wage will grow by around 250 kuna a month from the New Year going forward. Tax expert Anja Božina explains that the real question should be whether or not young people who earn lower wages will be covered by the tax burden.
"Let's say that the effect might be felt by young Croatian workers who have about 6000 kuna in gross wages. It will be very small, some 200-300 kuna a month," Božina said.
Employed Croatian workers who are over the age of 30 and who work an average Croatian salary can hope for an increase of 50 kuna per month. Igor Mamek, who has 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry under his belt, naturally expects a raise.
"Given that VAT will be 13 percent in 2020, my employer has announced that there will be an increase in pay," Memek said.
Those in the Croatian hospitality sector see the lowering of VAT as a kind of last-minute salvation.
"Everyone who works with food will definitely have a much easier way of doing business and much easier conditions in order to compete with other Mediterranean countries. They'll have room to raise their wages for their workers, they will be able to stop the quality workforce from going abroad,'' said Marin Medak, president of National caterers' associations, writes Dnevnik.hr.
Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle and politics pages for much more.
Russian-Croatian Pianist Andrej Gunjin Has "Explosive" Experience on Slovenian Border
On Friday, the 27th of December this year a real drama took place on Bregana border crossing between Croatia and Slovenia: it was closed for a couple of hours after a routine check indicated that a Russian national had a bomb in his suitcase!
The Croatian and Slovenian media reported on that, as it is a busy day for that border crossing and it's not a usual occurrence. A few hours later the reports came in that the border crossing was opened again, that no bomb has been found and nobody was apprehended. Today, Branimir Pofuk brings the rest of the story for Večernji list.
The story started innocuously enough: a pair of young people, going to Ljubljana to catch a flight to Amsterdam, to spend the New Year's celebrations with their friends. In 15 minutes after leaving Zagreb bus station (which is how far Bregana is from Zagreb), the young man was in handcuffs, brought down to the floor by the Slovenian police. They've detected something in his bags, and they wouldn't really listen to his explanations.
The young man was Andrej Gunjin, an extraordinary Russian pianist, often dubbed "a virtuoso", living and working in Zagreb for a while now. The questionable item, which triggered a silent alarm which alerted the Slovenian police, resembling an explosive device: a Bluetooth pedal for Gunjin's iPad, a device he uses for his work to turn music score pages (an Airturn 105; as he helpfully explains in a Facebook post, which was later posted on a classical music website Slipped Disc).
As the silent alarm went off, the border crossing was closed, the other passengers escorted away, and he was apprehended. So was his girlfriend, but it should come as no surprise to you if you've ever seen a police procedural: they were taken to separate rooms and not allowed to talk to each other. As soon as he realized what the problem was, Andrej Gunjin tried to explain to the officers what the problem was. They were, in his words, fair and firm the entire time they had him under their observation, but they've already sent for the experts from Ljubljana to check the explosive device they suspected was in the bus.
There was, of course, no bomb whatsoever, just a Bluetooth device designed to help a professional musician (to be fair, probably not an item the police officer on the border crossing sees often), so Gunjin and his girlfriend were even able to catch their flight from Ljubljana to Amsterdam, and are spending the holidays there. Gunjin told the Večernji list he holds nothing against the Slovenian police, as they were swift, efficient and kind to his hands and fingers, and even offered him a coffee when things were cleared up, hoping to explain to him what triggered the alarm. The only thing hurt were Gunjin's new shoes, which were damaged as the police were initially dragging him away from the bus, to the safe distance.
For more Lifestyle news, check out our Lifestyle category.
Večernji list recently did a big interview with Andrej Gunjin, presenting him to the Croatian public. He's a very young pianist, born in 1987 in Moscow, who decided to call Zagreb his home soon after he won an international competition "Svetislav Staničić" in Zagreb in 2011. He feels at home here, feeling better in Zagreb than he does in his home-town, Moscow. He complained a bit that none of his major international and national music successes have ever brought him this much attention as this unfortunate event at the Croatia - Slovenia border.
