Government of Croatia 2016
Photo: http://www.vlada.hr
Prime Minister: Tihomir Oreskovic
First Deputy Prime Minister: Tomislav Karamarko
Deputy Prime Minister: Bozo Petrov
Minister Internal Affairs: Vlaho Orepic
Minister Foreign and European Affairs: Miro Kovac
Minister of Finances: Zdravko Maric
Minister of Defense: Josip Buljevic
Minister of Justice: Ante Sprlje
Minister of Administration: Dubravka Jurlina-Alibegovic
Minister of Agriculture: Davor Romic
Minister of Environment Protection: Slaven Dobrovic
Minister of Economy: Tomislav Panenic
Minister Veterans’ Affairs: Mijo Crnoja (Resigned 28/01/2016)
Minister of Construction/Building: Lovro Kuscevic
Minister of Business: Darko Horvat
Minister of Maritime, Traffic and Infrastructure: Oleg Butkovic
Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds: Tomislav Tolusic
Minister for Social Politics and Youth: Bernardica Juretic
Minister for Tourism: Anton Kliman
Minister for Employment and Retirement Funds: Nada Sikic
Minister for Health: Dario Nakic
Minister for Science, Education and Sport: Predrag Sustar
Minister for Culture: Zlatko Hasanbegovic
BIOGRAPHIES/CVs of Croatia’s new Government officials can be found HERE
It took 14 hours of presentation of Tihomir Oreskovic’s new centre-right cabinet for the new government and its program and discussions in the Croatian Parliament on Friday 22 January 2016 for the same government to earn a majority vote of confidence. The “deed” was done close to Midnight – at just after 11 pm the vote was cast: out of 149 members present 83 voted for, 61 against and 5 abstained while 2 members were absent. Tihomir “Tim” Oreskovic is Croatia’s new Prime Minister while the leader of HDZ/Croatian Democratic Union Tomislav Karamarko is the First Deputy Prime Minister, the Deputy being Bozo Petrov, leader of the Most/Bridge coalition of independents. Immediately after the vote in the parliament, Oreskovic and 22 members of his cabinet were sworn in inside the parliament.
Oreskovic inherits an economy recovering from a six-year recession and grappling with one of the highest public-debt burdens in the European Union, the results of years of political resistance to overhauling the economy and installing democratic practices in public administration as opposed to those inherited from five decades of communist totalitarian regime of former Yugoslavia. The main tasks for the new government will be to repair the country’s public finances, usher in and install economic growth, attract new investors into Croatia, secure an upgrade of credit rating from junk status, reduce high unemployment, grapple with the suffocating influx of refugees/migrants and, hopefully, tackle the unfinished business of eradicating the matters that negatively impact on Croatian unity and prosperity and which are associated with the communist totalitarian regime of former Yugoslavia and its remnants that continue poisoning democratic advances in the society and its structures.
Heads of New Croatian Government
From left: Bozo Petrov, Deputy PM, Tomislav Karamarko, First Deputy PM
and Tihomir Oreskovic, Prime Minister
Photo; Sanjin Strukic/Pixsell
“I am ready to take over the challenges… We should be ready to make difficult decisions,” Oreskovic told the parliament in Zagreb ahead of the vote.
His “pledge to cut the budget deficit and secure better credit ratings has won investors’ blessing,” Bloomberg reports.
Much of the operational task of repairing the state finance and restoring the economy will fall to the new finance minister, Zdravko Maric (a state secretary in the finance ministry during a previous HDZ government and in the past four years worked as a senior executive in Croatia’s largest company by earnings, food concern Agrokor, and was in charge of capital markets) and the new economy minister, Tomislav Panenic (the head of the eastern municipality of Tompojevci and a Most/Bridge coalition representative). They will have to cope with public debt near 90% of GDP and a 2015 budget deficit expected to come to around 4.5 % of GDP.
With more than 600,000 refugees/migrants passing through Croatia since mid-September 2015 and influx continuing despite the freezing winter weather the task of saving Croatia from being incapacitated and clogged up from the sheer numbers of people moving through, remaining a while…will indeed remain on the agenda for the foreseeable future.
Minister Zlatko Hasanbegovic (left)
Minister Mijo Crnoja (right) (resigned/28 Jan)
The appointments of Zlatko Hasanbegovic, a notable historian at the Institute for Social Research “Ivo Pilar”, as the minister of culture and Mijo Crnoja, a retired colonel of the Croatian army, as minister for veterans’ affairs have given rise to unsavoury protests by civic groups and the Social Democrats opposition in particular.
