January 15, 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Saturday that demography was the biggest challenge for the Croatian people in the years ahead.

Everyone must contribute and the government has taken a series of measures to enable young families to "stand on their feet," he added.

"At the end, whatever it undertakes, the state can't decide for someone how large a family they will have," he said on Croatian Radio when asked about the 2021 population census, which shows that Croatia has 3,888,529 inhabitants, 396,360 fewer than in 2011.

Today Croatia has roughly the same population size as in 1948, but then there were 95,000 babies, as against 35,000 today, he said, adding that Croatia had a negative birth rate since 1950, "which is a systematic trend."

Lifestyles have changed and more developed parts of the country have weaker positive birth rates, he said, adding that countries in Europe that were similar to Croatia were in a similar situation.

Bulgaria has 800,000 fewer inhabitants, Lithuania and Latvia have fewer inhabitants, too, while Western countries compensate for their negative population trends with immigration, Plenković said.

Also, he added, since 2013 Croatian citizens can seek employment within the EU without any quotas or permits, "and some people have used that" opportunity.

He said the government had adopted numerous measures to help young families and that it should do even more. The decision on how many children to have is not just a matter of economy and welfare, but a lifestyle, too, he added. "We live a Western lifestyle and that fact is felt."

The government's scheme to incite the return of Croats living and working abroad has proved to be very successful as the jobs it helps to create stand on market foundations, without any state subsidies, Plenković said.

Some actors are continuously working on dismantling all institutions

Commenting on Croatians who said they emigrated due to an insufficiently built society and inefficient institutions, he said the building of society and institutions came first for his government.

After the Petrinja earthquake at the end of 2020, he said, "there was a dismantling in the public sense, and politically orchestrated attacks, even to dismantle the Croatian Red Cross."

"There are actors who are systematically, continuously working on the dismantling of all institutions," he said, adding that the victims in recent months have been the central bank (HNB), the public broadcaster, the Supreme Court, and the State Attorney's Office.

He said the goals of the attacks included undermining Croatia's Schengen and euro area accession.

Money from European Solidarity Fund hasn't gone to waste

Asked about post-earthquake reconstruction in Zagreb and the Banovina region, Plenković said the €1 billion from the European Solidarity Fund was intended for the initial dealing with the damage, estimated at HRK 129 billion.

He said everyone, from the ministries to local government, was tasked with stepping up reconstruction to the maximum so that people could see that Croatia was being rebuilt.

He said the Solidarity Fund money for post-earthquake reconstruction did not go to waste and that Croatia was working on utilising it as much as possible. "In order to rebuild Zagreb and Banovina, we'll have to combine different sources - the Solidarity Fund, the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development."

Asked about the opposition's requests for the sacking of some ministers, Plenković said the opposition was there to criticise the government and launch initiatives, but added that he never saw a prime minister sack ministers because the opposition had decided so.

This is the year when decisions will be made on Croatia's Schengen and euro area accession, but the realisation of those strategic political goals is not in everyone's political interest, he said. "You have people who will do everything for that not to happen, not just in Croatia, but some outside, too."

Plenković said the latest case concerning the central bank would not destabilise Croatia's euro journey and that the government wanted everything to be investigated to see if there was a political goal to destabilise the journey. "I wouldn't rule out that element in the... tactic of dismantling institutions."

He announced that he and Finance Minister Zdravko Marić would present a euro bill on Monday. "I expect the decisions at the level of European institutions and the Eurogroup to be practically made in the middle of this year."

At this time next year, the idea is for the dual use of the kuna and the euro to end, he said, adding that prices would be displayed in both kuna and euro as of September for the next 12 months, while citizens would be able to exchange kunas for euros without a fee throughout the year.

January 15, 2022 - In the last 24 hours 8,958 coronavirus cases, out of 18,381 tests, and 35 deaths have been registered in Croatia, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Saturday.

There are 55,046 active cases, including 1,688 hospitalised patients, of whom 229 are on ventilators, while 25,990 persons are self-isolating.

Croatia has registered 811,703 coronavirus cases to date. The death toll is 13,073.

To date, 56.16% of the population has been vaccinated, including 66.87% of adults, of whom 64.17% fully.

January 15, 2022 - How many uhljebs quit Croatia since 1991? A closer look after the new census results. 

According to the new census, Croatia has 3,888,529 inhabitants, which means that it has lost 400,000 inhabitants since the last census in 2011, the Central Bureau of Statistics announced.

Index.hr reports that since the 1948 census, Croatia has not recorded such a low number. Since 1991, it has lost 895,736 inhabitants, almost all of Zagreb. The drastic drop in population begins a year after Tudjman's overwhelming HDZ victory in the country's first democratic elections. Although the war broke out since then, and other political options had power, the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) spent most of the time in power. 

