Zarko Puhovski

It is Washington, not Russia, that is bringing disorder to the Balkans, Croatian political analyst Zarko Puhovski has told a Belgrade daily.

Puhovski also stressed that German Chancellor Angela Merkel has "repeatedly shown support to Serbia, and wanted to reduce Croatia's institutional advantage as members of the European Union, in relation to Serbia, which is not a member."

It is Washington, not Russia, that is bringing disorder to the Balkans, Croatian political analyst Zarko Puhovski has told a Belgrade daily.

Puhovski also stressed that German Chancellor Angela Merkel has "repeatedly shown support to Serbia, and wanted to reduce Croatia's institutional advantage as members of the European Union, in relation to Serbia, which is not a member."

With the centre-right Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, losing potential partners for forming a new governing majority in the Croatian parliament, new general elections seem to be a realistic scenario in the coming months, an analyst told BIRN.

The HDZ's wafer-thin new majority in the Croatian parliament - 76 out of 151 MPs in total - is likely to be just a temporary strategy employed by the party to push through legislation, with new elections likely to follow, veteran political Zarko Puhovski analyst told BIRN.

After Croatia's Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic axed three ministers from the junior government party, the Bridge of Independent Lists, MOST, Croatia appear set for political instability and even new elections, possibly in September, a leading politica. analyst told BIRN.

Despite its recent controversies, Croatia's anti-establishment Living Wall party is growing in popularity, which many see as evidence that Croatia is following the global trend towards more populist politics.

A poll last week conducted on 967 people by the agency Ipsos puls showed that its popularity had risen lately.

Despite a dispute with the ruling centre-right Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic may win the upcoming local elections in May, political analyst Zarko Puhovski told BIRN.

Reports last week suggested that the HDZ rejected Bandic's city budget proposal for 2017 in order to initiate a process to oust him.

Croatia's new centre-right government has announced that it will be directly naming the new presidents and board members of state companies, insisting that this was only a temporary solution.

The visit to Zagreb by Bosnian Croat presidency member Dragan Covic on Monday was overshadowed by the reports of the recent arrest for war crimes of ten Bosnian Croats - prompting analysts to warn that the tension could well strengthen Bosnian Croat calls for a third, Croat-led entity in Bosnia.

A centre-right coalition is emerging as the only likely option for a new Croatian government, as President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic readies to start the first round of consultations on Wednesday with parties and individual candidates on naming a prime minister-designate.