As expected, given that the Social Democrats or former Yugoslav Communists have lost government they and their ideological partners from the media have mounted an ideological lynch against the new government, branding it fascist, Ustashe – attempting to place the new government into what’s often referred to as the darkness of the WWII era. All this in concentrated efforts to try and save the communist totalitarian regime of Yugoslavia from its deserved condemnation and banishment from today’s democracy. These protesters call themselves antifascists but if anything they were and are far from the true and noble antifascism. It’s Hasanbegovic’s 2015 televised opinion in which he said that the only time, the only war in which Croatians were true victors was the 1990’s Homeland War and that Yugoslav antifascism was/is nothing more than a platitude that has caused the protests against him. In the parliament on Friday 22 January 2016 the Social Democrat opposition branded him a pro-Ustashi and a denier of antifascism and, furthermore, sparked protests against him in a street or two. Reacting, the leader of Hasanbegovic’s HDZ party, now First Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia, Tomislav Karamarko, said that it was high time Croatia differentiates between the totalitarian communist regime of former Yugoslavia and antifascism, that communists of Croatia (Yugoslavia) were not antifascists.
Bravo, Karamarko – the truth gets heard from high places.
Hasanbegovic defended his opinion and said that all his critics should read his works in full and not take words out of context. “They all abuse the concept of antifascism, and every serious historian knows that the concept can be fluid because various meanings can be ascribed to it. Stalin, Tito and Pol Pot were antifascists and so was the American General Patten, mentioned by the parliamentarians who do not want to teach history. We are not talking about an abstract antifascism but about the Yugoslav totalitarian inheritance. The modern Croatian stated has emerged as contrast to Yugoslav communism. And the fundamental Croatian constitutional values – democracy, parliamentarianism, independence, freedom and human rights – are in perfect opposition to the Yugoslav totalitarian heritage. I have been expressing my views and opinions about Titoism publicly, with scientific and professional responsibility and I do not see one reason why I should change one single comma to my statements.”
Well said Hasanbegovic and Karamarko – it is high time that the communist scum from WWII and after it be placed where they belong: away from antifacism and into the dungeons of contempt and condemnation.
The new veterans affairs minister Mijo Crnoja (I’m so pleased to know the man I wrote about in my previous post has made it to Minister!) attracted hateful comments and protests from the same camp: Social Democrats and Yugoslav communism nostalgics. His reported plan to compile a register of traitors of Croatian national interests and aggressors against Croatia is the thorn in their eyes – of course it would be – they see themselves on that register. Hence, they brand Crnoja a dictator, oppressor and that his plans for these lists spell terror. Communist League (today’s Social Democrats) walked out of Croatian parliament in 1991 in protest against the proposed vote to secede from communist Yugoslavia and make Croatia an independent democratic state and they have been undermining that Croatian freedom for a quarter of a century – of course they will fight with all their might to avoid communism being shown up for what it truly was and is: a political force that is evil and that should be buried for once and for all.(NOTE: Crnoja resigned as minister on 28 January 2016 amidst unproven allegations from the communist inclined opposition of improper conduct regarding his registered abode where he was supposed to but had not yet built his house and registered a shed as his residence!)
The new government is made up of a number of political novices including the Prime Minister Tihomir “Tim” Oreskovic, but together with the politically experienced colleagues they are all, as Oreskovic describes, “high-quality people from the business sector, the academic community and the public sector. They are ‘Tim’s Team’”.
