Latest News from Croatia

Former Croatian Prefect Indicted for Corruption

Croatia's anti-organised crime office, USKOK, on Tuesday said it had indicted Marina Lovric Merzel, the former prefect of the Sisak Moslavina County.

Lovric Merzel, a former member of the governing Social Democratic Party, SDP, and member of the Croatian parliament, has been under investigation since April 2014, when she was arrested and put into custody for five months.

Balkan Govts Urged to Uphold Media Freedom

The president of the European Journalism Federation, EFJ, Mogens Blicher Bjerregard, said his organization will not and must not allow Balkan authorities "to arrest our colleagues, threaten them, and want them to be silent".

War criminal convicted in Serbia to be returned to Croatia

Veljko Maric, who has been sentenced in Serbia to 12 years in prison for war crimes, will be extradited to Croatia, the Croatian media say.

The Appellate Court in Belgrade passed a decision according to which Maric has been approved his extradition to Croatia, which has been confirmed for Media Servis by his lawyer Djordje Dozet, who said he could not confirm a date.

Seselj Plans to Revive Radicals in Montenegro

Serbian war crimes defendant Vojislav Seselj plans to re-activate his nationalist party in neighbouring Montenegro ahead of next year's parliamentary elections, the Serbian Radical Party announced on Monday.

The newly-elected leader of the Montenegrin party, Dusko Sekulic, said that it was ready to commit itself to strengthening of the branch in Montenegro.

BAT Buys Croatian Tobacco Company For 505 million

One of the biggest companies in Croatia, Adris Group, on Monday said that it sold its subsidiary, Tobacco Factory Rovinj, TDR, to British American Tobacco, BAT, for 505 million euro.

Adris has planned to sell TDR, the Croatian and regional leader in tobacco products, for some time. The deal with BAT was signed on Saturday at its headquarters in London.

Serbian Church Demands Vatican Talks Over Stepinac

The Serbian Orthodox Church has called for talks with the Catholic Church about the expected canonization of a controversial Croatian bishop Alojzije Stepinac - who was archbishop of Zagreb during the Second World War and later a cardinal.

Rovinj, Croatia, Braces for Red Bull Air Race

With fine weather forecast for the weekend, the Red Bull Air Race is set to kick off on Saturday in the old town of Rovinj on the western side of Croatia's Istrian peninsula.

Sponsored by the world-famous energy drink Red Bull, the two-day event, running for only the second time in Rovinj, is a part of an eight-race world championship for acrobatic pilots.

Croatian Investigative Journalist Beaten at Home

Zeljko Peratovic, a well-known investigative journalist, was attacked in his home in a village near Karlovac in central Croatia on Thursday evening.

Peratovic said that while he was in front of his house, three men drove up and started to insult him about articles written on the illegal excavation of gravel.

Croatian President Meets Pope, Requests Visit

On a two-day visit to the Vatican, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic met Pope Francis on Thursday and asked him to visit her mainly Catholic country.

Balkans Features Low on Global Terrorism Map

A global risk map shows countries in the Balkan region have only a low to medium risk of terrorist attacks.

Launched on Wednesday by Aon Risk Solutions, a leading global risk management groups, in partnership with the Risk Advisory Group, the map provides insight for businesses aiming to reduce their exposure to risk.

Albania’s Rama: We won’t negotiate nat’l interests for sake of good-neighborly ties

Albanian PM Edi Rama on Wednesday fielded a question on relations with Greece and the recently emerged issue that Tirana tabled regarding the delineation of maritime borders in the Ionian Sea.
Rama answered the press question as he appeared with his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic at a press conference. Vucic is on a closely watched on a two-day visit to Tirana.