News

Washington - Croatian Parliament Speaker Josip Leko is in the US Congress attending the Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum on terrorist threats, and on the sidelines of the conference he has held bilateral meetings with senior members of Congress, who told him that they considered Croatia a partner country, the Croatian Parliament's press service said on Friday.

Oslo - Civil society is an important form of extra-institutional opposition, Croatian Parliament Speaker Josip Leko said at the European Conference of Presidents of Parliament in Oslo on Friday, adding that there was in Croatia "a sort of rush on referendums by those who are against government decisions."

Mali Lošinj – European Interparliamentary Conference on sustainable tourism ended today in the town of Mali Lošinj with presentations of experts and panel discussions on cultural tourism and tourism in the function of environmental protection.

Oslo - The problem of Ukraine is an extremely important and tough problem for Europe and shows that threats posed by violations of international law have not disappeared, Croatian Parliament Speaker Josip Leko said in Oslo on Friday following a two-day conference of parliament speakers from the Council of Europe member states.

Oslo - Participants in the European Conference of Presidents of Parliaments (ECPP) in Oslo have expressed different positions on the Ukraine crisis and therefore the talks should continue as there is no alternative to talks and to looking for common standards and values, Croatian Parliament Speaker Josip Leko said in a statement for Hina in the Norwegian capital on Thursday evening.

Zagreb - In the continuation of the European Inter-parliamentary Conference on “Challenges of Sustainable Tourism: Promoting Cultural Heritage and Environmental Protection” presentations were made by Hrvoje Carić (Institute for Tourism, Zagreb, Croatia), Ugo Soragni (Head of Regional Directorate for Cultural Heritage and Landscape of the Veneto Region, Italy), Panos Livadas (Secretary General of the Greek National Tourism Organization, Greece), Matija Franković (Head of State Institute for Nature Protection, Croatia) and Sandra Vlašić (UNDP – Programme Officer of the United Nations Development Programme, Croatia)

Oslo - Europe is faced with many difficult challenges such as millions of jobless people, violations of human rights in parts of the continent, serious breaches of international law and armed conflicts that inflict suffering on civilians, notably in Ukraine, said speakers who opened the European Conference of Presidents of Parliaments in Oslo on Thursday (ECPP).

Zagreb - In the final part of the plenary session, the first part of which was held in Zagreb, the participants were addressed by representatives of international organisations, with the central topic being the importance of integrating different policies in the development of sustainable tourism.

Zagreb - The Challenges of Sustainable Tourism: Promoting Cultural Heritage and Environmental Protection is the topic of the first European Interparliamentary Conference on Tourism which started in the Croatian Parliament on Wednesday. The Conference is being held in Zagreb and Mali Lošinj from September 10 to September 13 and is organized following the initiative of the Tourism Committee of the Croatian Parliament.

Zagreb - Croatian Parliament Speaker Josip Leko, who is on an official visit to South Korea, on Monday met with his Korean counterpart Chung Ui-hwa for talks on strengthening bilateral relations, notably on the economic front, with the South Korean official saying that the opening of a Croatian embassy in Seoul would be conducive to that goal.

Zagreb/Beijing - Croatian Parliament Speaker Josip Leko met in Beijing on Saturday with the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People's Congress, Zhang Dejiang, who invited Croatia to utilise China's increasingly intense cooperation with Central and East European countries.

Zagreb - Croatia commemorates the Day of Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving and the Day of Croatian Defenders on August 5, the day when 19 years ago its military and police forces regained control of most of the occupied territory in a military offensive dubbed Operation Storm.

Zagreb - High-level state delegations laid wreaths at Zagreb's Mirogoj Cemetery on Monday, marking Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day, Croatian Defenders' Day and the 19th anniversary of Operation Storm. The Croatian Parliament delegation was led by MP Gordana Sobol.

Zagreb - The parliamentary European Affairs Committee has endorsed Neven Mimica as Croatia's candidate for the European Commission in the 2014-19 period. Addressing the committee, Mimica spoke of the EC's achievements in consumer protection, for which he was in charge, the need to strengthen the European Union's democratic legitimacy through cooperation with the national parliaments, and the political guidelines of new EC President Jean-Claude Juncker.

