Zagreb Daily Report - December 15, 2009

UNCLAS ZAGREB 000733 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL HR SUBJECT: Zagreb Daily Report - December 15, 2009 ¶1. (U) Court upholds indictment against former defense minister Roncevic: On December 14, the Zagreb County Court upheld all counts of an indictment filed by the Office for Suppression of Organized Crime and Corruption (USKOK) against former defense minister, Berislav Roncevic, and his former assistant, Ivo Bacic. The case can now proceed to trial which is expected to begin in January. The presiding judge in the trial will be Jasna Smiljanic, an International Visitor Leadership Program participant in November ¶2009. ¶2. (U) Finance Minister Suker holds the line on bonuses with unions: Minister of Finance, Ivan Suker, recently met with Croatia's public sector unions and announced that Christmas bonuses for public sector and state owned employees will be reduced from $255 to around $100 because of the need to reduce expenditures. Labor union representatives balked at the news, saying it violates previous collective agreements, but media reports claim that the public supports the cuts. ¶3. (U) Op-Ed on U.S. goals for Copenhagen published in major Croatian daily: Vecerni List, Croatia's second largest daily newspaper (circulation 80,000-100,000),ran an op-ed piece under Ambassador Foley's signature in its December 15 issue, laying out U.S. actions on climate change and goals for the Copenhagen summit. FOLEY