PM: While fully respecting the sacrifice of Croatian Homeland War soldiers, solution to Jasenovac plaque in next 2 weeks

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said at a government session on Thursday that in the next two weeks, while fully respecting the sacrifice of Croatian Homeland War soldiers, the government wanted to find a solution through dialogue to the Jasenovac memorial plaque that commemorates 11 fallen fighters of the HOS volunteer units and contains the Ustasha salute "For the homeland ready", after which work would begin on a comprehensive solution that would close ideological disputes causing divisions in the Croatian society.

Plenkovic reiterated that the context of the Ustasha-run World War II concentration camp of Jasenovac and the "For the homeland ready" salute in Jasenovac could not go together.

Talks with HOS associations were conducted ahead of the commemorations in Jasenovac, Vukovar, Okucani and Knin as well as on the occasion of the European remembrance day for victims of totalitarian systems and yesterday, said Plenkovic.

"I therefore expect that attempts will be made to solve this issue in the next few days by consensus and through dialogue to be mediated by the Veterans Minister (Tomo Medved) and other colleagues who were involved in yesterday's talks. After the agreement, which I believe will be reached, particularly given the talks held yesterday, work will begin on a comprehensive legal solution to close all these ideological issues that divide the Croatian society," Plenkovic said.

He went on to say that the government "has done many positive things" for the dignity of the Homeland War and respect of all who gave their lives for Croatia, mentioning in that context work on preparing a new, single law on war veterans regulating their rights.

Plenkovic added that the government had shown what it thought of those who sacrificed themselves for Croatia through budgetary allocations as well.

"Also, we are all aware that the context of the Ustasha concentration camp in Jasenovac and the 'For the homeland ready' salute in that very Jasenovac can't go together. We are very clear and adamant about that," he stressed.

He said that the government had set up the council for dealing with the consequences of totalitarian regimes primarily in an effort to resolve "something that in Croatia has not been dealt with or appropriately addressed for the past 27 years."

The council's task is not to address specific cases but give the government certain recommendations and advice on how to regulate those matters "in the long run and in a legal way, and the deadline for completing that task is March next year."

After that, the government, primarily the Public Administration Ministry, will legally regulate the matter, said the PM.
 

rime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Thursday that the 2.8% annual economic growth in the second quarter of the year confirmed that the Croatian economy was going in the right direction, also owing to the positive impact of last year's tax reform.

Speaking at a cabinet session, he said it was very positive news that GDP had increased for the 11th consecutive quarter and that in Q2 it had increased 0.8% from Q1, when the quarterly increase was 0.6% .

Plenkovic highlighted that Croatia's GDP growth in Q2 was higher than the European Union average. In Q2 2017, according to seasonally adjusted data, the EU economy increased 0.6% quarterly and 2.3% annually, whereas the Croatian economy increased 0.8% and 3.4% respectively.

"That puts us in the group of EU countries with the highest growth rates," he said, adding that this confirmed that the Croatian economy was going in the right direction.

He said the adoption of the law on crisis management in companies of systemic importance had limited the impact of the crisis in the Agrokor group on the national economy, as evidenced by the summer season. "That should be put within the context of the best tourist season," he said, expecting nights to reach 100 million.

He reiterated that the finance minister and the tax authority had been tasked with once again thoroughly explaining the property tax to see if any modification was necessary. "If it's estimated that we are not ready to impose that tax, we will delay it. We wish to find a solution that will also be in the spirit of equity because that was one of the main aspects of the whole tax reform."

Plenkovic said this would not be a value tax on property such as many EU member states have but an attempt to change, through equity principles, the current local rate, the monument annuity and the holiday house tax.

"We will thoroughly discuss this issue and submit a motion to parliament after once again explaining to the public in detail all the effects," he said, adding that the money collected from property tax would belong to the local and not the central government.

As for the government's decision to raise the fee for renewables from HRK 0.035 to HRK 0.105 per kWh as of September, Plenkovic said the fee had not been raised for four years and that the rise was "a continuation of our policy to have as much renewables as possible as the source of electricity in Croatia," in keeping with global trends.

He said the monthly electricity bill would go up HRK 20 "but, given the tax reform, it will remain lower than at the same time last year."

Plenkovic voiced hope that by mid-2019 the government would find a way, in talks with companies in the business of renewables, to increase the revenues of the Croatian Energy Market Operator, which pays out the fee for renewables.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said the project of building the Peljesac bridge was going on, that dialogue with Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) on this matter would continue, and that Croatia was willing to discuss outstanding border issues with Slovenia too.

My message to our friends in BiH and the Croatian public, notably in Dubrovnik-Neretva County, is that the project of connecting Croatia's south with the rest of the country is going on, he said at a cabinet session. "The bridge will be built, the dialogue with BiH is continuing. We talked about it at the session of the Croatian government and the BiH Council of Ministers in Sarajevo in early July."

Plenkovic said Croatia was doing everything in line with international law. "The bridge will be built on the territory of Croatia's internal waters which are indisputably Croatian and which, under any aspect of the application of international law, can be only and always Croatian."

At the same time, under international law, ships sailing in and out of Neum, BiH, will be guaranteed innocent passage through Croatian sea, and the technical aspects of the bridge "will be such as were suggested by Bosnia and Herzegovina ten years ago," he said.

Plenkovic added that this issue should not be politicised and that it was useful for BiH, Croatia and the European Union.

He went on to say that the government was preparing his meeting with Slovenian PM Miro Cerar in Zagreb next month. He said that although Croatia did not recognise the arbitration ruling on the border with Slovenia, it was willing to talk about this issue with its neighbour.

He said this was a delicate issue and that it was a big success that it had not caused major reactions among Croatia's public, media and politicians, reiterating that it would be solved in a good neighbourly way.

Text: Hina

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