Political communication in the Republic of Croatia during the COVID-19 pandemic

Krizna situacija prouzrokovana COVID-19 pandemijom u rekordnom je roku stvorila probleme u cijelom svijetu i to ne samo zdravstvene prirode. U Hrvatskoj su oni dodatno naglašeni raznim aferama odgovornih koje se neprekidno provlače kroz medije i dodatno stvaraju nezadovoljstvo javnosti. Iako je krizna komunikacijska strategija Vlade u samom početku pojave virusa, djelovala izrazito smisleno, vrlo brzo se pokazala potpuno suprotnom. Uslijed nebrojenih primjera gdje su odgovorni sebe izuzimali iz mjera koje su sami donosili, velik broj neutemeljenih i nelogičnih odluka te sve nekonzistentnije i kontradiktornije komunikacije s javnošću, stanovništvo je postalo nezadovoljno, ogorčeno te je izgubilo povjerenje u sustav vlasti. COVID-19 virus prestao se shvaćati ozbiljno te su se ljudi masovno prestali obazirati na mjere i preporuke čak i one koje su znanstveno utemeljene, a kojih bi se u drugačijim okolnostima vjerojatno i dalje pridržavali kao na početku i koje bi vjerojatno znatno više pomogle u suzbijanju virusa.The crisis situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has created problems all over the world in record time, and not only of a health nature. In Croatia, they are additionally emphasized by various scandals caused by the government and the civil protection Headquarters of the Republic of Croatia, which are constantly running through the media and additionally creating public dissatisfaction. Although the Government's crisis communication strategy at the very beginning of the virus's appearance seemed extremely good, but very quickly it turned out to be quite the opposite. Due to countless examples where Government and Headquarters exempted themselves from the measures they made, a large number of unfounded and illogical decisions and increasingly inconsistent and contradictory communication with the public, the population became dissatisfied, resentful and lost faith in the government system. The COVID-19 virus has ceased to be taken seriously, and people have largely stopped paying attention to measures and recommendations, even those that are scientifically based, and which in different circumstances would probably continue to be followed as in the beginning and which would probably be much more helpful in combating virus