News

Zagreb - The Vatican's recognition of Croatia 30 years ago will be remembered as an act of strong and resolute support for the legality and legitimacy of the Croatian state before the international community, the Holy See secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said in the Croatian Parliament on Thursday.

Zagreb - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković on Wednesday met with his Spanish counterpart Meritxell Batet Lamana in Madrid, thanking her for her country's support to Croatia's bid to join the Schengen and euro areas and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Zagreb - Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković on Monday issued a message for the Muslim holiday of Ramadan Bayram, or Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, wishing the Muslim faithful in Croatia to spend it in an atmosphere of peace and unity.

Zagreb - Laying wreaths and lighting candles at a memorial in Okučani on Sunday, the state leadership honoured those killed in the 1 May 1995 Operation Flash, all those who, it was said, were within reach of freedom and victory but did not live to see it.

Zagreb - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković on Saturday issued a message on the occasion of International Workers' Day, noting that constant social dialogue and partnership between the state, employers, and unions are necessary for improving the status of workers.

Zagreb - The Croatian Parliament on Friday confirmed the appointment of two new government ministers, Davor Filipović and Marin Piletić, as well as Anja Šimpraga as new Deputy Prime Minister.

Zagreb - The Croatian Parliament on Friday unanimously voted on amendments to the Act on the Legal Consequences of Conviction, Criminal Records, and Rehabilitation, which regulates the international exchange of information from criminal records.

Zagreb - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković said on Thursday that by commemorating Yom HaShoah Croatia was remembering with great respect the innocent victims of the genocide against the Jewish people during World War II.

Zagreb - Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković on Wednesday received the outgoing Japanese Ambassador Misako Kaji, thanking her for conveying Japan's experience in dealing with earthquakes and a donation for the Croatian regions hit by two devastating quakes in 2020.

Zagreb - Amendments to the Preschool Education Act on Wednesday provoked strong criticism by the opposition, which claims that they are detrimental to children, while the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) points out they will provide higher quality preschool education and better access to it.

Zagreb - The delegations of the Parliament, Government, ethnic minorities, and the Alliance of Antifascist Fighters and Antifascists (SABA) participated in a remembrance ceremony at the Jasenovac Memorial Centre on Friday to mark the 77th anniversary of the breakout of prisoners from the WW2 death camp.

Zagreb - The Croatian Parliament on Thursday unanimously supported the initiative to declare the first Sunday in June National Cancer Survivors Day. The chair of the Health and Social Policy Committee, Renata Sabljar Dračevac, said that National Cancer Survivors Day will put focus on this large population and on the importance of prevention and healthy lifestyles.

Zagreb - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković says in his Easter message that this Christian holiday encourages the promotion of peace, forgiveness, and charity, and he calls for thinking of all who are suffering and who have lost the hope and joy of their life in these fast-changing times marked by the Ukraine war.

Zagreb - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković on Friday extended his best wishes to the Jewish faithful on the occasion of Passover, a holiday celebrating the exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and the joy of freedom as a fundamental human value.

Zagreb - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković has issued a message for International Romani Day, observed on 8 April, saying that Croatia persists in promoting the status of the Romani and their social integration, in particular the integration of young people into the education system.

Zagreb - Parliament on Friday passed a new law protecting whistleblowers which will strengthen their legal protection and simplify the procedure for reporting irregularities.

Zagreb - Sixty-eight, mostly opposition amendments to the Act on the Reporting of Irregularities, colloquially called the whistleblower protection law, were rejected by a government representative in the Parliament on Thursday. 

Zagreb - Ombudswoman Tena Šimonović Einwalter submitted to the Croatian Parliament the written annual report for 2021, which includes an analysis and assessment of the human rights and equality situation in Croatia and 156 recommendations for improving citizens' rights.

Zagreb - Lawmakers on Wednesday welcomed a ban on the use of pesticides that are hazardous to bees during spring blossoming to avoid a repeat of the situation of June 2020 when millions of bees in Međimurje died.

Zagreb - The committee on the Constitution on Wednesday recommended by majority vote that parliament forward the questions from the Bridge party's referendum petitions against COVID certificates and the national COVID crisis management team to the Constitutional Court for assessment.

Zagreb - We are living in the most challenging times after World War II, and parliaments should have the role of guardians of democracy and the rule of law, Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković said at the Conference of the Speakers of EU Parliaments in Brdo Pri Kranju, Slovenia on Monday.

Zagreb - The Croatian Parliament on Friday endorsed a report on the effects of the implementation of the Islands Act in 2020, but opposition MPs warned of the problem of a shortage of doctors on the islands, insufficient investment in schools, and unresolved land title issues.

Zagreb - Members of the Croatian Parliament on Thursday welcomed the proposal for a national hydrogen strategy until 2050, stressing the importance of economic development based on hydrogen, own energy production, and increased electricity production from renewable sources. Some opposition lawmakers warned of the commercial unprofitability of green hydrogen.

Zagreb - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković met via video link the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Li Zhanshu on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Croatia and the People’s Republic of China.

