MAY
3 - Croatian Justice Minister Ivan Simonovic is appointed assistant UN secretary-general for human rights.
4 - The "Save the Children" world organisation ranks Croatia 25th according to quality of life for women, 27th according to quality of life for mothers, and 32nd according to quality of life for children.
4 - The national anti-corruption office USKOK launches an investigation of former Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Damir Polancec for authorising the payment of HRK 500,000 from the state budget for an unnecessary study. The study was drawn up by Petar Miletic, a lawyer from Vukovar, who is suspected of inciting Polancec to abuse his powers. It turned out that the study was unnecessary because all the documents concerning the subject-matter of the study had been adopted earlier.
4 - The parliamentary inquiry commission investigating the privatisation of the INA oil and gas company holds its first meeting, requesting from INA, the government, the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency and the Veterans' Fund documents concerning the company's privatisation in 2002 and all contracts through which INA had possibly sold its shares or acquired stakes in other companies.
4 - Member of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) Presidency and former member of Parliament Ivan Kolar arrested on suspicion of embezzling several million kuna from the budget of the northern municipality of Molve.
5 - Customs Administration chief and former treasurer of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) Mladen Barisic is under investigation for illegal mediation. He allegedly saw to it that the Fimi Media marketing firm, owned by his close friend Nevenka Jurak, won lucrative deals from state-owned companies, namely the oil and gas company INA and the insurance company Croatia Osiguranje.
5 - The member of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) Presidency and former member of Parliament, Ivan Kolar, and the owner and chief executive officer of the Jata construction firm, Andjelko Tos and Zeljko Radic respectively, are suspected of defrauding the municipal budget of Molve of over HRK 5.6 million.
6 - Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor announces introduction of three income tax rates as of July 1. A 12 per cent tax rate will be applied to monthly salaries of up to HRK 3,600, salaries ranging from HRK 3,601 to 10,800 will be subject to 25 per cent tax, while those above HRK 10,800 will be subject to 40 per cent tax.
6 - The government adopts a road map for the implementation of its Economic Recovery Programme, and introduces into Parliament a bill on the financing of political activities and election campaigning, proposing a 10 per cent cut in total budget funds granted to political parties for that purpose.
7 - Former Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Damir Polancec is one of the three suspects in the case of financial wrongdoing in the state-owned power company HEP. The other suspects are former HEP CEO Ivan Mravak and the former CEO of the Sibenik-based light metal factory TLM, Ivan Kostan, who have been arrested. They are suspected of defrauding HEP of HRK 600 million because they purchased electricity abroad and sold it through TLM to the Mostar-based aluminium factory Aluminij at four times lower prices.
8 - Former HEP and TLM executives Ivan Mravak and Ivan Kostan respectively are placed in 30-day custody on suspicion of defrauding the state-owned electricity provider HEP of HRK 600 million.
9 - Croatian incumbent and former Presidents Ivo Josipovic and Stjepan Mesic are among more than 30 heads of state attending a military parade in Moscow's Red Square, for the first time with the participation of NATO troops, marking the 65th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany.
10 - USKOK brings charges against former Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Damir Polancec for his role in the illegal installation of lighting in the football field of Osvit Football Club in his hometown of Djelekovec near Koprivnica. The lighting equipment cost over 230,000 kuna.
12 - After 43 days of hiding on a yacht, war crimes suspect Dragan Vasiljkovic aka Captain Dragan is arrested in Australia. He went into hiding after a court rules that he could be extradited to Croatia.
12 - The Croatian Ministry of Justice acknowledges receipt of a notification of the arrest by the Australian federal police of war crimes suspect Dragan Vasiljkovic.
12 - The Constitutional Court warns that Parliament has not passed a law to regulate the organisation and remit of the Office of the President of the Republic, adding that the problem should be resolved as part of forthcoming constitutional changes.
13 - The government decides to cut by 10 per cent privileged pensions exceeding HRK 3,500.
13 - The government decides to merge several hospitals in Zagreb, with Health Minister Darko Milinovic saying that the purpose of the move is not just cost-effectiveness but also the desire to improve health services and reduce the patient waiting lists by 20 per cent.
13 - Croatia's former ambassador to Libya, Jovan Vejnovic, is given a seven-month suspended sentence by the Zagreb County Court for abusing his ambassadorial privileges to procure alcohol for Croatian workers despite the Prohibition Act in that north African nation. Vejnovic will not go to prison unless he commits another crime in the next two years.
