News

Zagreb - The parliament on Friday adopted the 2019-2026 National Sports Programme, as the first strategic document for planning in the field of sports in Croatia.

Parliament on Friday decided on amendments to the Law on Road Safety which foresees harsher penalties for traffic offences.

Zagreb - Parliament on Friday appointed Ivana Belec as a member of the State Electoral Commission (DIP), a permanent and independent institution that supervises elections and referendums, the financing of political parties, election and referendum campaigning.

Zagreb - The government on Thursday sent to the parliament the draft bill on enforcement aimed at ensuring cost-saving and efficient procedures for enforcement as well as at a well-balanced protection of dignity of debtors, and the new legislation reinstates the jurisdiction of courts over enforcement  procedures.

Zagreb - A memorial plaque was unveiled at the Sisters of Mercy Hospital in Zagreb on Wednesday to commemorate doctors and nuns who had treated and hidden Jews during World War II, saving many of them from concentration camps and death.

Zagreb - Lawmakers of both the ruling coalition and opposition parties on Tuesday supported the engagement of Croatian troops in international missions, underscoring that Croatia has multiple benefits from such missions.

Zagreb - A commemoration on the occasion of the 24th anniversary of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide, when more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed by Bosnian Serb forces, was held at the Croatian parliament and a message was sent out that a crime of that nature must never occur again.

Zagreb - The Croatian parliament on Friday adopted a set of laws regulating water management as well as the Law on State Administration which depoliticises, professionalises and decentralises state administration and makes it more efficient.

Zagreb - The Croatian parliament on Friday amended the Police Act, which, among other things, enables the hiring of persons with a finished three-year secondary education as well as a housing allowance for police officers who work in places more than 100 kilometres away from their place of residence, who do not have their housing status resolved and do not receive a commuting allowance.

Zagreb - Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Minister Marija Pejčinović Burić was elected the new Secretary-General of the Council of Europe by secret ballot held in the CoE Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg on Wednesday evening.

Zagreb - Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković underscored in his congratulatory note on the occasion of Croatia's Statehood Day that 25 June 1991 will be permanently inscribed in the nation's history as the day when the Croatian Sabor, as the Croatian people's legitimate representative legislature that has preserved Croatian sovereignty for centuries, unanimously adopted two decisions essential for Croatia's present-day sovereignty and independence.

Zagreb - Parliament on Friday passed the Agricultural Census Act in order to obtain exact data, and a new law on land registers aimed at simplifying and stepping up proceedings.

Zagreb - Unionists who launched the "67 is too much" campaign to collect signatures for a referendum on restoring the statutory pension age from 67 to 65 on Thursday submitted to the parliament a total of 65 boxes with 748,624 signatures collected from 27 April to 11 May.

Zagreb - There are about 6,000 blind people in Croatia yet only 6% of them are employed, it was heard at a panel discussion in parliament on Wednesday which pointed out inclusive allowance and assistants for blind people as well as better education and employment opportunities as crucial tasks. The panel discussion was organised by MP Ljubica Lukačić (HDZ) on the occasion of the Day of the Croatian Blind Union, marked June 16.

Zagreb - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković on Friday finished his official visit to Japan by a meeting with the Kyoto Prefecture Governor Takatoshi Nishiwaki on possibilities of bilateral cooperation.

Hiroshima - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković on Thursday visited Hiroshima, where he laid a wreath at the Peace Memorial Park for the victims of the atomic bombing and met with local officials for talks on possible cooperation with partners in Croatia. 

Tokyo - Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković held meetings with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Keiichi Ishii in Tokyo on Wednesday.

Zagreb - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković, who is on a visit to Japan, on Tuesday met with the presidents of both houses of the Japanese Parliament, calling at those meetings on Japanese business people to invest in Croatia and citing in that context the positive examples of the Kali Tuna and Yazaka companies in Croatia.

Tokyo - Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako on Tuesday received in audience Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković and his wife Sonja.

Zagreb - The Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković on Tuesday met with Chuichi Date, President of the Japanese parliament's upper chamber, the House of Councillors.

Zagreb - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković began an official visit to Japan by meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Zagreb - Parliament will hold a reception on Thursday to mark its day in memory of 30 May 1990 when the first democratically elected multiparty Croatian parliament was inaugurated.

Zagreb - The government sent three final bills to parliament related to the water management sector that are aimed at achieving efficiency of public water suppliers and setting conditions for equalising prices for each service area.

Zagreb - On the occasion of Croatian Parliament Day, observed on 30 May in memory of the inauguration of the first multiparty parliament on 30 May 1990 after the first free, multiparty democratic elections were conducted in Croatia in the spring of 1990, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković said at a ceremony in Zagreb on Thursday that the the constitution of the Sabor on 30 May 1990 was a turning point for the Croatian people that elected their authentic representatives, opting for freedom and democracy.

The first free, multiparty democratic elections were conducted in Croatia in the spring of 1990, and democratic Croatian Parliament was constituted on May 30, 1990 based on the electoral results.

Zagreb - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković on Thursday laid wreaths at a monument in the Loibach field near the Austrian town of Bleiburg, saying that he came to pay tribute to all victims and dismissing what he described as attempts to politicise his act and noting that he did not come to downplay the nature of the World War II Ustasha regime.

Zagreb - The Croatian parliament on Thursday adopted by a majority vote a set of tourism-related laws as well as a law on the Judicial Academy, the Electricity Market Act.