Framework for Transforming Croatia
January 2016
Despite some minor naturally occurring “teething problems” the new government composed of different political groups has or may encounter as it gets down to work it is difficult to predict how successful this new government will be but if its focus on professionalism and intended reforms rather than political maneuvering are anything to go by then it’s future looks solid and promising. As to the protests and hateful outbursts coming out of the opposition parties and former communists and their sympathisers one could say it’s a given that any parliamentary or government opposition anywhere in the world in any democracy has the job of opposing anything and almost everything the government or its officials say and of making a great deal of noise, throwing negative lights at the government but what occurred in Croatia on Friday 22 January and days preceding it, and after, has nothing to do with healthy democratic discourse to benefit a betterment of citizens’ lives and everything to do with continued desperate efforts to cover up communist crimes of the former Yugoslav lot. Croatia’s parliamentary opposition, of centre-left persuasion, isn’t showing signs of intending to act as a shadow government that works for the betterment of citizens’ lives and their standard of living. As they assess the reasons why they lost the elections they are becoming noticeably bitter, twisted, unhappy killjoys of democracy because they are doing everything they can to disrupt enjoyment of democracy and the business of a democratic government, which of course, in this case would include the clearing up of past communist ways that stifle progress. As an example, Prime Minister’s Powerpoint presentation in parliament of his new government’s plan to transform Croatia for the better included a pyramid of priorities and the Social Democrat Ingrid Anticevic-Marinovic held it up in an envious rage saying that all it needed was the eye at the top to tell people what it really was: a Masonic pyramid; insinuating evilly that “Masons” have taken over in Croatia. Oh, I do often admire the stamina of the majority of Croatian people for tolerating political idiots such as Anticevic-Marinovic without contracting stomach ulcers. Undoubtedly, because of the former communists within the left and centre-left political persuasion democracy in Croatia has since Croatia’s independence from communist Yugoslavia had a fragile existence and poor development and proliferation into every aspect of daily life and it’s time that the former Yugoslav communism is called a criminal regime, not just totalitarian and definitely not referred to as an antifascist movement a moment longer. It’s a good sign the latter is being reverberated from the mouths of members of the new government in Croatia. Croatia does not only need an economic transformation it also needs a transformation of daily living into democratic rights and responsibilities and that can only be achieved through decisive rejection of any aspects of former Yugoslav communism as partners in strengthening democracy. Lustration is a must for Croatia. Ina Vukic, Prof. (Zgb); B.A., M.A.Ps. (Syd)
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What a great article, Ina Vukic – thank you! Much said, well said – keep towing the line for true democracy.
Thank you Wilkinson
The new government has a violent communist storm in front of it, all sorts of mad people, twisted idiots will try and make their efforts to transform Croatia crumble. Hence, my resolve to support the government is the more stronger. Zivila Hrvatska!
No one expects things to go smoothly for the new government, Nell and when one need to clear up the much of communism still lingering and at times dictating then one expects storms, still – at times disheartening to see that humans were/are capable of coming up with such criminal regimes, Nell
That Ingrid Anticevic Marinovic is an embarrassment to Croats and indeed humans in general – she often makes stupid remarks that one wonders who are the people who actually vote her in? Must be a deeply communist red electorate she comes from, who are protecting themselves from exposure of communist crimes of their ancestors … how sad for Croatia to have to put up with such fowl people who turn the modern day educational presentations into Masonic fiction…
Yes, Variousways, I continue to cross the street if I see her walking my way – many do – her moves are so often outrageous and deeply embarrassing for other people – she seems so thick and blind to her own repulsive ways as politician, it’s tragic really.
may they lead
honorably
as you indicate
is possible 🙂
Hear hear, smilecalm 🙂
From Facebook: Amusing article. While I agree with so much on a sentimental level, I wish I shared your optimism and could gloss over a lot of ominous signs that have plagued Croatia during previous hdz-led governments. He might have the gumption, but I don’t think Panenic has the expertise (Milan A. Račić should have been a shoo in for the role), while a ‘list of traitors’ sounds vindictive (even totalitarian) – why don’t they just impose lustration laws – that would be the conventional democratic practice? Hopefully, your prophesy will trump my skepticism and Tim gets to do what he obviously does best – spark reforms and an economic turnaround.
Well noted Jones B, however for almost every appointment there may be a better or equally as good a person to fill the shoe but I for one am the one to give a chance if things look good at the start, there are quite a number of political novices in this government but let’s hope it actually might be that quality that gives the winning edge. Croatia is certainly not in a good place and it would be in a much better one if lustration was the practice or law, putting together a register of traitors may seem vindictive to some by to a neutral bystander surely it could appear as an absolute necessity in these days when lustration has been knocking on doors for such a long time, failing to enter..
Good morning Ina !
Thank you very much for visiting ! 🙂
https://youtu.be/sJsJYUpbhIs
Regards,
Aliosa.
Best regards to you too Aliosa 🙂
It sounds like lustration is well under way Ina. Political novices the new PM and his team may be but it sounds like they know just what they’re doing to bring true democracy to Croatia as well as sorting out the finances to make the country a viable power in Europe.
Normally I would be wary of any lists that included names of people who were ‘traitors’ to the state as being too easy to include names for personal revenge. In this instance I’m not and hope it addresses the problem of those communists who draw a pension from the democratic state they fought to deny.