13 - The Osijek County Prosecutor's Office issues an indictment against Enes Taso, a 64-year-old citizen of Serbia, for committing war crimes against prisoners of war and civilians during the Serb insurgency in Croatia in the early 1990s.
14 - A court in Podgorica sentences four members of the former Yugoslav army (JNA) for war crimes against civilians and prisoners of war from the Dubrovnik area committed at the Morinj detention camp near Kotor, Montenegro, in the early 1990s. They are given prison sentences ranging from 18 months to four years.
14 - Croatian PM Jadranka Kosor gives Serbian PM Mirko Cvetkovic the Croatian translation of the EU acquis communautaire as a pledge of good cooperation and friendship between the two countries and in support of Serbia on the road to the EU.
18 - Several thousand people protest in central Zagreb against the construction of a garage entrance in Varsavska Street as part of a private project by Tomislav Horvatincic's HOTO Group.
18 - The federal court in New York trying the Reebok case quashes a fine against Sonja Anticevic, a retired seamstress from Omis, Croatia, who was to have paid US$ 5.72 million for alleged involvement in the case.
20 - The government sets up special commissions to oversee the sale of majority stakes in three state-owned shipyards -- Rijeka's 3. Maj, Brodogradjevna Industrija Split and Brodotrogir of Trogir. The government proposes amendments to reduce monument annuity by about 50 per cent, and decides that starting from July 1 farmers and fishermen will be allowed to buy blue diesel fuel with special cards only.
21 - Croatian citizens without permanent residence in Croatia will be allowed to vote only in Croatian diplomatic and consular missions abroad, and the diaspora will be entitled to three seats in the Croatian Parliament, leaders of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the strongest opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) agreed.
25 - Croatian PM Jadranka Kosor visits the US and meets Vice President Joe Biden in the White House.
25 - The Zagreb County Court issues a 30-day detention order for former Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Damir Polancec on the suspicion that together with Ivan Mravak, former manager of the state-owned power company Hrvatska Elektroprivreda (HEP), and Ivan Kostan, CEO of the Sibenik-based light metal factory TLM, he has defrauded HEP of some 600,000 kuna.
28 - Parliament passes a law reducing by 10 percent privileged pensions exceeding HRK 3,500. It also amends three health laws.
28 - The government introduces into Parliament amendments to the Labour Act for consideration under the fast-track procedure. The amendments provide that collective agreements may be extended up to six months after their expiry. The government proposes reducing by 25 per cent forest fees and water rates paid by businesses. It also proposes that membership fees which businesses pay to local tourist boards be cut by 25 per cent and instructs the public companies to downsize their work force by five per cent.
30 - Croatian President Ivo Josipovic, Republika Srpska PM Milorad Dodik and the president of Bosnia's SDA party, Sulejman Tihic, visit Brisevo, Sijekovac and Kozarac, where crimes against Croats, Serbs and Bosniaks were committed during the Bosnian war.
30 - Davor Bernardic elected president of the Zagreb branch of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
JUNE
1 - The Brod-Posavina County Protection and Rescue Centre declares a flood emergency for Slavonski Brod and the nearby municipalities of Sibinj, Podcrkavlje and Gornja Vrba. The most critical situation is reported in the villages of Slobodnica and Bartolovci in Sibinj municipality where people have been evacuated from houses directly threatened by the flood waters.
1 - The Supreme Court hears an appeal by member of Parliament Branimir Glavas and his attorneys against a trial court judgement sentencing Glavas to 10 years' imprisonment for war crimes committed against Serb civilians in Osijek in 1991.
2 - Pozega-Slavonia County declares a flood emergency following heavy rains. Ten houses in Babina Greda have been evacuated after being flooded by the swollen Berava river.
2 - Police launch a criminal investigation into the Pevec retail chain on that suspicion that the company's management have committed serious economic crimes.
3 - The founder of Pevec Group, Zdravko Pevec, his wife Visnja, and the group's accountant, Dragica Barisic, arrested on suspicion of abuse of office.
4 - Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor presents a report on the implementation of the government's Economic Recovery Programme in May, saying that the number of unemployed people in Croatia at the end of May was 296,438.