Milanović: Enough Trading in Hate, Let's Fight for Civilised Peace
ZAGREB, December 30, 2019 - Presidential candidate Zoran Milanović said on Sunday wars were over and that there should be no more trading in hate at the expense of those who had given the most yet received the least, and called for fighting for "civilised peace."
Speaking at an election rally, he also called "for tolerance and normal relations between people, for what we lost in the privatisation plunder... for what made up the backbone, the core of this society - work, creation, the harder path."
"We can't be a state which lives off rent, natural resources" and membership in the ruling HDZ party, he said.
"There is no true Croatia," he added. Croatia is "a republic of all its citizens, equal citizens, a republic of peace, happiness, prosperity, a republic in which there is respect for those who are different... an open society, a good society."
A republic in which prosperity is not measured only by money, in which people want to live and then there will be many more children, he said. That is not achieved by those who resort to force, violence and threat, but those willing to talk and approach people regardless of faith, he added.
"That's the modern and open society I have been fighting for... for 13 years now... I want to lead a political organisation which will advocate and create an open society for open and free people."
Milanović said that in recent years the office of the president of the republic had been neglected. "I'm bringing something different. I'll be the president of all citizens, I'll bring together the best. We will win... because we are better, because we are more humane, more patient and moderate in the things we offer and promise."
He reiterated that important for demography was an honest government which citizens recognised as theirs and which would not abandon them. "When people recognise that... they stay and fight because they realise that a good, open, honest government supports them, and they will have it with me as president."
Milanović also commented on the 658,000 migrants who crossed Croatia four years ago, when he was prime minister, en route to a better life in Germany and elsewhere.
"We behaved humanely then, but first and foremost as rational politicians, because my job as president is to first and foremost serve Croatia's interests and only then general laws, because if you are not guided by those general laws, society turns into a mob in which everyone is for himself... in which those who are decent, who are weaker, get the worst of it, and that's the majority, unfortunately... That majority is my people and my voters, all Croatian citizens, not true or false ones."
"The Adriatic is the backbone of our world, as is continental Croatia, and we must become aware of our identity, not rebuild it. We are a Mediterranean country, a Central European country and, in part, in the Balkans, and this makes us rich," he said. "We are incredibly talented, full of spirit, energy, and we won't let the merchants in hate and intolerance kill that merry human spirit in us. Our people is merry, curious, but intelligent. Croatia is not disappearing and don't fall for panic tricks that tomorrow we won't be here, that we will be crushed."
Milanović went on to say that he saw a "nice energy" and normal thinking in Croatia. He said it was high time for change and that as president he would not go around as a lobbyist buttonholing shady types but as the chief agent and advocate of Croatian interests.
He said that whatever the outcome of the runoff, the climate in Croatia after this campaign would be "different, healthier... It's time we set high goals. We can be among the first 15 in Europe."
Milanović is the presidential candidate of the opposition Social Democrats and 12 other parties.
More news about presidential elections can be found in the Politics section.
Grabar-Kitarović: People Will Define Croatia's Course in Presidential Election
ZAGREB, December 30, 2019 - President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović called at an election rally in Split on Sunday for coming together and unity, saying that in the January 5 second round of the presidential election the people would define Croatia's course and future.
This is not an election for Kolinda or (Zoran) Milanović, this is the people's election, she said, adding that she wanted January 5 to be the day when people voted for a strong and better Croatia. "Let's vote for new patriotism in 2020."
"My ethical, moral values, my work habits, my relationship with you, my respect for the people who elected me, from whom the power in this state comes and belongs to, that must be in the service of every person and that's what I will continue to do over the next five years."
Grabar-Kitarović called for saying "no to divisions, no to Milanović, no to going the old, no to recession, no to the region."
She said she was worried because of divisions and insults in society, and that this was a brutally dirty campaign. "Instead of a programme, we have heard only insults. Croatian society can't go on like that... Let's confront programmes and ideas for Croatia's development."
