A week in Croatian politics
October 28, 2022 – This week in Croatian politics, we had everything from insults, Slovenian opinions on Croatia’s Schengen entry and proposals for salary increases to health reforms, Milanović’s latest actions and Nancy Pelosi.
The head of the Croatian health insurance company HDZ referred to Croats as arrogant in his speech about healthcare not being free
HZZO director, HDZ member Lucian Vukelić called Croats arrogant because “they think healthcare is free”. The HDZ member at the head of the HZZO took care to describe himself as somewhat arrogant for good measure.
“We have a lot of relatives in America, as soon as you see them they say: ‘Thank God I’m healthy’. They say it’s because healthcare in America costs serious money. In America, you pay for your health care out of pocket. Our people here are arrogant and I have to say that I was arrogant too, in Croatia they say it’s free. It’s not free. Health care in Croatia is not free, health care in Croatia also costs money,” he said.
Vukelić failed to really explain what the meaning of this actually is, but he indicated that there is a widespread opinion in Croatia that health care somehow doesn’t cost anything. What’s more, Vukelić himself said that a third of Croatians who work annually deduct 26 billion kuna from their salary for basic health insurance, so they know for sure that health care is not free.
Of course, there is also the question of what we actually get from this paid health care, which HDZ member Vukelić claims is expensive. Perhaps it would be right if, given that Vukelič already gladly admits that we all pay dearly for our healthcare, he would explain why people are forced to collect money for their treatment every now and then, why pregnant women sometimes have to take their own toilet paper to maternity hospitals , why waiting times for often basic examinations are so long and why medical personnel are leaving Croatia.
Only later did the HDZ member, when asked by a journalist about his statement, try to justify himself by calling himself arrogant, which is absolutely true, but it is also true that he called other people arrogant with the thesis that “our people say , that health care is free”, which it really isn’t. When they see how much their salary is shaved off every month for this, it’s definitely not.
A man who takes home a monthly salary of more than 18,000 kuna, who drives a Mercedes worth 300,000 kuna, who has a company car, who until 2019 owned a 2001 Harley Davidson worth 150,000 kuna and who claims that his “communication skills are excellent “, but makes sexist comments on a TV show (Open) about women who talk a lot should maybe shut up before calling others arrogant.
On the topic of healthcare, the Minister of Health Vili Beroš announced reforms to the system
Beroš presented his package of health reforms, and an extensive one at that. They will introduce preventive examinations, with pilot projects that will start next year in two Croatian counties, they will expand the number of specializations in primary health care, they will revise the national preventive programs for malignant diseases, the emphasis will be on melanoma, the hospital system. Change is coming and by 2024 the emergency helicopter service will be fully up and running (or flying).
This is just a fraction of what was presented and discussed. You can read more details in this article.
Will Croatia and Slovenia begin to diverge regarding entry into Schengen?
The topic of Croatia’s entry into Schengen is urgent due to the rapid approach of entry into the Eurozone, but is neighboring Slovenia ready to throw another wrench into the works?
An expert on European Union law from the Faculty of Law in Maribor, Janja Hojnik, was recently a guest of Nové dne on N1, where, among other things, there was talk about Croatia’s entry into Schengen. Hojnik warned that, as far as it appears, the Slovenian government has not decided to block Croatia’s entry into Schengen in any way.
“It was established that Croatia’s entry into the Schengen area is mutually beneficial. The plan is for Slovenia to ratify the agreement on Croatia’s entry into Schengen,” she said. She also commented on the announcement, which was published yesterday in Ljubljana’s Delo, that Slovenia will issue a unilateral note that Croatia, by entering the Schengen area, accepts an arbitration award that was made in the past regarding a territorial dispute. .
“Recently, I was on Slovenian television and two ministers were asked to comment on these statements, and one minister said that it was all disinformation, while the Minister of Justice said that the government had not commented on it at all and that she knew nothing. about the fact that this statement should be confirmed in the parliament, but there is no information about this at the foreign policy committee. We can only guess whether it will reach the Slovenian government itself or the parliament. I think it would be a little unusual to put it in the ratification bill. This is not the norm and the European Commission would probably ask Slovenia what all this means. I think that ratification is not possible with this condition. I don’t see any legal consequences. Such a statement cannot be part of European Union law, and it also has no legal consequences under international law,” explained Hojnik.
