Latest News from Croatia

Croatia Registers Over 3,000 More War Veterans During Pandemic

The Croatian War Veterans' Ministry said that the number of people granted the official status of war veteran rose by 3,324 from March 2020 to November 30 this year, news website Index reported on Sunday.

Two ministers in for grilling as MPs convene multi-day session

Ljubljana – The National Assembly is meeting for an eventful plenary session tomorrow that will culminate on Friday and next Monday with debates and votes on the opposition-sponsored motions to oust Environment Minister Andrej Vizjak and Interior Minister Aleš Hojs.

Missing Turkish migrant girl found dead in Dragonja River

Koper – A 10-year-old Turkish girl who went missing after she fell into the swollen Dragonja on the Slovenian-Croatian on Thursday evening and got swept downstream as her mother was carrying her on her shoulders across the river, was found dead around noon today.

Paper comments on human rights and migrants

Koper – The newspaper Primorske Novice ponders on illegal migrants and human rights as it comments on Saturday on a Turkish woman trying to swim across a river from Croatia into Slovenia as the water swept one of her children away.

Croatia is ready for Schengen

Croatia meets the necessary conditions to implement all parts of the Schengen acquis.

This is the conclusion reached by the Council of the EU.

The report on the issue was adopted at today's Justice and Home Affairs Council in Brussels. This was announced by Slovenian Interior Minister Ales Hojs, whose country holds the EU presidency.

Hojs says Croatia meets conditions for entering Schengen Area

Brussels – Coming out of a meeting of EU home affairs ministers, Slovenia’s Aleš Hojs said it had been agreed that Croatia meets the conditions for entering the Schengen Area, and that it was a key step towards a final decision on the expansion of the no-passport zone. Hojs believes other steps will follow relatively soon.

Shooting from the Hip, Croatian President Makes Play for New Base

For months, the president has been scathing of the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, accusing it imposing repressive restrictions on the people, regardless of the fact that Croatia's measures are in fact not among the strictest in the European Union despite its poor performance on containing the virus, vaccinating its people and saving lives.

Ban on blood donation for homosexual men found discriminatory

Ljubljana – Equal Opportunities Ombudsman Miha Lobnik has noted that the permanent ban on blood donations for all homosexual men is discriminatory, as they are excluded from taking part in this important philanthropic activity despite the fact that the safety of blood donations is also ensured by additional testing for viruses.

Mayor Praised, President Criticised, Over Croatian Serb Murder Commemoration

Croatian leaders' contrasting attitudes towards Tuesday's annual commemoration of the murder of a Croatian family during the independence war drew equally contrasting responses.

Zagreb's new Left-Green mayor, Tomislav Tomasevic attended the commemoration of the murder of the Zec family in 1991 in person.

Slovenia saw biggest drop in air passenger numbers in EU last year

Luxembourg – Slovenia saw the biggest drop in air passenger transport in the EU in the 2020 pandemic year, fresh Eurostat data show. While the number of total passengers in the EU dropped by 73% to 277 million, in Slovenia it plummeted by 83% year-on-year. Slovenia is followed by Slovakia and Croatia, where 82% fewer air passengers were recorded.

Serbs accuse Croats: "They are the most brutal"

This was announced by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation in Belgrade at a press conference.
The representative of that foundation for Southeast Europe, Vladan Jeremic, pointed out that collective expulsions, abuse and arbitrary arrests take place along the Serbian-Croatian border from 2016 to 2021, despite the efforts of civil society organizations to prevent it from happening.