Why and how it happened is yet to be discussed, and analyses have yet to be done. The media has published many stories of people and even entire families who sought happiness outside of Croatia. Most of them are employed or unemployed, who left Croatia in search of a better life. An Index poll in 2018 asked why people left Croatia, and corruption, primitivism, religious obstinacy, and nationalism were cited as the main reasons.

In parallel with the emigration, there is an increase in the number of employees in counties, cities, and municipalities in Croatia. These employees have kept in power the same politicians and the same political, social, and economic ideas that have led to the disappearance of almost half a million people since 2011. 

From 2002 to 2019, the number of employees in counties increased from 1,237 to 2,409, in cities from 7,170 to 10,777, and in municipalities from 2,285 to 5,861. In 2002, Croatia had slightly more than 4,305 million inhabitants and 10,692 employees in cities, municipalities, and counties. In 2019, Croatia fell to 4,060 million inhabitants, and the number of uhljebs grew to 19,047.

Uhljeb, though a difficult word to translate, literally means 'in bread', and it refers to a person who has a job for life through connections - either political or family - and whose levels of competence and interest in doing the job well are questionable at best. You can learn more about uhljebs in A Tale of Two Croatias: Before and After the Uhljeb Discovery (here) and Welcome to Uhljebistan: A Foreign Appreciation of the Cult of Uhljeb (here).

Now that your mind is refreshed - you must know someone who left Croatia in the past few years, especially if you are from Slavonia. Or at least heard about someone who has left. But have you ever heard or know about a single uhljeb who left Croatia? Or did only those who were forced to feed the uhljebs move out?

For more on news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

January 15, 2022 - When Croatia achieved international recognition on 15 January 1992, the Homeland War was on and almost one-third of the country was under occupation by the Yugoslav People's Army and Serb rebels.

On the evening of 15 January 1992, the then president Franjo Tuđman said that date would be carved in golden letters into the 14-century-long history of the Croatian people on the territory between the Mura, Drava and Danube rivers and the Adriatic Sea.

To his associates, he said, "We have created the internationally recognised Croatia. Let's celebrate tonight and then roll up our sleeves in building a new democratic state."

The international recognition was gradual after Croatia declared independence on 25 June 1991, when Slovenia also severed ties with the then Yugoslav federation. Croatia and Slovenia recognised each other the next day.

The Soviet Union was breaking up at the same time, with the Baltic states and Ukraine leading the way. They recognised Croatia in 1991 despite not being internationally recognised themselves. Lithuania did so on 30 July, Ukraine on 11 December, and Latvia and Estonia on 31 December.

Iceland, first internationally recognised state to recognise Croatia

Iceland was the first internationally recognised state to recognise Croatia, doing so on 19 December 1991, the same day as Germany, which decided that its recognition would enter into force the following 15 January, together with the other EU member states.

On 13 January 1992, Croatia was recognised by the Vatican, which announced the international recognition of Croatia and Slovenia on 20 December of the previous year. The Vatican's diplomacy was the first in the world to state on 3 October 1991 that it was working on Croatia's international recognition.

On 14 January 1992, Croatia was recognised by San Marino and on the 15th by the UK, Denmark, Malta, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Hungary, Norway, Bulgaria, Poland, Italy, Canada, France, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Luxembourg, and Greece. On the 16th, it was recognised by Argentina, Australia, the Czech Republic, Chile, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Slovakia, Sweden, and Uruguay.

By the end of the month, Croatia was recognised by Finland, Romania, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Bolivia.

Russia recognised Croatia on 17 February, Japan on 17 March, the United States on 7 April, Israel on 16 April, although diplomatic relations were established five and a half years later, and China on 27 April.

Iran was the first Asian state to recognise Croatia on 15 March and Egypt the first African state on 16 April. On 22 May 1992, Croatia became a member of the UN and on 1 July 2013, the 28th member of the EU.

Peaceful reintegration of Danube River Region

On 15 January, the Croatians also commemorate that in 1998 the so-called "peaceful reintegration" was completed, whereby the until-then occupied territory of eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srijem, known as the Croatian Danube River Region, was restored into Croatia's constitutional and legal order.

The Erdut Agreement on Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srijem, which enabled the reintegration, was signed in Erdut and Zagreb on 12 November 1995 by the then Croatian president's chief of staff, Hrvoje Šarinić, and the head of the Serb negotiating delegation, Milan Milanović, as well as by the then US ambassador to Croatia, Peter Galbraith, and UN mediator Thorvald Stoltenberg as witnesses.

The agreement marked the start of a two-year UN transitional administration during which the remaining temporarily occupied parts of Osijek-Baranja and Vukovar-Srijem counties were peacefully returned to Croatia's constitutional and legal order, which enabled their reconstruction and the return of displaced persons and refugees.

