Croatia: Speakeasy Lingers At Local Government Elections

photo: www.lokalniizori.com

According to the Croatian Electoral Office 46.96% of eligible voters in Croatia turned up to vote at the Local government elections Sunday 19 May. One may well conclude that, although not as high as the 54.32% turnout at December 2011 parliamentary elections, such a turnout is pretty solid, but not as solid as one would […]

Croatia: Glorification of Communist Crimes as anti-Fascist Achievement

Jasenovac: 68th anniversary of breakout of inmates of
concentration camp  Photo: Nikola Culuk/Pixsell

Even if, after thoroughly studying the victims of the Holocaust (some 11 million, 6 million of which were Jews) and the victims of WWII and post-WWII communist crimes (some 100 million), one concludes that the Nazis and their collaborators were worse criminals than the Communists, that still does not justify the massive size and inhumanity […]

Croatia – Electoral Law Groundhog Day

croatia revolution

31.5% of Dubrovnik’s eligible voters came out to vote at the Referendum (for or against the proposed development of area Srdj [Srđ] above the city into an elite golf course and apartments) last Sunday. Not a big turnout, but some 80% of those that did vote voted against the development. While the referendum initiators (those […]

Croatia: “Return to Tudjmanism”, “Detudjmanisation” – Catch Phrases That Hide True Democratic Reform Incompetence?

Political incompetence

Profound disillusionment with all major political parties in Croatia has reached the point where people are looking for a third alternative away from HDZ-run or SDP-run government, which would pursue an orderly transformation to full democracy without romanticising or prostituting the history. The fact that there is not a single major Croatian party that currently […]

Croatia – Slovenia Memorandum of Understanding: EU Accession – Blackmail, Smoke and Mirrors Conundrum

Zoran Milanovic, Prime Minister of Croatia   Photo: www.hrt.hr

The ratification by 27 EU member states of Croatia’s EU Accession Treaty involves assessment by those member states as to whether they are satisfied with Croatia’s progress in ensuring compliance with the completion of the remaining implementation of the commitments taken during the accession negotiations, and as required by EU’s imposition of monitoring of Croatia […]

Towards new employment regulation in Croatia

Dubravka Glavas (left) Djurdjica Svigac (right) Photo:Davor Javorovic/Pixsell

Hrvoje Vidan of Vidan Attorneys At Law captures in his article a good summary of issues contemplated and considered under upcoming legislative changes in Croatia: “The lack of structural reforms, amongst others within the labour market, resulted in the recent crash of the Croatian credit rating. Yet, since February 2012, under the leadership of Prime […]

Croatia: Sex Education Causes Calamitous Rift In Society

Education Minister Zeljko Jovanovic and Cardinal Josip Bozanic  
            Photo: Cropix

Croatian government and the Croatian Catholic Church have been at serious loggerheads, to say the least, since the government announced late last year its new school health education plan, which includes sex education in all its “modern-day” imagery, facets, spectrum. Suffice to say, the government would not budge from its plan to implement the program […]

Croatia: The Mother Of All Gags Creeps Back In

Microsoft Word - Document4

So, let’s say I notice that a Croatian Public Servant (Government employee) is having a two or three-hour taxpayer funded lunch break (which can certainly happen in Croatia on a regular basis – an unwelcome habit formed during the days of Communist Yugoslavia) and I comment with disapproval about that in public (to one or […]

Croatia: How Government’s Kicking the Can Along Economic Junk Road

kicking the can

Croatia’s credit rating is on the junk heap. This will affect all facets of the economy and place growth onto a wish-list, rather than on the done-list. Rating agency Standard & Poor’s on Friday 14 December lowered Croatia into junk status to BB-plus from BBB-minus, concluding that the recent government reforms will not be enough […]

Croatian Watergate – or is it? ‘Allo, ‘allo!

allo-allo

Croatian Vecernji List newspaper dropped a “bomb” on Saturday October 20 as it uncovered a privacy breach scandal dubbed “Croatian Watergate”, spinning the government and the president into top gear of political manoeuvrings designed to take the public’s mind off the real issue: are there/were there serious breaches of privacy in Croatia. According to the […]