4 - The government introduces into Parliament amendments to the Firefighting Act, which will make it possible for firefighters to work 12-hour shifts. It also sends to Parliament for ratification two agreements that will secure funding for projects under the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) programme for transition assistance and consolidation of institutions, and a loan agreement with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development for a project supporting the judiciary. The government adopts a programme for the prevention of addiction among children and adolescents in the school and social welfare systems.
4 - Vukovar-Srijem County declares a flood emergency for Orahovica, Slatina and Zdenci after heavy rains and hail have damaged the crops and residential and farm buildings there.
6 - The Slovenia-Croatia border arbitration agreement is supported by 51.46 per cent of Slovenians at a referendum.
7 - The founders of the Pevec retail group, Zdravko and Visnja Pevec, are placed in 30-day investigative custody on suspicion of abuse of office.
8 - Croatian and Serbian Defence Ministers Branko Vukelic and Dragan Sutanovac sign a military cooperation agreement, saying it is a step ahead in the normalisation of Croatia-Serbia relations and the stabilisation of the entire region.
8 - Croatian prosecutors and police detain 22 people for questioning in connection with First Football Division match fixing and betting fraud. Sources close to the investigation say that among those detained are First Division players and officials. The suspects Vinko Sako, Dino Lalic and Admir Suljic allegedly earned between 150,000 and 300,000 euros at bookies for each fixed game. Eight First Division matches are believed to have been fixed from late March to early May, while the rigging of four matches apparently failed.
8 - Sretko Kalinic, a member of a Serbian organised crime ring known as the Zemun Clan and one of the people accused of assassinating Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, has been wounded by a lake in Zagreb's western suburb of Rakitje. He was shot by Milos Simovic, who has been found guilty of assassinating Djindjic and sentenced in his absence to 40 years in prison. Kalinic has been transferred to a Zagreb hospital in serious condition.
9 - Trade unions begin collecting signatures in Zagreb's main square for a referendum against government-sponsored amendments to labour legislation.
9 - Osijek-Baranja County declares the county a disaster area because of the extensive damage to the crops, residential and farm buildings and infrastructure caused by floods in mid-May.
9 - The government and trade unions begin negotiations on amendments to labour legislation. The trade unions are strongly opposed to the amendments proposed by the government, claiming that their purpose is to break the existing system of collective agreements.
10 - Croatia's bathing water quality is among the best in Europe, above the European average, according to a European Commission report for 2009 which includes Croatia for the first time.
10 - Parliament formulates draft amendments to the Constitution in line with a proposal from the Committee on the Constitution and proposals agreed on by leaders of the ruling majority and the opposition. Under the draft amendments, Constitutional Court judges would be elected by a two-thirds majority. Under an amendment put forward by the ruling HDZ and adopted by Parliament, upon the expiry of their term, Constitutional Court judges would not remain in their position until the election of a new judge, but rather their term would be extended by up to six months. Croatian citizens without permanent residence in Croatia would be able to vote in Croatian elections only in Croatian embassies and consulates, and a fixed quota would be introduced for the diaspora, which would have three seats in Parliament in the future.
10 - The government introduces into Parliament draft amendments to the Income Tax Act and the Profit Tax Act, announcing that it will propose a property tax in the autumn. The proposed amendments to the Income Tax Act aim to reduce the number of income tax rates from four to three as of July 1 and to abolish tax benefits. Three income tax rates are proposed -- 12 per cent for a tax base of up to 3,600 kuna, 25 per cent for a tax base of between 3,601 and 10,800 kuna, and 40 per cent for a tax base exceeding 10,801 kuna. The government predicts that the proposed changes will result in income increases for about 1.5 million people.
10 - The government introduces into Parliament amendments to the Prevention of Violence at Sporting Events Act, under which fighting, violence and destruction of property at sporting events would be prosecuted as crimes punishable by imprisonment. The government also proposes amendments to the Croatian Radio and Television (HRT) Act, under which the monthly subscription fee to the national broadcaster would be reduced from HRK 80 to 60 as of August 1.
10 - Milos Simovic, a member of the Zemun Clan, is arrested while attempting to illegally cross the border from Croatia into Serbia at Morovici. The Croatian police have charged him with attempted murder of Sretko Kalinic, a member of the same clan, in Zagreb's western suburb of Rakitje. Simovic has been found guilty of assassinating Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic and sentenced in his absence to 40 years in prison.