The peaceful reintegration and achieving of peace were made possible by the Croatian army's operations Bljesak (Flash) on 1 May 1995 and Oluja (Storm) starting on the following 5 August. The former liberated western Slavonia and the latter the town of Knin as well the largest parts of the occupied territory.

January 15, 2022 - A Roman goddess Venus statue in Zadar has been discovered at the construction site of a future hotel. It is about 1800 years old. 

A statue of the Roman goddess Venus was found on the construction site of a future hotel in the center of Zadar, about a meter high, preserved from the knees to below the chest, made of marble, and about 1800 years old, reports Slobodna Dalmacija. 

"Academician Nenad Cambi, our greatest expert on antiquity, believes that it is most likely a statue of the goddess Venus. Its full height was about two meters, and it was probably on a pedestal in the atrium of this ancient urban villa where we are now," said Smiljan Gluščević.

A statue of the Roman goddess of beauty, love, fertility, and sexuality was found at a depth of about two meters, and stone fragments of a large base, most likely a crown, were discovered in the immediate vicinity.

"Such examples of ancient plastic are very rare in our country. However, a similar remnant of a statue of Venus exists in the Archaeological Museum in Split," said academician Cambi, and Gluščević added:

"We found a precious and rare statue, which will be known more after its cleaning and conservation."

As soon as Venus was taken out of the earth, it was clear to archaeologists that they had discovered a "sensation." It was immediately separated from other artifacts and transferred to the depot of the Homeland Museum in Biograd na Moru. An agreement was signed on the disposal of all finds at the investigation site.

Smiljan Gluščević points out that the statue is attractive and has several details.

Smiljan Gluščević

"On the left leg is a broken part of someone's hand, on the right thigh as if it were someone's fingerprints. Some "prints" can also be seen near the groin and on the part of the body below the chest ... Archaeological analysis should explain these things. Academician Cambi believes that part of the hand on the left leg most likely belongs to the god Mercury, with whom Venus is often iconographically associated. 

These are all, I emphasize, preliminary knowledge, but it is undoubtedly a special find and statue that would be nice to present in a new building," said Gluščević, who also interpreted the archaeological context in which Venus was found.

"It was, therefore, most likely one of the sculptures from the atrium of this ancient urban villa. A marble floor of about 80 square meters was also found where the statue was discovered. 

It extends to the east, south, and north, so we don't know the true dimensions of that central part of the villa. But considering other finds - an 11-meter-long canal for sewage, the remains of an ancient wall lined with gray marble tiles, and the remains of a black-and-white mosaic covering an area of some four square meters - we can say that it is a rich urban villa between the second and fourth centuries, which very likely had a floor."

The location of the villa and the details of the mosaic coincided with the results of research by Professor Boris Ilakovac 60 years ago. Before constructing the neighboring building of Božidar Rašica, he researched the foundations of buildings demolished during and after the Second World War.

Professor Ilakovac found two villas in a row there; they touched each other's outer walls and had an identical mosaic decoration in the atrium. All this tells us that here, a hundred meters from the ancient Forum, several representative residential buildings were later, possibly in the early Middle Ages, demolished and only now being revealed in their full beauty. 

We have also discovered several medieval walls, but it is too early to talk about their interpretation. Nevertheless, this is proof of the continuity of urban life on the Zadar Peninsula. Apparently, these villas were located within the ancient insula, possibly created before Christ, and divided by cards and decums where today's streets in this part of the city pass, with an average size of 40 by 20 meters," explains Gluščević.

Other interesting inventions are fragments of ancient and Byzantine pottery that probably arrived there between the fourth and sixth centuries. Fragments of luxury tableware from North Africa that do not belong to the time before the third century have also been found, and some could be dated to the fourth and fifth centuries, respectively.

If the owners get permits, and if they wish, these artifacts could be found in the window of the future hotel.

"It is difficult to talk about it because it does not depend on me but the conservators and investors of this facility. But, as an archaeologist, I would love to see a hotel display case with findings, to see the genius loci, the historical stratification of the place, and I think that would be attractive to visitors.

In addition, I believe that the found remains of the mosaic could be taken out and presented somewhere because today there is a developed technique for such a thing," he emphasized. 

The final word will be given by the conservators, who will determine the conditions for protecting the location and construction for the investors of the hotel facility after the archeological report. That is, what will remain buried underground, and what may be presented.

"We archaeologists would always like everything to be seen, but we know that this is not possible, especially in cities such as Zadar, where you have an archeological site on every inch of land," concludes Smiljan Gluščević.

Smiljan Gluščević is the former director of the Archaeological Museum in Zadar, an expert in antiquity, and one of Croatia's most important underwater researchers. He conducted field research along the entire Adriatic coast and islands until his retirement five years ago.