Zagreb - Croatian Parliament Speaker Josip Leko and Deputy Speaker Dragica Zgrebec on Wednesday attended a meeting of a United States business delegation and representatives of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) and the Croatian Employers Association which discussed possibilities of developing economic cooperation.

Zagreb - The Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, Josip Leko, welcomed participants in the 15th Transatlantic Forum of the State Legislative Leaders Foundation entitled "Croatia: From Independence to the 28th Member of the European Union and NATO - A Guarantee for a Peaceful Future", which was being held in the Croatian Parliament building on Wednesday.

Zagreb - Speaker Josip Leko said on Wednesday that parliament had fulfilled its constitutional task with its work in the first half of the year but that he was not fully satisfied with it, notably with the fact that the bulk of the laws was adopted in fast-track procedure.

Zagreb - Italy as the EU President wants to be a catalyst of political changes which should ensure sustainable growth in the European Union and restore citizens' trust damaged by the economic crisis, Italian Ambassador to Croatia Emanuela D'Alessandro said in Zagreb on Monday.

Zagreb - Members of Parliament on Monday warned about the need for a more active role of society in better protecting children's rights, agreeing that as the most vulnerable group, children were affected by poverty the most.

Zagreb - Parliament Speaker Josip Leko told Croatian members of the European Parliament (EP) on Monday that their task, as well as that of the Croatian parliament, was to bring the EP closer to Croatian citizens, acquainting them about its importance for Croatia and them.

Zagreb - Speaker Josip Leko said on Thursday the Croatian Parliament had a good framework, good experience, the political will and good intentions when it came to the parliamentary monitoring of the national security system.

Zagreb - Croatian Parliament Speaker Josip Leko and the visiting Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Đukanović agreed in Zagreb on Monday that the border dispute did not affect the Croatia-Montenegro cooperation in which the former transferred its experience in European Union integration processes to the latter.

Zagreb - To mark the Croatian Parliament Day – 30 May – when the first multiparty Parliament was constituted, Citizens Service of the Croatian Parliament will be organizing the Open Day event this year again. Entrance will be allowed to all visitors on 1 June 2014 without previous announcement.

Zagreb - The Croatian Parliament will help the victims of the cataclysmic floods in eastern Slavonia with a total of HRK 225,000.

Zagreb - The Croatian Parliament will join in efforts to extend assistance to people living in the flood-hit areas of eastern Croatia, Parliament Speaker Josip Leko said, expressing solidarity with the flood victims.

Zagreb - Cooperation between Croatia and Azerbaijan is developing well, but there is room for enhancing and making it more dynamic, Croatian Parliament Speaker Josip Leko said after meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ogtay Asadov in Zagreb on Monday.

Zagreb - The Croatian Parliament on Monday hosted a meeting of delegations of the national parliaments of Southeast European countries to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

Bucharest - Southeast European countries took a new step in institutionalising their cooperation by inaugurating the Parliamentary Assembly of the Southeast European Cooperation Process (SEECP) in Bucharest on Saturday.

Ljubljana - The Slovenian and Croatian parliamentary committees on European affairs agreed in Ljubljana on Tuesday to convene twice a year so as to advance parliamentary cooperation and provide better information to citizens about European Union issues, adding that other Southeast European countries would gradually join this form of cooperation.

Jasenovac - Surviving former inmates, top Croatian officials, foreign ambassadors in Croatia, and many other delegations on Sunday attended a ceremony commemorating the 69th anniversary of the break-out of inmates from the Ustasha-run Jasenovac camp on 22 April 1945, paying tribute to 83,000 victims of this WW2 camp.

Tirana - Croatian Parliament Speaker Josip Leko said in Tirana on Tuesday that Albania should be given the status of an EU candidate in June this year because it had made great progress in meeting the membership criteria. -Albania has long deserved it, and it is in the interest of both Croatia and the EU, said Leko, who is on an official visit to Albania, the Croatian Parliament said in a press release.

Tirana - Parliament speakers of Adriatic-Ionian Initiative (AII) member states, including Josip Leko of Croatia, endorsed in Tirana on Monday the development of the European Union Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR) as a new model of cooperation aligned with the Europa 2020 development strategy.

Zagreb - The newly-appointed Chief State Prosecutor Dinko Cvitan was officially sworn in at a ceremony in the national parliament on Wednesday before Sabor Speaker Josip Leko.