14 - The Hague war crimes tribunal's chief prosecutor, Serge Brammertz, tells EU foreign ministers that there is no reason to suspect that Croatia will not continue and expand cooperation in a search for missing wartime documents. This statement removes reservations among some countries to the opening of the Judiciary and Fundamental Rights policy chapter in Croatia's EU entry talks.
14 - Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor calls on the trade union federations to resume negotiations on planned amendments to labour legislation, saying that the amendments will incorporate the unions' proposals.
14 - Investigating fraud in the state-owned power supplier HEP, the police and the anti-corruption office USKOK widen the circle of suspects by arresting HEP production manager Petar Cubelic and the chairmen of the supervisory and management boards of the Monting PiM company, Ljubo Busic and Anto Matic, on suspicion of attempted abuse of office and giving bribes for lucrative deals relating to work on the thermal power plant in Sisak and the heating plant in Zagreb.
15 - The government formulates six new amendments to be added to proposed changes to the Constitution, and introduces into Parliament an amendment to the Constitutional Law on the Rights of the National Minorities, which will ensure additional voting rights for members of small minority groups, along with the existing general voting rights. The new constitutional amendments regulate, among other things, the entry into force of regulations on the basis of which Croatia will be able to extradite its citizens to other countries.
16 - Parliament amends the Constitution for the fourth time, paving the way for the completion of Croatia's EU accession talks and its entry into the EU. Constitutional requirements for the adoption of a referendum decision on Croatia's accession to the EU have been relaxed to facilitate EU accession and the adoption of such a decision in a referendum will require the votes of a majority of voters taking part in the referendum, instead of a majority of all registered voters as has been the case so far.
16 - Parliament amends the Constitutional Law on the Rights of the National Minorities, giving additional voting rights to ethnic minorities that account for less than 1.5 per cent of the total population. The Serb minority is guaranteed at least three seats in Parliament based on universal suffrage.
16 - Croatian President Ivo Josipovic opens in Zagreb a regular annual conference of NATO land forces commanders, which is hosted by the Croatian army for the first time.
17 - The government sets up a task force consisting of officials from several ministries, pension insurance agencies and the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (HANFA) to analyse the existing legislation on pension schemes and entitlements and to propose legislative changes in a bid to establish sustainable pension and social welfare systems.
18 - The Hague war crimes tribunal's chief prosecutor, Serge Brammertz, informs the UN Security Council that, over the past six months, Croatia generally responded to his office's requests for assistance, but that the issue of important missing documents from the 1995 Operation Storm remains unsolved.
18 - The government and most of the government-sector unions sign an agreement whereby the unions waive their right to this year's Christmas bonuses, but reserve their right to holiday cash grants and child bonuses. Under the agreement, government employees this year will not receive Christmas bonuses, and funds for that purpose will be used to pay unemployment benefits instead. However, they will receive a HRK 1,250 holiday cash grant and a HRK 400 child bonus.
18 - Parliament amends the Golf Courses Act as well as the Value Added Tax Act, abolishing the tax facilities and reducing the number of tax rates. Also amended is the Profit Tax Act.
18 - Activists of civil society associations remove the make-shift tents they set up a month ago in Varsavska Street in central Zagreb as part of their campaign to prevent the HOTO Group from building an underground car park and the entrance to it.
20 - Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor opens a 28-kilometre-long dual carriageway section of the Istrian Y motorway running from Pula to Kanfanar. The construction of that stretch cost EUR 86 million.
24 - The Croatian government initiates procedure for concluding a bilateral agreement with Serbia that will make it possible for the two countries to extradite their nationals to each other for criminal proceedings or enforcement of prison sentences in cases of organised crime and corruption. The Cabinet of Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor also adopts several decisions on the implementation of the Economic Recovery Programme, such as the adoption of a catalogue of public investment projects and facilitation od conditions for operations of small enterprises.
24 - The Zagreb County Court issues a 30-day detention order for Sretko Kalinic, a member of a Serbian criminal organisation known as the Zemun Clan, who has been shot and wounded in Zagreb's western suburb of Rakitje. Kalinic has Croatian citizenship, and the police have found two fake passports in the Zagreb apartment he uses.
25 - The Belgrade High Court's panel for war crimes sentences Milan Spanovic, a member of the territorial defence of SAO Krajina, a Serb statelet in Croatia during the 1991-95 war, to five years' imprisonment for war crimes against civilians and the torture of Croatian civilians at a prison in Stara Gradiska, Croatia, from October 1991 through January 1992.