She said she was also worried because it seemed that people in Croatia had forgotten too quickly what it was like five years ago. She said Milanović's "political legacy is divisions and spitting on everything."
Grabar-Kitarović said she did not separate voters as "mine and those of others. You are all mine. Croatia is for everyone."
"We must all come and work together when it comes to Croatia. I have been and will remain the president of all Croatian citizens, wherever they live," she said, adding that she wanted to pursue "what we began in 2015, change, a turnaround, growth."
Later in the day, the incumbent president held a rally in Imotski, where she thanked its veterans who took part in the defence of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
She underlined how important it was for Croatia to support BiH and the Croatian people in BiH because "we are one heart and one soul and no one can separate us."
"Croatian borders are secure today, but we would never wish to put up barriers or wire towards BiH where our Croatian people lives as autochthonous, equal and constituent, whose second homeland is BiH."
Grabar-Kitarović said she would fight for the rights of the Croatian people in BiH and for BiH to join the European Union as soon as possible. "That will enable a better life for everyone in BiH as well as an even stronger connection between Croats on both sides of the border."
A prerequisite for that, she added, is the equality of Croats in BiH. "I won't allow any outvoting, any insults. I will fight for your voice to be heard and for you to decide on BiH's future together with the others."
She said all Croats in the world were welcome in Croatia which, she added, was not perfect, urging them not give up on Croatia.
More news about presidential elections can be found in the Politics section.
Sunday Work to Be Regulated in 2020 with 8 to 12 Working Sundays
ZAGREB, December 30, 2019 - After 11 years Sunday work is being regulated again, the public broadcaster said on Sunday, adding that the government had announced it would amend the Labour Act in 2020 so that shops worked several Sundays a year.
"We are closest... to the Austrian model," Economy Minister Darko Horvat told HTV. "We are currently discussing how many Sundays employers could define as working Sundays."
The amendments could be adopted in the first half of next year, the government has said. The Austrian model means shops could work only several Sundays a year, those in tourist resorts could choose them in summer and the rest in December.
"We have been doing a thorough analysis concerning Sunday work over the past six months, contacting all EU countries," Horvat said, adding that the analysis revealed that "employers' Sunday revenues are far lower than what the Croatian public knows."
He said Austria "is very similar to Croatia and has its tourist season. Their employers are a very active social partner to the government."
He said a public consultation would be launched soon, to be followed by a proposal to the government, and the number of working Sundays would be "hammered out" with employers, eight to 12 Sundays of their choice.
Horvat said all workers who needed to work on Sundays would be rewarded. He said overtime, weekend, night, Sunday and holiday work was currently paid more and that the State Inspectorate was supposed to improve the oversight of that.
"The fact is that this is also a world view issue and I believe Sunday should be free," he said, adding that his job as minister of the economy was to make Croatia less dependent on retail and tourism.
Speaking of Sunday work, Labour Minister Josip Aladrović said it was important that "both world view and economic goals are covered (so that) redefining Sunday work doesn't endanger the economy."
Zlatica Štulić, president of the Commercial Trade Union of Croatia, said the union supported the initiative to amend the law and regulate Sunday work. "That's something for which we have been fighting for a long time and we believe it will benefit workers."
More economy news can be found in the Business section.
Dizzying Heights: Fascinating Glass Biokovo Skywalk Under Construction
The construction of a glass platform, known as the Biokovo skywalk located over the edge of the imposing mountain began back in autumn of this year, marking the creation of a rather incredible structure over Makarska indeed.
As Slobodna Dalmacija writes on the 19th of December, 2019, the Biokovo skywalk is actually an arch of sorts that will be covered with glass, it is located twelve metres from the edge of a 1228 metre-high cliff, and is the only one of its kind in all of the Republic of Croatia, according to a report from Jutarnji list.
