Politics

ZAGREB, 30 Aug 2021 - President Zoran Milanović said on Monday that the post-earthquake reconstruction process was too slow, warning that if it continued at the current pace, Croatia would lose Petrinja. "Nothing is happening, unfortunately the process is too slow and if it continues at the current pace, we will lose Petrinja," Milanović said in reference to the town in Sisak-Moslavina County, hit hardest by the 29 December 2020 earthquake. Asked about the pace of reconstruction, he said: "It is never easy and cannot be easy due to property-rights relations, but if you want something, you remove some barriers, possibly…

ZAGREB, 30 Aug 2021 - Zvornimir Troskot, a member of parliament from the opposition Bridge party, said on Monday that the economic situation in the country was not good despite the government's boasting about it being excellent, and he also criticised insufficient production and the country's heavy reliance on tourism. "It is good that GDP has grown by 16.1% in the last quarter considering our open tourism strategy but we have also been lucky because Spain has been on lockdown due to the pandemic and Greece due to wildfires," Troskot said at a news conference. He noted that experts did not…

ZAGREB, 30 Aug 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Sunday visited Požega to discuss with local officials the removal of damage caused by torrential rain and hail in that Slavonian city in June and July, after which he attended a local folklore festival. "The government has backed right away all counties and cities affected by bad weather, securing funds for the removal of damage," Plenković said ahead of talks with local officials, adding that the talks would also focus on economic development. The government has allocated HRK 20 million (€2.66 million) for the removal of damage caused by bad weather…

ZAGREB, 30 Aug 2021 - President Zoran Milanović on Sunday attended a special session of the Municipal Council of Vir, near the coastal city of Zadar, expressing satisfaction with the progress of that island community, which, he said, had often been mocked in the past. "Vir today has a high revenue which it manages well, it has profited from (property) legalisation and it does with the money what its residents expect it to do. I can see that local authorities work in the interest of citizens and that citizens trust them," he said in an address at the session, advising local…

ZAGREB, 29 Aug, 2021 - French President Emmanuel Macron, one of the most important European politicians, will pay a working visit to Croatia, the Jutarnji List daily reports in its Sunday issue. Even though the exact date of the visit has still not been agreed, it is expected to happen sometime in October or November, a high source at the Foreign Ministry has told the daily. The visit is seen by Zagreb as proof of increasingly strong ties between France and Croatia, which could be described as a strategic partnership, particularly since the Croatian Air Force decided to buy French-made Rafale…

August the 29th, 2021 - Labour Minister Josip Aladrovic has revealed who the Croatian economic support created by the government as a result of the pandemic will continue to go to, and who it no longer will. Minister Aladrovic also announced a rise in both wages and pensions. As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, economic aid for Croatian companies will remain in place only for those who continue to be the most vulnerable to the pandemic and to any introduced anti-epidemic measures, announced Minister Aladrovic. He stated that because of the easing of the country's epidemiological measures, he sees no reason to…

ZAGREB, 28 Aug, 2021 - The political secretary of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Ante Sanader, said on Saturday that the fake sovereignists were scaring the people about the euro", however they themselves had rushed to the European Parliament to get earnings in that currency. Sanader wrote on his Facebook account that there was no need for any referendum about the introduction of the euro in Croatia. There is no need and no legal possibility for a referendum on Croatia's admission to the euro area and the changeover to the euro, as the decision on that matter was made in 2012 when Croatia…

ZAGREB, 28 Aug, 2021 - A member of parliament from the Croatian Sovereignists party, Marko Milanović Litre, said on Saturday that his party was launching a campaign for a referendum on the introduction of the euro, criticising the government for ignoring citizens' opinion on the matter. Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, Croatian National Bank Governor Boris Vujčić and a whole set of Brussels bureaucrats have decided on their own that Croatia should join the euro area, Milanović Litre said in a Facebook post, noting that his party had launched a campaign to protect the national currency, the kuna. "Referendum is the…

ZAGREB, 27 Aug 2021 - Finance Minister Zdravko Marić said on Friday that he could be pleased with the state of the budget and that it was in line with expectations, with some tax revenues exceeding them, such as VAT, which outperforms its 2019 level since the beginning of the year. As the level of employment has been preserved, and even increased, Marić is also pleased with the amount of paid contributions for pension insurance. He underscored again that the key to the sustainability of public finance lay on state budget expenditures, on which great emphasis was placed. Asked by…

ZAGREB, 27 Aug 2021 - The government has allocated 19.4 million kuna (€2.6 million) for a public works programme for the removal of consequences of the December 2020 quakes in Sisak-Moslavina County, whereby 520 people will be employed. Labour Minister Josip Aladrović presented the programme in Sisak on Friday, noting that these public works would contribute to the positive trends on the labour market and economic recovery. "This is one of the measures which the government and the ministry have been implementing since the (December 2020) earthquakes. Apart from this activity, the government has disbursed 300 million kuna to 3,000 employers in this…