Croatia News - CroatiaPress.com

Brussels has given Slovenia a 14-day deadline to explain its policy over the introduction of pricey motorway toll stickers as of July 1.

The stickers valid for six months and costing 35 euro will be mandatory for all motorists, the measure causing an uproar, as short-term cheaper stickers have not been offered and many tourists who will just be passing through Slovenia on their way to the Croatian coast will have to pay for the six-month toll sticker.

Zagreb, June 17 (CP) – Croatia opens two more negotiation chapters on Tuesday in its EU bid, Social Policy and Employment and Workforce Freedom of Movement.

The two chapters are the first ones that have had had set conditions for their opening.

So far Croatia has opened 18 negotiating chapters and two have been temporarily closed.

This comes following Ireland’s failed referendum on the Lisbon treaty which may slow down Croatia’s EU accession, although most EU leaders are saying that the failure of the adoption of the Lisbon treaty on EU expansion should not affect Croatia’s EU bid.

Zagreb, June 17 (CP) – A search that has been launched two days ago for a Bosnia-Herzegovina national who went missing on the Croatian island of Brach has so far not yielded results.

The local Split alert centre was informed on Monday that a Bosnia-Herzegovina female was missing and a search operation was immediately launched by the local rescue service and fire fighters.

Zagreb, July 15 (CP) – The Tourism Minister Damir Bajs has downed a whole small bottle of wine containing 7.5 decilitres at the opening of a Krizevci fair at the same time warning the public to drink in a responsible manner.

The deputy PM Damir Polancec who was also at the opening failed to drink that much one in one go, saying he had not had anything to eat.

After managing all the wine in one go, the Tourism Minister Bajs said that the zero alcohol tolerance for motorists was to be relaxed as of June 17, but told those present to drink responsibly.

The zero alcohol tolerance for motorists had been introduced several years ago and is now being relaxed, as the results expected by the authorities had not been achieved, as the law did not end up being a deterrent for those who drank and drove.

The law is to now be relaxed for motorists who do not commit a driving offence, but the zero alcohol tolerance is to stay in place for young drivers and driving professionals.

Zagreb, July 14 (CP) – The Croatian government has established a new police body The Police National Office for Quashing Corruption and Organised Crime, the operation carried out in secret.

The new national organisation, mimicking that of the US FBI should become an effective means for more in-depth investigation into organised crime and corruption.

Once the new body is fully established and operational it will be presented to the public.

It is yet to be seen whether this new police body will be more effective in fighting crime and corruption and work as the operational force of the USKOK organized crime and corruption busting state body.

Zagreb, June 14 (CP) – The law on banning smoking in public areas and workplaces is to be debated by parliament next week.

Once the law is scrutinized and passed smoking will no longer be allowed in all public and work places, but small cafes may be exempt from the ban.

Smoking will only be allowed in workplaces and public places in sealed-off areas provided by employer or restaurant or café management.

Smokers not abiding by the ban will be looking at 1,000 kuna fines and owners of the establishment or business will be fined up to 250,000 kuna.

It is not yet clear when  the legislation will be passed and implemented, but there are some indications that the gradual introduction may start as early as July with the small café cigarette smoke ban coming into effect by mid-2009.

Zagreb, June 13 (CP) – The failure of Ireland to support the Lisbon treaty during a referendum held on Friday is not to endanger Croatia’s entry into the EU, as it is guranteed under the current rules.

Early returns from the Irish referendum show that 53.4 percent of the voters voted against the treaty.

The result may endanger future EU expansion that should follow those of 2004 and 2007.

Out of all the candidate countries, Croatia is the only to have been given guarantees of entry under the existing rules.

Croatian president Stjepan Mesic has commented on the results by saying he was surprised with the results of the Ireland vote, as the EU had helped Ireland resolve its problems through the use of accession and structural funds and the Irish should understand that others have the right to development.

The government has also reacted to the news by saying the Croatian believed the EU would find the necessary institutional solutions stressing that Croatia’s future within the EU was not in question.

Zagreb, June 13 (CP) – A 43-year-old Irish citizen was robbed of his video camera on Thursday in the central Dalmatian coastal town of Zadar.

The video camera went missing from his bag as he walked down a Zadar street.

The stolen camera is valued at about 7,000 kuna.

Zagreb, June 12 (CP) – The Croatian Ambassador to the United States, Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic had ended up being better at target shooting members of a Croatian delegation held at the national guard camp Camp Riple.

Grabar Kitarovic ended up being better than the rest of the Croatian delegation comprising high ranking Croatian army officers and the Defence Minister Branko Vukelic.

Grabar Kitarovic did not bat an eyelid over her win and explained that she had received shooting training by her father when she was a little girl.

Grabar Kitarovic had recently taken up the job of Croatian Ambassador to the US and had prior to that been at the helm of Croatian diplomacy.

Zagreb, June 12 (CP) – The Croatian economy loses about six billion kuna annually due to corruption.

The head of the anti-corruption agency USKOK Dinko Cvitan called on all state institutions and not only the police to report on corruption within their ranks even when they have not valid evidence, but only suspect corruption.

The president of the national council for the monitoring of corruption curbing has stated that the problem on the world scale amounted to up to 1, 500 billion annually, while some six billion kuna was Croatia’s share.

The Justice Minister Ana Lovrin has stated that Croatia had done a lot in the fight against corruption saying that the next step was the drawing up of a strategy aimed at quashing corruption, which should be presented to MPs next week.

The European Commission has described the Croatian repressive framework aimed at fighting corruption as well set up with tried corruption cases growing by 34 percent in 2007 compared to 2006.