As was initially written last year, the so-called skywalk, a pedestrian-biking trail along the gigantic Biokovo, will set up infopoints and panoramic telescopes, refurbish and construct pleasant rest areas, playgrounds and a visitor centre, and also improve overall transportation. The project is scheduled to be completed and ready for visitors in 2021, with a total value of 34.2 million kuna.
The Biokovo skywalk is a horseshoe shaped walkway with a guardrail and floor made entirely of glass. The walkway will be formed on the reliance of multi-layer safety glass on the steel structure, and the entire platform will ''stick out'' over the edge of the cliff and, in addition to opening the already stunning view to the Adriatic sea, it will also enable the experience of taking in Biokovo's sheer size and beauty from a bird's eye view.
Within this part of the Biokovo skywalk project, which will be in the zone of the visitor infrastructure of Ravna Vlaška, the construction of a geological pillar with special infoblocks is envisaged. It is a three-dimensional representation of the cross-section of geological periods and the geological origin of Dalmatia's glorious Biokovo Nature Park, which will be made according to the inputs of the park's expert service.
The total cost of the construction of the vantage point and the geological pillar as well as its accompanying surveillance stands at slightly more than 8 million kuna in total, and its construction should take around ten months, as is currently predicted.
The visitor's centre of the Biokovo skywalk will also have an educational function and it will be located in the Župa Visitor Centre in the nearby Zagvozd municipality, which will be more specifically located in the old elementary school building. It will be a reception and interpretation-educational site for visitors to northern Biokovo, namely Zabiokovlje, which presents and interprets the geology, geographical features, flora, fauna and even the old mythology of this rich area.
The visitor centre will have the most spent on it, a massive 10.6 million kuna in total, and its construction could take as long as two years as is currently foreseen.
In addition to the old school which will be put back into good use, Rodićeva cesta (road) is also currently in dire condition, so that will also be arranged as a walking and cycling trail for nature lovers to use and enjoy, and even professional athletes will also be able to use it for training and fitness purposes. Four sites at which visitors can relax will be erected next to it, with the cost of this phase of the project amounting to 2.8 million kuna in total.
Rest areas will be set up along the entire Biokovo road (Biokovska cesta), and in addition to them, there will be so-called picnic areas with tables, booths, children's parks, outdoor school-oriented areas, panoramic telescopes, infopoints, 35 signal panels (three of which will be for the blind) and Bigbelly and Smartbelly smart waste bins (for mixed waste disposal and for the proper disposal of bottles and cans) that have a built-in compaction press and announce when they are full or when emptying is required via a built-in Wi-Fi system.
Two specialised shuttle buses will be acquired within the scope of the Biokovo skywalk project, along with 15 regular bikes and 15 electric bikes with GPS trackers and a charger for electric cars. In addition, the construction of the Makarska - Biokovo cable car is also planned.
Make sure to follow our dedicayed lifestyle and travel pages for much more.
Turkish Smuggler Crashes Migrant Van into Croatia Police Vehicle
Police officers from the Zagreb Police Department are conducting a criminal investigation involving a 34-year-old Turkish national, who attempted to smuggle 15 migrants, after he disobeyed police orders, hit a police vehicle with his van and attempted to flee.
The suspect has been detained on charges of committing the criminal offenses of "Illegal entry, movement and stay in the Republic of Croatia, another EU Member State or signatories to the Schengen Agreement", "Coercion against an official" and "Damage to someone else's property," according to Laura Vuckovic/Zagreb Info on December 28, 2019.
On Tuesday, December 24, 2019 at 12:45am, police officers stopped an Iveco Daily van with German license plates, which was driven by a 34-year-old Turkish national, at the Sveta Helena rest stop on the A4 Zagreb – Goričan motorway. Upon inspection, the officers discovered 15 asylum seekers in the cargo area of the van.
Turkish National Loaded Van in Zagreb
A criminal investigation has confirmed that the suspect, a Turkish national, placed the 15 asylum seekers in the cargo area of a van on December 24, at an undetermined location in Zagreb, with the intention of acquiring undue financial gain. While driving on the A4 Zagreb - Goričan motorway, he was spotted and stopped by police officers at a gas station, and the police officer identified himself to the driver with a badge and ID.
