Croatia

Veritas Center Director Savo Štrbac said that Stanko Kovačević, suspected of having committed war crimes in Croatia, was arrested in Podgorica. Police arrested Kovačević on Friday according to an Interpol warrant, which was issued by Interpol in Zagreb. He is currently in custody pending extradition, Štrbac said.

The cabinet confirmed on Thursday a coalition-sponsored motion to put the border arbitration agreement with Croatia to a referendum.

Croatia’s new Economy Minister Djuro Popijac has warned that his government will have to take painful steps to tackle the country’s economic problems. 

The crime in the town of Vukovar in 1991 was premeditated, just like in Srebrenica, Croatian President Stjepan Mesić said yesterday. Croatia is marking Nov. 18 as Vukovar Victims Remembrance Day. Mesić went on to say: “I simply cannot understand how wounded civilians could have been taken out of the …

Offical campaigning ahead of Croatia’s presidential elections on 27 December kicked off Thursday. The campaigning period will end on 25 December. An opinion poll published earlier this month showed that the country’s main opposition Social Democrat candidate and Zagreb’s mayor lead the race.

Twelve candidates will be in the run for election to office of the President in Croatia. The 12 candidates will race in presidential polls slated for December 27 to succeed the incumbent Stipe Mesic whose second term expires in early 2010.

On Tuesday evening, residents and staff of the Vukovar hospital lit candles in front of the monument outside the hospital which stands to honor the memory of the civilians and soldiers killed by Yugoslav Peoples’ Army, JNA and Serb paramilitary forces on 18 November, 1991. According to hospital data, 1,624 …

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn welcomed a signing of a border arbitration agreement between Croatia and Slovenia, calling on both countries to ratify the document as soon as possible.

Croatia has sent a report to the Hague Tribunal stating that measures have been taken for sending all documentation request by the court to The Hague. “The report states everything that has been done, and I think that a lot has been done,” Croatian Justice Minister Ivan Šimonović said.

Croatian President Stjepan Mesic met Pope Benedict XVI for the first time on Thursday at the Vatican. Mesic and Benedict XVI discussed the situation in the region around Croatia, Croatian-EU relations, the main challenges for the future and other factors that promote stability and strengthen peace.