Zagreb - Children's ombudswoman Helenca Pirnat Dragičević said in parliament on Thursday that inequality was one of the key challenges in the exercise of children's rights, that their quality of life depended on the place of residence or birth, and that Roma children were the most deprived group.

Zagreb – Chief EU negotiator for Brexit Michel Barnier visited the Croatian Parliament on Wednesday where he met with members of the European and Foreign Affairs committees.

Zagreb - How much do decision makers really count on persons with disabilities, Ombudswoman for Persons with Disabilities Anka Slonjšak wondered on Wednesday while presenting a report on her work in 2018 in the parliament.

Zagreb - Top Croatian state officials attended a ceremony in Okučani on Wednesday, marking the 24th  anniversary of a combined military and police offensive, known as Operation Flash, which ended nearly four years of Serb occupation of the Western Slavonia region.

Zagreb - Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković on Tuesday issued a message on the occasion of International Workers' Day, marked May 1, underscoring the need for Croatian society to persevere in empowering workers' rights and improving living and working conditions.

Zagreb - The Croatian parliament on Friday discussed a bill on meteorological and hydrological services aimed at strengthening the role of these services in reducing the damage caused by natural disasters, protecting the environment and health, boosting transport safety and in planning food and energy production. The bill is to replace the existing legislation dating back to the 1970s.

Zagreb - Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković issued a message on Saturday, wishing a happy Easter to all Christian believers in Croatia.

Zagreb - A new bill on private security which the government sent into parliamentary procedure on Thursday recommends that private security companies can in future be allowed to employ people with primary school qualifications. Currently one or two years of secondary education is required to conduct the job of a private security guard.

Zagreb - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković on Tuesday received Thomas K. Yazdgerdi, the U.S. State Department's Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues, and representatives of the World Jewish Restitution Organisation (WJRO).

Zagreb - The official state commemoration for the Jasenovac victims and the surviving inmates was taking place at the Jasenovac Memorial Site today, with Jandroković, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and a number of ministers attending. Jandroković said the state leaders had come to Jasenovac to honour the sacrifice of innocent people who were killed because of their faith, ethnicity or political affiliation. "That was a crime by the Ustasha regime which has to be clearly condemned, to send the message, notably to younger generations, that freedom, democracy and peace are not givens, that evil is around us and that we must fight it."

Zagreb - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković and China's Prime Minister Li Keqiang on Wednesday said in Zagreb that bilateral agreements between the two countries that were signed today in Zagreb and will be signed tomorrow in Dubrovnik will strengthen cooperation and make it more concrete in several areas such as infrastructure, agriculture, tourism, sport, science and culture.

Zagreb - The coming elections for the European Parliament will determine to a significant extent what Europe will look like in the coming years because voters will be choosing between forces that promote stability and security in Europe and those that encourage disintegration processes with irresponsible policies, Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković said at the end of a two-day conference of EU member-countries' parliament speakers in Vienna on Tuesday.

Zagreb - A better education for Roma children, integration and preservation of the Roma culture were key messages of a ceremony marking World Roma Day, held at Zagreb's Croatian National Theatre on Monday evening, with President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović attending. The event marking World Roma Day was organised by the Croatian Roma association "Kali Sara" and Roma minority MP Veljko Kajtazi. Among the guests were Culture Minister Nina Obuljen Koržinek, Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić, members of the diplomatic corps and representatives of Roma from a number of European countries and Canada.

Zagreb - Strengthening the EU's structures and efficiency, including defence and security, and respecting the specific traits and sovereignty of member-states is a precondition for successfully dealing with crises the EU is faced with and is the best way to ensure the EU's survival, the leaders of most EU parliaments who gathered for a two-day conference in Vienna to define answers to challenges faced by the EU, said on Tuesday.

Zagreb - Croatia's Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković and the President of the Austrian National Council, Wolfgang Sobotka, confirmed in Vienna on Monday that the Bleiburg commemoration would be held this year as planned but warned that Austrian law would have to be strictly adhered to, particularly a ban on displaying fascist insignia.

Zagreb - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković said in Vienna on Monday Croatia would continue to insist that the European Union keeps focus on Southeast Europe, so that it too could be integrated with the EU system once aspirants meet the membership conditions. Jandroković is taking part in a conference of European Union parliament speakers which is being held in Vienna on Monday and Tuesday.

Zagreb - The Croatian parliament on Friday rejected the Social Democratic Party's interpellation on government work on the implementation of structural reforms.

Zagreb - Parliament on Friday amended the law on the prevention of illegal drug abuse which now defines new psychoactive substances, enables the minister of health to order that they be banned, and enables legal entities to grow and produce hemp for medicinal purposes.

Zagreb - The government on Thursday forwarded to the parliament a bill of amendments to the Companies' Act and the Court Registry Act which will facilitate setting up a company as well as erasing it from the court register.

Zagreb - Croatia's lawmakers will convene on Wednesday to discuss a bill of amendments to the law on the police powers and responsibilities.

Bruxelles - Committee on the Foreign Affairs (AFET) at the Interparliamentary Committee Meeting on "Current challenges for EU Foreign and Security policy". 

Bucharest - On April 1 and 2, 2019, Chair Domagoj Ivan Milošević and members of the European Affairs Committee Joško Klisović and Davor Ivo Stier took part in the Inter-Parliamentary Conference on the Future of EU.

Zagreb - Croatia on Friday marked the 10th anniversary since joining NATO, with senior officials saying that the alliance's defence umbrella ensured long-term stability for the country. Croatia became a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation on 1 April 2009. Since 2003, over 6,700 Croatian soldiers have participated in NATO-led operations, missions and activities.