28 - The anti-corruption office USKOK indicts former Deputy Prime Minister Damir Polancec for paying Vukovar lawyer Petar Miletic HRK 500,000 for an unnecessary study.
28 - USKOK indicts the former CEO of the state-owned rail company Hrvatske Zeljeznice (HZ), Davorin Kobak, two senior executives of HZ's sister company Agit, Biserka Robic and Andrija Saric, and a Serbian national for conspiring to syphon off money from Agit. They have allegedly defrauded the company of more than EUR 3.7 million and unlawfully gained more than EUR 3.2 million for themselves.
29 - Croatian and Serbian Justice Ministers Ivan Simonovic and Snezana Malovic sign in Belgrade an agreement on the extradition of the two countries' citizens accused and convicted in connection with organised crime and corruption.
30 - Croatia opens the last three negotiation chapters at an EU accession conference in Brussels - Judiciary and Fundamental Rights, Competition Policy, and Foreign, Security and Defence Policy - and closes two - Public Procurement and Taxation. All negotiation chapters have now been opened and 20 of the 33 being negotiated have been closed.
JULY
1 - The government proposes a new law on Croatian Radio Television (HRT) and adopts a decision on co-financing the publication of the Vjesnik daily. It also proposes amendments to the Companies Register Act and law on the register of companies, and puts forward a new Distraint Bill and a Public Distraint Officers Bill.
1 - The government decides to issue state guarantees to Credit Suisse International/Credit Suisse, London Branch, for the realisation of a loan agreement for the financing of the construction of four ships, for the use of the third tranche of the loan.
1 - Trade unions have gathered 813,016 signatures for a referendum against government-sponsored amendments to labour legislation, demanding that the government accept the collected signatures as a successfully conducted referendum and withdraw the proposed amendments from Parliament.
2 - Parliament adopts the Asylum Act, which is now entirely aligned with EU directives. With the adoption of the law, Croatia has met the benchmarks from Chapter 24 (Justice, Freedom and Security) in its EU entry talks.
3 - Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor inaugurates the extended wharf of Saint Domnius (Sveti Duje) in Split. A total of HRK 28 million has been invested in the 150-metre-long extension. The wharf is now 16 metres wide and can receive international cruise liners.
5 - European Council President Herman van Rompuy visits Zagreb and talks with Croatia's state leadership.
7 - Drazen Bosnjakovic is sworn in as new Minister of Justice after his appointment is approved by a majority of members of Parliament. He succeeds Ivan Simonovic, who is to take up the post of an assistant to the UN Secretary-General.
7 - The Agricultural Land Act, under which the government may temporarily seize uncultivated land from its owner and put it out to lease, will not be enforced until the Constitutional Court rules whether it is constitutional or not, the court has decided. The decision temporarily "blocked" the work of the Agricultural Land Agency, which was to have started operating on July 1.
7 - The Programmes Council of the national broadcaster HRT appoints Hloverka Srzic Novak as acting programmes director of Croatian Television (HTV) after Domagoj Buric has been relieved at his own request. Two Council members resign over the election of Novak-Srzic.
8 - The list of state-owned companies up for possible privatisation includes 394 companies in which the government owns up to 25 per cent of equity, 31 companies in which the government stake ranges between 25 and 50 per cent, and 59 companies in which the government portfolio exceeds 50 per cent, the government says at its meeting. The Croatian Privatisation Fund is instructed to work, in cooperation with the Economy Ministry, on regulations determining initial prices for the sale of government stakes that are below 25 per cent.
8 - The Office for the Prevention of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK) issues an indictment against three former senior executives of the Croatian postal bank Hrvatska Postanska Banka (HPB) -- Josip Protega, Ivan Sladonja and Mario Kirinic -- and against eight clients of the bank for conspiracy to commit crime, abuse of office, incitement to abuse office and money laundering.
9 - Croatian PM Jadranka Kosor and her French counterpart Francois Fillon sign in Zagreb an agreement on strategic cooperation, making Croatia the first country outside of the EU with which France has signed this document.
9 - Some 130 members of the cabin crews' union begin a four-day strike forcing the national carrier Croatia Airlines to cancel one third of its scheduled flights. Union leaders say they have been forced to go on strike because of unsuccessful negotiations with the airline's management since late last year on conditions for signing a collective agreement.
