Croatian Navy

A US soldier gestures to a North Macedonian armoured vehicles near Kumanovo, North Macedonia. Photo: EPA-EFE/GEORGI LICOVSKI

Citizens of several Balkan countries over the weekend and on Monday have had an opportunity to see displays of military equipment being used for the NATO "Immediate Response" military exercise.

Croatia's High Criminal Court on Monday increased the sentence handed down to Lora military prison commander Tomislav Duic from eight-and-a-half to ten years in prison for war crimes against civilian detainees at the Lora military prison.

The court also increased the sentence handed down to guard Emilio Bungur from four-and-a-half to eight years in prison.

April 6 brought another milestone in one of the longest-running war crimes processes in Croatia, when the County Court in the coastal city of Split sentenced two men to prison for war crimes against mainly Serb detainees at the city's 'Lora' military prison during the 1991-95 Croatian war.

The Croatian navy held a send-off ceremony for the RTOP-41 Vukovar on Monday in front of the barracks in the port of Split.

The Croatian navy boat, with 50 crew members, is to join a NATO operation in the Mediterranean.

A British woman whose cruise holiday went disastrously wrong when she fell overboard in the middle of the night has hailed Croatia's rescue services for saving her life.

Kay Longstaff, 46, tumbled off the back of the Norwegian Star as it was cruising from Venice to Greece along Croatia's long Adriatic Coast.