Government sends to parliament amendments to Police Act

Future reports on police work will be written by the Chief of Police who will then submit them to the interior minister who will forward them to the government and the government will forward them to parliament by 1 June at the latest, according to amendments to the Police Act which the government on Thursday forwarded to parliament.

The amendments propose the setting up of a commission which would deal with complaints and which would include two ministry representatives, to be appointed by the minister of the interior, and ten members of the general public who would be appointed and relieved of duty by the national parliament. The amendments also regulate remuneration for general public members of the commission in the amount of five percent of the average net pay in Croatia in the previous year.

Also proposed were amendments aimed at enabling people with a three-year high school diploma to join the force.

The government adopted a decision on Thursday to receive another 150 refugees under the EU relocation and resettlement scheme, and this applies to citizens of third countries or without citizenship who qualify for international protection this year.

"By implementing the relocation programme and with this decision, the government is trying to ensure a legal arrival of citizens of third countries or persons without citizenship who are in need of international protection to the EU area to an extent that is sustainable for Croatia, whereby we wish to additionally avoid the deaths and exploitation by traffickers of people arriving in the EU irregularly," said Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic.

Croatia adopted the first such decision in July 2015, receiving 152 Syrian citizens.

A second decision, on the resettlement of another 100 persons, was adopted in October 2017, the minister said, adding that logistical preparations were under way on the relocation of Syrian citizens from Turkey to Croatia.

Croatia is adopting this decision based on available capacity, to meet obligations stemming from European and international documents on refugees, and taking into account the fact that, as an EU member state, it supports the principle of solidarity and equal sharing of responsibility, Bozinovic said.

HRK 315M in EU funds to be allocated for waste separation bins

The government on Thursday gave its consent to the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund steering management board's decision to sign contracts on the allocation of more than HRK 315 million in European Union grants for co-financing the procurement of waste separation bins.

The grants will cover 85% of the costs, while the rest will be covered by local government.

Environmental Protection and Energy Minister Tomislav Coric said 407 municipalities and towns had expressed interest and that the Fund would procure 1.23 million bins.

This will make it much easier on local government to establish a waste separation system, he added.

The procurement of bins is one of Croatia's most significant steps forward in building an infrastructure for efficient waste management, Coric said, adding that this would help to meet the European targets regarding waste separation and recycling.

The Croatian government on Thursday decided to allocate 40 million kuna in an effort to improve the healtcare system in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The funds will be earmarked throughout this year to the University Clinical Hospital Mostar to cover its liabilities to drug and equipment suppliers.

Foreign Minister Marija Pejcinovic Buric told the cabinet that this decision should be perceived in a broader context  of assistance to the Croats outside Croatia  and efforts to help the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina to be on en equal footing with the other two constituent peoples in that country.

This decision facilitates efforts aimed at helping the Croats to stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina, having in mind a marked downsizing of their community since the end of the 1992-1995 war, the minister said.

She warned that the number of the Croats in that country was cut by half.

Text: Hina

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