Although the police officer was standing next to the driver's door, the suspect disobeyed his order to turn off and exit the vehicle. Then, he attempted to flee by driving away and struck the front door of the police vehicle with his van. After about 15 meters, police officers prevented him from going any further and escaping.
After the initial criminal investigation was completed, the suspect was handed over to the detention supervisor, and a criminal complaint was filed with the State Attorney's Office on suspicion of committing the above-mentioned criminal offenses.
Almost 1000 Migrant Smugglers Arrested in Croatia
As of December 27, 2019; 976 migrant smugglers have been arrested in Croatia and charged with 904 crimes. As of the same date; 1,661 people have also applied for international protection in Croatia. In more than 70 percent of those cases, the procedure for granting international protection has been suspended because the applicants have arbitrarily left the official asylum seekers' shelter, which suggests a systematic abuse of the Procedure for International Protection.
In this scenario, asylum seekers, after being discovered while attempting cross the state border illegally into Croatia, most often within Lika-Senj Police District, express a false intention to seek international protection in Croatia after they have been detained. Then they use smuggling networks to continue their journey to their destination countries (Austria, Germany, Italy).
According to Zagreb Police, these scenarios are referred to as “secondary migrations” because they are comprised of exclusively economic migrants. These migrants do not appear to show any evidence of persecution in their country of origin, nor in the countries they are attempting to enter Croatia from (Bosnia, Serbia).
TCN reported another crash earlier this year which involved a Serbian national driving a van filled with 33 migrants, who crashed into a roadblock while attempting to flee police.
Follow our Politics page for coverage on the migrant crisis in Croatia.
Croatia Sparkling Wine Exports Exceed 2018 Output in Nine Months
In the first nine months of 2019, Croatia exported 683 million EUR of sparkling wine. The production and export of Croatian sparkling wine is on the rise and exports within first nine months of this year have also exceeded that of 2018.
First Nine Months of 2019 Exports Exceed 2018
From January to September of 2019, Croatia exported 476 hectoliters of sparkling wine compared to a total of 441 hectoliters last year, the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (CCE) announced, according to Novac/Jutarnji List on Friday, December 27, 2019.
"The production of local sparkling wines is constantly growing, as is its export. More sparkling wines are being made from indigenous Croatian grape varieties, and their quality is becoming more recognized in the most demanding markets. Therefore, with relatively small quantities, we are achieving competitive pricing and hope that this trend will continue in the future," said Žaklina Jurišić, Assistant Director of Agriculture, Food Industry and Forestry from the Croatian Chamber of Economy (CCE), in a statement.
According to the CCE, 476 hectoliters of sparkling wine worth 683 million EUR were exported in the first nine months of this year. Imports slowed down slightly and 12,800 hectoliters worth 7.9 million EUR were imported.
Data for the first nine months show that sparkling wines were the most exported (211 hectoliters worth 546,000 EUR) which were followed by sparkling fresh grape wines with protected trademarks (146 hectares worth 64,000 EUR) and other types of sparkling wine from fresh grapes (92 hectoliters worth 55,000 EUR). In 2018, sparkling wine exports increased 35 percent over 2017, from 748,000 EUR to 1.08 million EUR. Quantitatively, exports are up 117 hectoliters, from 324 hectoliters in 2017 to 441 hectoliters in 2018, according to the CCE.
Most Croatia Sparkling Wine Exports to The Netherlands
Traditionally, most sparkling wine is exported to the Netherlands (346,500 EUR), followed by Italy (178,100 EUR) and Germany (140,300 EUR). Interestingly, our fourth largest export market is Singapore, which received sparkling wine imports totaling 136,000 EUR last year, CCE reported.
On the other hand, sparkling wine imports have increased in quantity and value. In 2018 sparkling wine imports exceeded 9 million EUR, while imports in 2017 totaled 7.6 million EUR. This is an increase from 14,300 hectoliters to 17,900 hectoliters, the statement read.