I wish the new Croatia every success.
xxx Massive Hugs xxx
I get worried about lists also, David, but I do not worry about the lists which ensure that any name that goes on it has objective, fact based backing so I put my trust in that, it sounds like a harsh measure but the way things have been going I think that Croatia can only get rid of remnants of communism that keep it in the “dark ages” of progress in a harsh way, as it goes from among our forefathers “you gotta be cruel to be kind” – hugs David
Best of luck. I will be eagerly following your posts to see how the new government performs with its manh tasks ahead!
Cheers Christoph, off to a good start and let’s trust it will go well 🙂
Croatia’s GDP is one of the higher ones, not the highest Ina. France, Portugal, Spain and Greece are much higher than we are. I find it very strange that we get a American President and Canadian Prime Minister…call me a conspiracy theory nut, but as an empath, I see this is a very planned out mission to sell out every asset in Croatia to the large corporations. Kitarovic is a NATO servant, Oreskovic a pharmaceutical slave, and now we just need a BANKER whore and we’re going to do just fine. I predicted that as soon as Kitarovic came to power she would be looking for ways to spend in military.. We don’t get anything for free, Biden came here for a reason. Although I wish I could be optimistic, I did live in Canada for 42 years before returning here, I can smell a rat continents away. These poor people have been so brainwashed and mind controlled through media that by the time they figure out what hit them, everything will be gone. I sure I am wrong, the Croatian people deserve so much better, a proud and very loyal patriotic nation. I didn’t know what value of family was until I returned here. Sometimes I wonder what I would have become had my parents not immigrated. Keep up the great work!
For obvious reasons Ines a couple of words were edited in order to comply with this Bog’s comment policy. Sale of public assets to plump up government budget is not a Croatian invention but sadly has plagued the world for decades as you well know. The fact that Croatia’s president and now the Prime Minister have spent years living abroad – in the diaspora – to my way of thinking does not make them less deserving to be in those posts nor necessarily put there by someone who does not wish Croatia well; I consider Croats living in Croatia and abroad as equally Croat but among those living abroad there are many more “street wise” people when it comes to international affairs than what there are in Croatia. That’s just a fact of destiny. I would think that your living abroad so many decades has given the the financial foundation which makes your life more comfortable, perhaps a retirement that is secure and comfortable and I guess that is good. Croatia cannot exist in isolation – not any more, the world is different but it must look after itself and its interests…it’s not Kitarovic or Oreskovic that have brought down to ruin so many public assets its the Croats in Croatia who have been stripping public assets either through corruption and theft or through neglect… that musty be fixed … 90% of GDP of foreign debt is not the highest in EU but among the highest that’s for sure – Italy, Portugal, Greece…over 100% 120% madness and 90% is nothing to write home about – it’s serious as we all know…
Not only are atrocious those who have thieved and destroyed public assets, Ina, but Croatia is full of ordinary people whom kick and scream against paying taxes, avoid paying taxes…and yet they like driving their cars on the roads paid for by tax income, they use the hospitals and clinics built with and maintained with tax money…where in the hell do they think the state will get the money to do all that if people don’t pay taxes. Tax evasion happens everywhere in the world but Croatia has too many tax evaders when compared to the number of people actually working on taxable wages…a right old mess … roll up the sleeves Croatia and get to the hard slog
Indeed Marko, many who don’t pay taxes drive their cars on the beautiful motorways Croatia has built…hospitals/health are in desperate need of funds and repair…unemployment high – tax income lower…it will be interesting to see what the new government’s budget will be like, I believe it’s due in March
The specter of crippling government debt is forever used as the ex-ante rationale for selling public assets and spending the proceeds on even worse performing assets or on no assets at all but to pay off some debt, which means assets get totally wasted. The major supporter of privatization is the funds management industry and in Croatia this has traditionally had government control … with a pool of funds growing faster than the economy chasing a return. … Hence speculating in existing assets is the name of the game. Public assets with regulated if not guaranteed returns are always a welcome addition and especially if proceeds of sale go towards setting up new job crating ventures or concerns. Croatia has finally woken up to the fact that in order to attract the added bonus of non-returnable EU funds one must work very hard and invest some real know-how…Good luck y’all
Blade Runner, non-returnable EU funds seem indeed as added bonus in economic process, let’s hope they prove to be what they promise…