When she spoke about the arbitration agreement between Slovenia and Croatia, she said that the task of politics is to resolve relations between neighbors, not to deepen them.
“I wish that Slovenia and Croatia would solve this problem by themselves, without the interference of external factors. Schengen is probably the last thing where Slovenia could have a veto. It is in Slovenia’s interest that they are not on the external border. I understand it as the responsibility of politics to find an agreement,” she said.
Plenković says he will arrange work on Sundays and raise the minimum wage. Again.
Prime Minister Andrej Plenković recently discussed the state of the economy, continued inflation, the consequences of the global coronavirus pandemic and, of course, Russian aggression against Ukraine. They also touched on digitization and the green transition, topics that come up again and again. Perhaps the most attention of all, however, was the discussion about banning (or rather regulating) work on Sundays (remember?) and, of course, raising the minimum wage. If you have followed the domestic political scene for a while, none of the previously mentioned and already well-worn topics will surprise you.
“We will regulate work on Sundays and the minimum wage will rise,” says Plenković, who announced that his government will take several steps forward in the coming weeks in both this and other areas. “We will organize work on Sundays and we have come up with a rational, balanced proposal,” assured Plenković, adding that next year the minimum wage will also increase to HRK 4,220 net, and a proposal for an additional tax on extraordinary profits is also being prepared. ready for a fairer distribution of the burden of the current crisis, and he also announced the continuation of the social dialogue with the trade unions, with whom intense talks have been taking place recently.
He pointed out that in two months the Republic of Croatia will be among the fifteen countries in the world that are in NATO, the European Union, the Schengen area and the Eurozone, and that negotiations with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have been launched.
Plenković once again used the opportunity to troll President Zoran Milanović (SDP)
If you’ve spent any time in the city of Zagreb in the last few days, you’ll have noticed that for about 48 hours it’s become impossible to get anywhere by road. The summit of the Crimean Platform took place right here in the Croatian capital, and for road users the problems were very obvious. Plenković recently discussed how this extremely important summit took place, not hiding his satisfaction with its outcome and once again expressing his support for Ukraine.
It didn’t stop there. If you follow Croatian politics, you will know that Andrej Plenković (HDZ) and Zoran Milanović (SDP), the Prime Minister and President of Croatia, do not miss any opportunity to insult or troll each other, and this was no exception. . Plenković made sure to make his feelings clear about Milanović’s earlier comments about Nancy Pelosi and the summit.
“I think you are more than aware of how important, useful and excellent an event like the one we organized is for the brave, correct and moral foreign policy of the Croatian government. This topic, whether someone went to Makarska or not it is not the subject of my interest. He can explain that himself,” Plenković said, mentioning that Milanović had gone to the aforementioned part of central Dalmatia.
”I think you can see who has been saying what over the last few years. I don’t know what kind of rally he will choose, maybe he will go to one organized by Russia. Mrs. Pelosi didn’t waste her time on unimportant things, and neither did we,” concluded Prime Minister Plenković, who very clearly reprimanded Milanović with his comments about Russia. Foreign Minister Gordan Grlič Radman also touched on the subject of Milanović, saying that “people are calling and they ask what is Croatia’s actual position” regarding the Russian-Ukrainian war.
Nancy Pelosi praised Croatia for its humanity towards Ukraine and called it a leader in the diversification of energy sources
Nany Pelosi said that Croatia has a lot to offer Ukraine due to its relatively recent war experience, and she also said that this country is a leader in the diversification of energy sources. Pelosi warned that energy has become a means of blackmail in the horrific Russian aggression against Ukraine, and then thanked Croatia and Plenković for their leadership in the energy field.
“Croatia is a small enough country to be resilient, but big enough to be important in terms of security, democracy, peace and values,” Pelosi is convinced, adding that the diversification of energy sources helps save the planet Earth. Plenković said that with the construction of the liquefied natural gas terminal in Krk, Croatia “finally resolved” a four-decade-long debate in energy circles and that the government’s decision to increase its capacities “allowed Croatia to become an energy hub” for natural gas .
Pelosi also said that the Croatian capital was the “perfect” place to hold the summit, emphasizing the very strong Croatian-Ukrainian friendship and the help that Zagreb continues to provide to Kyiv when it is going through such dire times.
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