Most of the sparkling wine is being imported from France (3.3 million EUR), Italy (2.8 million EUR) and Germany (1.1 million EUR).
According to the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (CCE), the largest quantities of sparkling wine coming into the Croatian market this year are: other types of sparkling wines from fresh grapes (5,000 hectoliters worth 1.1 million EUR), sparkling wines from fresh grapes (2,900 hectoliters worth 1.2 million EUR) and prosecco with trademark-protected labels (2,500 hectoliters worth 1.2 million EUR).
Follow our Made in Croatia page for more information on imports from Croatia.
Croatia Partner Country of International Green Week Berlin 2020
ZAGREB, December 29, 2019 - Croatia will be the partner country of the International Green Week Berlin 2020 taking place on January 17-26, the Agriculture Ministry has announced.
Croatia's agriculture will be represented by the relevant ministry, the Croatian Chamber of Commerce and 50 exhibitors - big and small companies and family farms - which will present delicacies such as smoked ham, kulen (flavoured sausage), honey, oil, fruit brandy, wine and many other protected autochthonous products.
Visitors will have a unique opportunity to taste traditional Croatian meals in a green kitchen.
The ministry says Germany is one of Croatia's most important export markets, where nearly one in ten agricultural and food products is sold and trade continues to increase by the year.
International Green Week in Berlin is visited by more than 3,000 media representatives from 75 countries and is the subject of more than 18,000 stories in daily papers and special editions as well as 13,000 online articles.
This, the largest agricultural event in Europe, will be visited by numerous Croatian high officials, leading business people, representatives of the biggest and most influential companies, and numerous public figures.
Thanks to excellent diplomatic, economic and trade relations between Croatia and Germany, Berlin, Germany and International Green Week are the right places for Croatia to showcase its agricultural and food industry in the best light and advance its trade relations in Europe and the world, the ministry says.
The event is attended by 61 countries, 1,800 domestic and foreign exhibitors, and 400,000 visitors.
More agriculture news can be found in the Business section.
Croatia's Foreign Policy in 2019: Pushbacks, Preparations for EU Presidency, Lobbying
ZAGREB, December 29, 2019 - In 2019 Croatian officials had to defend the country's foreign policy from criticisms that Croatia was unlawfully returning migrants to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country prepared for presidency over the EU in 2020, hosted a conference of the 16+1 initiative and lobbied for the appointment of Croatian women to important international positions, with the usual tensions in relations with neighbouring countries falling into the background.
Croatia will take over the chairmanship of the Council of the European Union on 1 January 2020, and that will be the most important foreign policy event for the country since its accession to the EU in 2013.
Zagreb will take over the rotating EU presidency at the very beginning of the term of the new European Commission, led by German Ursula von der Leyen for whose appointment credit also goes to Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, who, as one of the European People's Party (EPP) negotiators, insisted that the position of EC President should go to the EPP as the winner of the May 2019 elections for the European Parliament.
Brexit is expected to be finalised during Croatia's EU presidency, which will also be marked by discussions on the new EU budget.
A large part of Croatia's diplomatic activities, notably in the second half of 2019, therefore related to acquainting oneself with the programme of EU presidency and adjusting it with other European countries.
An important topic in that was the situation in Southeast Europe and EU enlargement to Western Balkan countries. Zagreb will therefore use its presidency to organise a new summit on EU enlargement to Western Balkan countries, 20 years after such a summit meeting was held in the Croatian capital city.
The summit will be held in May, about seven months after the European Council decided not to launch membership talks with Albania and North Macedonia, a country that agreed to change its name over its membership in Euro-Atlantic associations.
The Croatian political leadership has been repeating since October that it regrets that decision.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended Zagreb in May from frequent accusations that it was violating the rights of migrants trying to cross over from Bosnia and Herzegovina, stressing that the perspective of a country protecting the EU's external border was different from the perspective of countries in the heart of the Schengen area.