You are right Ina, I don’t delve in politics , rather quickly observe, and you are right, just because they lived outside of Croatia doesn’t make them any less capable. Nobody said they were, but I found it strange that when people call themselves Patriots, “domoljubi”, yet live outside of Croatia when they can and are able to live here. I gave up my Canadian pension and citizenship to return to Croatia. My parents immigrated when I was young girl, I had no choice, but I loved my country and as soon as I had financially arranged myself, I returned back at the age of 48. My point? It’s just my view Ina, but I think that we don’t have the right to call ourselves patriotic while living outside. Yes, there are circumstances that forced people to leave like my parents, but they rarely return home with their life savings and retire, invest here. There are many successful business people that could bring their hard earned wealth to Croatia and help the country if they are true Patriots, just as Kitarovic and Oreskovic probably would not have returned had they not this opportunity or if they were Chosen for those positions. sure, they are very skilled and capable, but I question who their master is, that’s what I needed to say. I worked as a PhD Pysch. for the Ministry of Justice in a max. prison security working with murders in a program to rehabilitate, there is no such program here, but I found another way to work and earn a living and pay taxes. I feel that I have earned the right to call myself patriotic, and of course there are exceptions to every rule, but had most of our immigrants returned to fight for their country, perhaps there would have been less casualties? In retrospect, my father spent his entire life as an activist and fighting for Croatia independence, he was a very well known man in Canada and was on TV often throwing rotten eggs at the Yugoslav embassy, I know a lot about what real patriotism is, perhaps I inherited his passion for our home, but I have serious doubts are new leaders are not working for us….time will tell…and please forgive my ignorance when it comes to current politics.
Sure, Ines, your opinion is as valuable as anybody else’s and I understand what you mean but I do not accept that to be a patriot one must live in the country as there are various ways of expressing or living patriotism. People were forced to live Croatia out of poverty (throughout Austro-Hungarian Empire days to Yugoslavia days) and many have personal or family ties established abroad that do not always give them a choice to return and live in Croatia. Diaspora did contribute to the war effort most significantly in securing funds for lots of activities necessary for freedom before during and after the war. I do not subscribe to the view which values diaspora Croats in accordance with whether they return or invest money into Croatia – after all Croats living in Croatia are not considered less Croat if they don’t invest their money in Croatian business. I think people in diaspora should have the freedom to invest their money where best/adequate returns are possible and Croatia like any other country should ensure it creates conditions for that as that is the only good business language that produces lasting results. I do hope the new government will make investment into Croatia attractive and with least possible red tape. Bottom of the line is no matter where one lives one is a patriot if one acts for the good of Croatia, ideally one would do well to return but the harsh reality of past necessities to emigrate have yielded different realities of today when it comes to personal choices of where to live
Brilliant article, bravo. I am very excited and optimistic about the prospects of the new government. I am loving the new Minister of Culture, Hasanbegovic!!! Tell it like it is, tell the truth, finally. I noticed they didn’t create a ministry for demographic renewal…unfortunate.
Hey Sunman – I concur re Hasanbegovic – the man has guts! Hooray for him and new government. The demographic/family & diaspora ministry was not in plan from the start as far as I followed the lead up to this but is reportedly on the books to be created – so I do hope it is soon
Agree Sunman. Offices for demograohic renewal and diaspora! Hasanbegovic is a brilliant choice. Brilliant. No nonsense man who is highly educated and well-spoken. Mijo is one of the nicest people I have met in HR. I only worry he is too soft-spoken. He needs to bring the hammer down on these entitled communists. Kreni gardo bandu gazi! Zivjela Ina!
Yep, no soft approach, I agree Veronika
Lots of men, aren’t there, Ina?
There are Carol, it seems Croatia having stepped out of communist Yugoslavia’s mainly men’s world and token women in places has not had enough time to create opportunities and will for more women to rise high in profession, business etc – hence not enough competed or had adequate professional experience at top to compete for government. The new government said it looked for the best people knowledge etc wise rather than gender and given the terrible situation the country’s economy is in I agree with such stands – cannot afford token anything 🙂
Reblogged this on idealisticrebel and commented:
Ina, this is such a good article. I have to say I can’t figure out why anyone would want Communism back. But they seem to. May your words keep people thinking about Democracy and not take Croatia back into the past. Hugs, Barbara
Thank you, Barbara – I am convinced that those who keep on with communist ways have a great deal to hid from the past so it’s not going to be easy “helping” them step back and let freedom reign. Hugs!
A new start is always heady – there are advantages and disadvantages to a government comprised of business people – as we are facing similar candidates here. At some point it becomes like a gambling game of cards – know when to hold em, know when to fold em, know when to run…
So well put Helena 🙂