9 - Parliament amends the law on the rights and obligations of MPs, revoking their right to free public transport. They are entitled to travel allowance, but only if travelling on business. Also amended is the Companies Register Act, which provides for the obligatory publication of the names of all founders of limited liability companies.
10 - The fifth Croatia Summit ends in Dubrovnik, affirming its reputation both by the level at which it was held and by the number of participants, says Croatian PM Jadranka Kosor. The summit brought together several premiers from the region and senior officials of the EU, NATO and other international institutions.
10 - The Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS) quits the ruling coalition, with HSLS leader Darinko Kosor saying they are unhappy with the coalition's work and citing accusations that the HSLS is not a loyal partner.
10 - Croatia Airlines flight attendants end their strike after the management of the national carrier and the cabin crew union have reached an agreement on all disputed issues relating to the collective agreement.
13 - Croatian President Ivo Josipovic and his Italian and Slovenian counterparts, Giorgio Napolitano and Danilo Tuerk, attend in Trieste the Concert of Friendship, performed by young musicians from the three countries, with maestro Riccardo Muti conducting. Before the concert, the three heads of state issued a joint statement underlining the need to preserve the memory of painful events from the past, but also to focus on a future in a united Europe.
13 - The government decides to issue three bonds totalling HRK 13.4 billion to finance current budget liabilities and refinance liabilities falling due in the coming period.
14 - Three independent members of the Croatian Parliament - Ivan Cehok, Zlatko Horvat and Anton Korusec - sign a cooperation agreement with Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor, pledging their support for all major government projects. Cehok resigned from his HSLS party earlier in the day.
14 - Trade union leaders deliver to the Parliament building 35 boxes containing lists with 813,016 signatures collected in a two-week drive to get a referendum against government-sponsored amendments to labour legislation.
14 - USKOK indicts a senior official of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) and former member of Parliament, Ivan Kolar, and the owner and the CEO of the Jata company, Andjelko Tos and Zarko Radic respectively, for defrauding the budget of the northern municipality of Molve of more than HRK 5.6 million.
14 - Zagreb County Court freezes EUR 3.4 million in a bank account owned by Ante Sapina, a Croatian-born bookie from Berlin who is again under investigation by German authorities on suspicion of football match fixing. His account with Zagrebacka Banka is frozen at the request of a court in the German city of Bochum.
15 - Parliament passes a new law on the population census under which the next census will be held on April 1-28, 2011. The census will cost HRK 175 million and funds for it will be set aside in the state budget. The first results will be released by 30 June 2011.
15 - The government introduces into Parliament amendments to the Bankruptcy Act, under which the Finance Ministry and the Tax Administration would be able to initiate summary bankruptcy proceedings against firms that have no employees, but whose accounts have been blocked for an uninterrupted period of 60 days. The government also moves a bill on the seizure of illegally acquired property, saying that no one should be allowed to acquire property through crime.
15 - 151 civil society activists and citizens are detained by police for putting up passive resistance to the continuation of construction of a ramp to a private underground car park in Varsavska Street in central Zagreb.
16 - Some 500 protesters - citizens and activists of the nongovernmental organisations Green Action and Right to the City - gather outside the Social Democratic Party (SDP) headquarters in Zagreb, after which they are expected to rally outside the headquarters of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), holding both parties equally responsible for the "Varsavska Street case".
17 - Activists of the NGOs Green Action and Right to the City gather in central Zagreb to protest against the continuation of construction work in Varsavska Street, saying that citizens are being "robbed of public space". The protesters later march to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Physical Planning and Construction demanding the resignation of Minister Marina Matulovic-Dropulic.
18 - Croatian and Serbian Presidents Ivo Josipovic and Boris Tadic stress in Belgrade that peace and stability in the region are the two countries' common goals, adding that there is an atmosphere of reconciliation in bilateral relations. As part of an official visit to Serbia, Josipovic attends in Subotica a conference on the 20th anniversary of the Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina.
19 - Former Croatian Justice Minister Ivan Simonovic takes over the office of assistant UN secretary-general for human rights.
21 - Representatives of the government, trade unions and employers agree at a meeting on the resumption of the work of the Economic and Social Council (GSV), saying there will be no outvoting any more.
22 - The Supreme Court overturns the acquittal of former Croatian Privatisation Fund (HFP) vice-president Ivan Gotovac and entrepreneur Svjetlan Stanic in the Maestro anti-graft trial and orders a retrial before a new panel of judges.