Even though the Croatian political leadership dismissed allegations that it was pushing back migrants, at the time when it had to prove to the European Commission that it was capable of protecting the EU's external border, Croatia was a topic in international media over allegations that it violated migrants' rights and pushed them back.
A Swiss TV station in May ran a video showing Croatian police officers forcibly returning migrants to neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Human Rights Watch in July asked President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović in an open letter that Croatia stop pushing back migrants, and the president admitted in an interview with a Swiss TV station that the practice of pushbacks over the green border did exist.
Amnesty International joined in the criticism, and Croatia's treatment of migrants was also reported about by Reuters, the BBC, The Guardian, Euronews, Foreign Policy, etc.
The Croatian authorities dismissed all criticisms, claiming that migrants were treated lawfully.
The Croatian government sought support for its accession to the Schengen area in dialogue with other countries. In late October the EC assessed that Croatia had met the necessary criteria.
It is now up to other European countries to decide if Croatia will join the area and Slovenia has already said, more or less directly, that it will make its support conditional on Croatia's agreeing to implement a ruling by an international arbitral tribunal on the two countries' border dispute. Bulgaria and Romania have had a positive assessment from the EC since 2011 but have still not joined the Schengen area, which is why it is yet to be seen what awaits Croatia on that path.
After Croatia's talks with the European Central Bank, the EC and member-states, the euro group in October accepted a letter of intent from Croatia on joining the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, ERM II, a step that precedes the introduction of the euro as the official currency.
In 2019 a woman from Croatia was appointed for the first time the leader of one the biggest multilateral international organisations - Foreign and European Affairs Minister Marija Pejčinović Burić in June defeated her Belgian counterpart and became the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, an organisation established in 1949 that brings together 47 European and other countries but before Pejčinović Burić had only one other woman at its helm.
Pejčinović Burić was succeeded as foreign minister by Gordan Grlić Radman, until then Croatia's ambassador to Germany.
In November Croatia also got its first woman European Commission Vice-President, with EPP member of the European Parliament Dubravka Šuica becoming one of eight EC vice-presidents, in charge of democracy and demography.
This year Croatia also got an executive director of an EU agency when Maja Markovčić Kostelac in January took over the leadership of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) in Lisbon.
Croatia in 2019 hosted several political meetings. In April Dubrovnik hosted a summit meeting of the 16+1 initiative, launched with the aim of strengthening economic cooperation between China and eastern Europe. After Greece joined the platform in Dubrovnik, it was renamed 17+1.
Attending the Dubrovnik conference were the prime ministers of almost all participating countries, including Li Keqiang of China, who arrived for the event accompanied by a large delegation of politicians and business people.
Li said that Croatia and China had entered a diamond stage of their relations, and together with his host, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, toured the construction site of the 2.08 billion kuna Pelješac Bridge, which is being built by the China Road and Bridge Corporation and which the EU is co-financing with 85% of the necessary funds.
In May, ahead of elections for the European Parliament, German Chancellor Merkel and Manfred Weber, at the time still the EPP's lead candidate for the position of EC President, arrived in Zagreb for a rally of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the EPP.
Addressing the event, the two German officials condemned nationalism as an adversary that aimed to destroy Europe and that had caused tragedies in the past. At the rally, music by Croatian pop-rock singer Marko Perković Thompson was played, which met with the criticism of some German media outlets.
Chancellor Merkel did not know which songs would be played at the Zagreb rally or their content, her office said later in response to a query from the N1 broadcaster, adding that during her visit to Zagreb, Merkel had expressed a clear stand against nationalism.
The EPP in November held a congress in Zagreb. More than 2,000 participants from 40 countries attended, including von der Leyen, Merkel, Weber, Sebastian Kurz and Silvio Berlusconi.
Former European Council President Donald Tusk was elected the new EPP president at the event.
More news about Croatian foreign policy can be found in the Politics section.