Zagreb - The chairman of the Croatian Parliament Committee on Labour, Pension System and Social Partnership, Silvano Hrelja, and Committee members met in Zagreb on Monday with a delegation of the Slovenian Parliament Committee on Labour, Family, Social Issues and Persons with Disabilities to discuss the effects of the economic crisis on the two countries' social policy and labour legislation.

Istanbul - Croatian Parliament Speaker Josip Leko in Istanbul on Thursday held talks with several Turkish businessmen, who have already invested in Croatia, and discussed future investment plans, sources in the Croatian delegation on a visit to Turkey. A dinner organised by the Croatian Ambassador in Turkey, Drazen Hrastic, was attended by representatives of Dogus, Suezer and Rixos groups.

(Ankara) - Croatian Parliament Speaker Josip Leko met in Ankara on Wednesday with Turkey's Parliament Speaker Cemil Cicek, President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who called on Turkish business people to invest in Croatia.

Zagreb/Vilnius - Roma need to be integrated into society and given access to education, employment, health care and housing, according to a joint declaration adopted in Vilnius on Tuesday at a conference of the European Union's 28 parliament speakers, including Josip Leko of Croatia.

Zagreb/Vilnius - Croatian Parliament Speaker Josip Leko is in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on Monday and Tuesday for an annual conference of European Union parliament speakers.

Zagreb - Apostolic nuncio to Croatia Alessandro D'Errico said on Friday, at a meeting with Croatian Parliament Speaker Josip Leko, that bilateral relations between Croatia and the Holy See were good, saying however that he regretted the fact that the Dajla case has not yet been closed.

Mostar - Croatian Parliament Speaker Josip Leko on Thursday met with representatives of the Roman Catholic Church and the Islamic community in Mostar, stressing that Croatia supports their dialogue as a contribution to the restoration of trust and building Bosnia and Herzegovina as a state of three equal peoples and equal citizens.

Sarajevo - Croatia is not bringing any recipes to Bosnia and Herzegovina, but wants to help its neighbour find a solution that will ensure the equal status of all three of its constituent peoples, Croatian Parliament Speaker Josip Leko said during a visit to Sarajevo on Thursday.

Zagreb - Croatia and Qatar are developing friendly relations and are seeking to intensify their economic cooperation, notably Qatari investments in Croatia, Croatian Parliament Speaker Josip Leko said during a meeting with Qatar's Ambassador Mozi Nasser Al-Thani in Zagreb on Tuesday.

Rome - Croatian Parliament Speaker Josip Leko held separate meetings in Rome on Friday with Italian House of Representatives President Laura Boldrini, Maltese Parliament Speaker Angelo Farrugia, and Latvian Parliament Speaker Solvita Aboltina. The talks were held on the margins of the international conference "What Europe stands for: Growth, jobs and rights: will the European Union rise to the occasion?".

Rome - Croatia is one of the European Union members in which the consequences of the economic crisis are still strongly felt, despite its measures to encourage the economy and reform the social system, Croatian Parliament Speaker Josip Leko said in Rome on Thursday.

The Hague - Croatian Parliament Speaker Josip Leko on Tuesday held talks with members of the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Dutch bicameral legislature.

The Hague - Croatian Parliament Speaker Josip Leko, currently on a two-day visit to the Netherlands, met with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and the speakers of both houses of parliament in The Hague on Monday.

Zagreb - Croatian Parliament Speaker Josip Leko met with visiting Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar in Zagreb on Friday to discuss ways of promoting political and economic relations between the two countries as well as multilateral cooperation within international organisations, Leko's office said in a press release.

Zagreb - The parliamentary Judiciary Committee on Thursday unanimously endorsed the government's proposal to appoint the head of the anti-corruption office USKOK, Dinko Cvitan, as the new chief state prosecutor.

Zagreb - France strongly supported Croatia's European Union accession and after achieving that goal Croatia has a new one, helping the countries in the region in their EU integration, French Senate President Jean-Pierre Bel said in Zagreb on Thursday.

Zagreb - National parliaments should take a more active part in the European Union's legislative procedure, Croatian Parliament Speaker Josip Leko said on Friday at a session of the European Affairs Committee dedicated to the principle of subsidiarity in said procedure.