22 - Former Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Damir Polancec is released from investigative prison at the proposal of the anti-corruption agency USKOK, which says it has heard all the witnesses in the case of the state-owned power company HEP and there is no longer a risk of Polancec tampering with witnesses and obstructing the investigation.
23 - The government decides to dissolve or merge 14 agencies, institutes and centres, reducing their number to three legal entities. It sends to Parliament a bill on the management of state property which envisages the merging of the three institutions currently managing state property - the Croatian Privatisation Fund, the Central State Office for the Management of State Property and the Real Estate Agency - into a single institution: the Agency for the Management of State Property. The government also introduces into Parliament amendments to the law on compulsory and voluntary pension funds, proposing that the rate of government incentives to members of voluntary pension funds be reduced from 25 to 15 per cent.
25 - Israeli President Shimon Peres ends a three-day stay in Croatia by visiting the Jasenovac memorial area and, together with his host, Croatian President Ivo Josipovic, pays homage to the victims of the WW2 concentration camp which was located there.
27 - The Hague war crimes tribunal rejects a motion by the Prosecutor's Office in the "Gotovina, Cermak and Markac" case to subpoena Croatia over allegedly hiding wartime documents from the 1995 Operation Storm.
27 - At an EU accession conference in Brussels, Croatia closes two more negotiation chapters - 'Food Safety, Veterinary and Phytosanitary Policy' and 'Financial Control'. Croatia has now closed 22 of the 33 chapters under negotiation.
29 - The government sends to Parliament for consideration a Pension Insurance Bill, under which the age for old-age pension for men and women would be equalised over the next ten years. Those opting for early retirement would see a 4.08 percent decrease in their pension for every year of early retirement, or a maximum 20.4 percent decrease for five years of early retirement. The bill provides for benefits for postponed retirement.
29 - Negotiations between the government and the public-sector unions on a collective agreement fail because the government insists that, in addition to significantly changed economic circumstances, fiscal circumstances should also be cited as a possible reason for the termination of the agreement, which the unions reject.
30 - Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia sign a declaration in Belgrade supporting the establishment of a joint rail company in view of expediting the transport of goods on the pan-European Corridor X.
30 - The Supreme Court confirms that Branimir Glavas is responsible for war crimes committed against civilians in Osijek in 1991, but reduces his sentence from ten to eight years' imprisonment. The prison term of the second defendant Ivica Krnjak is reduced from eight to seven years and that of Gordana Getos Magdic from seven to five years. Dino Kontic and Zravko Dragic have their sentences reduced from five to three and a half years each, while the prison sentence of Tihomir Valentic is reduced from five to four and a half years.
30 - The Supreme Court upholds the Zagreb County Court verdict acquitting Nikica Jelavic of the charges of murder of an innocent bystander in central Zagreb in 1999 and of attempted murder of the "slot machine king" Vjeko Slisko and three other persons.
AUGUST
1 - About 700 residents of the eastern town of Djakovo gather to protest against the government's plan to merge the local stud-farm of Lipizzaner horses with a similar farm in Lipik.
3 - The Hague tribunal publishes the final submission by the prosecution in the Gotovina, Cermak and Markac case, which recommends that the Trial Chamber find the three Croatian generals guilty of war crimes committed during and in the aftermath of a 1995 Croatian military offensive known as Operation Storm and sentence them to prison terms ranging from 17 to 27 years.
3 - Serbian President Boris Tadic says that 1995's Croatian military and police operation Storm is a crime that must not be forgotten, but adds that one must turn to the future in relations with Croatia.
4 - The government sends to Parliament a set of bills regarding the enforcement of a government decision on the merging of government agencies, institutes and centres. The bills, aimed at streamlining the public institutions, cover 14 legal entities with 962 employees.
10 - Nevenka Jurak, Anita Papes Loncar and Bojan Dimic are taken to the Office for the Prevention of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK) for questioning in connection with business transactions between several state owned-companies and the Fimi Media marketing firm owned by Jurak. They are suspected of conspiring to charge fictitious bills for non-performed services, whereby they unlawfully gained for themselves at least HRK 16.5 million.
11 - The owner of the Fimi Media marketing firm, Nevenka Jurak, and her business associate, Anita Loncar Papes, who are suspected of fraud, are placed in 30-day investigative prison to prevent them from tampering with witnesses and documents and repeating the same crime. A third suspect, Bojan Dimic, is released.