Zagreb - Finance Minister Zdravko Marić said on Thursday that the measures proposed by the government could not offset the price rises fully but they could alleviate their impact. During a parliamentary debate on draft amendments to the law on the Value Added Tax whereby VAT rates are lowered on gas and food, Marić said that the tax policy could not solve all the issues and that a lower VAT rate did not necessarily mean that prices would drop to a desirable extent, however, "all of us should make contributions to the well-being of citizens."

Zagreb - The government's proposal to cut VAT on food and gas is welcome but late and insufficient, the parliamentary opposition said on Thursday, while the ruling HDZ said the cut was timely and that it would help citizens weather the price rises.

Zagreb - Croatia will send up to 70 troops to Hungary as part of NATO's Enhanced Vigilance, Parliament decided by majority vote on Friday. One MP voted against and 118 for the decision to send troops to Hungary, where they can be deployed this year and the next, with the possibility of rotation.

Zagreb - The Croatian Parliament amended the Bankruptcy Act on Friday in order to provide more efficient action during the insolvency of businesses as a consequence of special circumstances caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The amendments regulate mechanisms for early warning to debtors facing financial problems to start restructuring their business.

Zagreb - The government's proposal to introduce the euro as the official currency in Croatia on 1 January 2023 divided MPs on Wednesday, with some seeing multiple benefits and others claiming that it will further lower living standards.

Zagreb - Parliament on Wednesday gave a vote of confidence in Ivan Paladina as the new minister of construction, physical planning, and state assets, after which he was sworn in. He was supported by 77 lawmakers in the 151-seat legislature, while 51 were against and three abstained.

Zagreb - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković extended his best wishes for International Women's Day on Tuesday, saying that a lot of effort still needed to be made to achieve equality between women and men in all spheres of society.

Zagreb - The government on Thursday sent the Parliament a bill on the introduction of the euro as legal tender in Croatia for first reading, and, among other things, the bill concerns the basic principles of euro introduction, possibilities of exchanging kuna for euros and the period of both currencies being in use.

Zagreb - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković on Tuesday spoke on the phone with Ruslan Stefanchuk, the Chairman of the Ukrainian Rada, who informed him of the current situation in his war-torn country.

Zagreb - The Croatian Parliament on Friday adopted the Declaration on Ukraine, with 133 votes for and one abstention, which condemns in the strongest terms Russia's unprovoked aggression on Ukraine's sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence.

Zagreb - The Croatian Parliament on Friday adopted the Agricultural Strategy 2030, which aims to increase the value of agricultural output from the present HRK 20 billion to 30 billion annually.

Zagreb - Croatian parliamentarians on Thursday supported amendments to a law on the establishment of infrastructure for alternative fuels, underlining the importance of building as many charging stations for alternative fuels as possible.

Zagreb - Croatia's agricultural production has not contracted, as data for the first 11 months of 2021 show that both exports and imports increased considerably, with exports increasing faster, Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković said in Parliament on Thursday.

Zagreb - The government's agriculture strategy up to 2030 resulted in a heated polemic in the Sabor on Thursday even prior to the official debate, with the opposition saying that it did not contain anything specific to Croatia and as such was inapplicable, yet the ruling HDZ commended the document.

Zagreb - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on Wednesday talked about intensifying Zagreb-Riyadh cooperation. 

Zagreb - Parliament on Friday asked the Government to verify the number and authenticity of the signatures collected for the Bridge party's referendum petitions to abolish COVID certificates and the crisis management team, and to include at least two representatives of each petition in the process.

Zagreb - The Croatian Parliament on Friday adopted a package of judicial laws as well as a report on the effects of epidemiological measures against coronavirus from 1 September to the end of December 2021.

Zagreb - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković on Thursday held talks with the visiting Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Zagreb - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković on Wednesday received the ambassadors to Croatia from the United Kingdom, Spain, and China - Simon Derek Thomas, Alonso Dezcallar De Mazarredo, and Qi Qianjin, with whom he discussed closer cooperation with their countries. 

Zagreb - The problem of systematic radioactive waste management in Croatia will be resolved with the construction of a radioactive waste management facility, Žarko Katić, state secretary at the Ministry of the Interior, said in parliament on Wednesday.

Zagreb - Health Minister Vili Beroš defended in Parliament on Thursday the COVID certificate mandate and children testing as part of the fight against the pandemic, and underlined the importance of vaccination because the tourist season could depend on it.

Zagreb - The parliamentary Committee on the Constitution and Standing Orders on Thursday asked the Government to verify the signatures collected for two referendum petitions by the opposition Bridge party and notify Parliament.

Zagreb - The Domestic Policy and National Security Committee on Wednesday convened to discuss the 12 October 2020 attack on Government House in Zagreb and the arrests of individuals over their acrimonious and insulting comments on social networks.

Zagreb - The Croatian Parliament's Committee on the Constitution and Rules of Procedure has decided on the distribution of HRK 54.9 million (€7.32m) for the work of political parties and independent members of Parliament, as provided for in this year's budget.

Zagreb - Despite criticisms from the Opposition, the Croatian Parliament on Friday passed the Social Welfare Act, which is part of a set of seven laws aimed at reforming the system.

Zagreb - Things will have to change and in the future no central bank employee should be allowed to hold or trade-in stocks or bonds of banks supervised by the central bank - this is one of the conclusions of a thematic session of the parliamentary Finance and Central Budget Committee held on Thursday.