11 - The Zagreb County Court approves the extradition of Serbian underworld figure Sretko Kalinic to Serbia. Kalinic, who holds dual Serbian and Croatian citizenship, has been sentenced in his absence by a Serbian court to 30 years in prison for his role in the assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic in 2003. Kalinic is a member of a Serbian organised crime ring called the Zemun Clan.
13 - Sretko Kalinic waives his right to appeal against the Zagreb County Court decision to extradite him to Serbia, becoming the first Croatian citizen to be extradited to another country. Kalinic holds both Croatian and Serbian citizenship.
16 - The parliamentary Credentials and Privileges Commission unanimously confirms the termination of the term of HDSSB deputy Branimir Glavas, who has been sentenced to eight years in prison for war crimes committed against civilians in Osijek in 1991.
17 - Croatia ranked 28th among the world's 100 best countries to live in, according to a study published by US magazine Newsweek.
18 - The Zagreb Municipal Prosecutor's Office indicts Sretko Kalinic, who is awaiting extradition to Serbia, for obtaining two Croatian passports under an assumed name.
18 - The anti-corruption office USKOK launches another investigation into Ivan Mravak, former management board chairman of the power supplier HEP, on the suspicion that, together with Ivan Mrljak, the director of Opskrba, a company within HEP, he embezzled HRK 6.3 million from HEP. Mravak and Mrljak are suspected of abuse of office and of conspiracy between October 2008 and September 2009 with a number of persons from two joint stock companies.
19 - President Ivo Josipovic signs a decision to strip Branimir Glavas, who has been given a final guilty verdict for war crimes, of his military decorations and medals. Josipovic announces at a news conference that he will also take away Glavas's rank of Major General.
24 - The government forwards to Parliament a draft budget revision cutting revenues by HRK 4.5 billion to 108.3 billion and raising expenditures by HRK 898 million to 122.3 billion. The budget deficit would go up from the initially planned HRK 8.6 billion to 14 billion, an increase from 2.6 to 4.2 per cent of Gross Domestic Product.
24 - Sretko Kalinic, a member of a Serbian organised crime group known as the Zemun Clan, is sentenced by the Zagreb Municipal Court to one and a half years in prison for possession of two fake Croatian passports, obtained in 2006 and 2009.
25 - Sretko Kalinic is extradited to Serbia. The extradition is carried out in cooperation between the Croatian and Serbian police forces aboard a Serbian government plane.
25 - The Minister of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship, Djuro Popijac, becomes a member of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party.
26 - Former Croatian President Stjepan Mesic on an advisory mission to Kyrgyzstan at the invitation of the United Nations Development Programme.
28 - Branimir Glavas, the first Croatian politician to have been convicted for war crimes, addresses via video link a meeting of the main committee of his HDSSB party held in Zagreb, claiming that he is innocent and that he will rather serve his eight-year sentence in Zenica prison in Bosnia and Herzegovina than spend a single day as a political convict in a Croatian prison. Glavas reiterates that he does not recognise the verdict delivered against him by the Zagreb County Court, which has been recently upheld by the Supreme Court, insisting that his trial was politically motivated.
28 - A floating pavilion that was to be used for the presentation of Croatian architecture at the 12th Venice Biennale falls apart en route to Italy and is towed back to Rijeka for repairs.
30 - Parliament revises the 2010 budget, cutting revenues by HRK 4.5 billion and increasing expenditures by HRK 898.2 million. The revised budget projects revenues at HRK 108.3 billion and expenditures at HRK 122.3 billion. The highest revenue decline is expected from tax revenues and contributions. The budget deficit would increase by HRK 5.4 billion to HRK 14 billion, or 4.2 per cent of Gross Domestic Product. The budget is revised with a real GDP decline projection of 1.6 per cent for this year.
30 - Parliament amends the law on the execution of the state budget, under which the government, instead of a previously planned 28 billion kuna, would now be able to borrow HRK 34.6 billion for the payment of debts due and for the financing of the budget deficit. The government has so far taken out 25.1 billion in loans.
31 - The Bjelovar County Prosecutor's Office indicts local businessman Zdravko Pevec and his wife Visnja Pevec for abuse of office, business malfeasance and book-keeping irregularities. It drops charges against the third suspect, Dragica Barisic, the former book-keeper of Pevec Group.