Gluščević was the first professionally employed underwater archaeologist in the former Yugoslavia, leader of the international team for extracting Apoxyomenos in the sea near Lošinj, and the only Croatian member of the scientific committee "Archaeologia Maritima Mediterranea," a renowned international journal of underwater archeology published in Pisa and Rome.

Three years ago, as the crown of his research, pedagogical and academic work, he published the first Croatian university textbook in underwater archeology. He worked at Požarište for the private archeological company "Arheologija Art" from Zadar.

Among the numerous fragments of pottery found in the drainage canal, Gluščević discovered a more significant amount of so-called tubules. These hollow ceramic bricks served as "central heating" pipes in ancient villas.

The tubules were arranged inside the wall, and warm air passed through them, which speaks volumes about the luxury in which the people of Zadar enjoyed their villas overlooking the sea.

For more, check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

January 15, 2022 - The latest flight news to Croatia as Emirates Zagreb flights hope to be restored in the future. 

Ex Yu Aviation reports that Emirates hopes to bring back Dubai-Zagreb flights, which have not run since the beginning of the pandemic. 

“Zagreb is one amongst many cities where Emirates operations remain suspended due to ongoing travel or flight restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic. At this time, travellers in Croatia can book with our codeshare partner Flydubai to travel to Dubai and onwards on the broader Emirates network. We hope to restart our operations in Zagreb when it is commercially and operationally feasible to do so in the future, and we will make a formal announcement if there are any developments in this regard," the airline told Ex Yu Aviation. 

Emirates first launched year-round operations to the Croatian capital in 2017, which ran daily that summer on Boeing 777 aircraft. The following year, the line was reduced to a seasonal route and shared with Flydubai - Emirates operated in the summer and Flydubai in the winter. 

The airline last operated to Zagreb in October 2019, terminating the line a year later during the pandemic and closing its sales office in Zagreb. 

Ex Yu Aviation reminds that Emirates and Flydubai recorded 130,937 passengers on the Dubai-Zagreb route before the pandemic in 2019. Behind Lufthansa, Qatar Airways, Croatia Airlines, and Turkish Airlines, Emirates was the fifth largest Zagreb Airport transfer airline. The line was primarily used by passengers from Asia and Australia and was the second busiest airline in Zagreb (behind Qatar Airways) for connecting travelers to and from Asia. 

As most countries in East and Southeast Asia closed for non-essential inbound and outbound travel during the pandemic, with Australia still closed off from international arrivals, there was little chance of this line surviving. 

Emirates, however, has resumed operations to over 90% of its pre-pandemic network, with more than 120 destinations worldwide.

And the other good news? Flydubai will operate daily to Zagreb this summer, which is a boost from its 4-weekly service before! 

For more, check out our dedicated travel section.

January the 15th, 2022 - Croatian English fluency is often very impressive to most foreigners when they first come here, likely expecting that as a country with a Slavic language with vastly different rules, the situation would be quite the opposite despite tourism reliance. Croatia has been ranked very high on the list when it comes to speaking English, the world's most widely spoken language.

As Srednja.hr/Matej Markovinovic writes, speaking, understanding and writing English might be a pain in the nether regions for some, but for others, they quickly get acquainted with it and fluent in it without many issues. In any case, there is no doubt that English surrounds us in everyday life, both on TV and in films, and on the Internet where we spend an increasing amount of time.

An international education company that is not ashamed to boast that it is a leader in the field of language, EF Education First, has published a report for the year 2021 on the knowledge of the English language among the countries of the world. Namely, the results were divided into five groups, and Croatia was in the first and best, next to countries such as Finland, Sweden, Portugal and Belgium.

This particular study was conducted on two million people across 112 countries, and the median age of the respondents was 26 years. The crown for the best knowledge of English was again (unsurprisingly) won by the Netherlands this year, followed by Austria and then by Denmark.

In a previous survey, Croatian English fluency impressed once again, taking 13th place in the entire world, but in 2021 it climbed to 10th place, thus entering the ''Very High Proficiency'' list. When it comes to Europe alone, Croatia is in ninth place overall.

In addition, the data show that English is best known to non British Europeans between the ages of 26 and 40, while the age group between 18 and 20 isn't quite as ''famous'' for the same skill. According to the research, countries with more knowledge of English are also more developed and have higher GDP and economic growth.

Croatia's neighbours should also be pointed out, Serbia took a respectable 14th place and almost found itself on the aforementioned ''High Proficiency'' list, while Italy is in a rather unimpressive 35th place. Data for Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are not available, so we can't be sure how they stand. In last place is Yemen.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

January the 15th, 2022 - The European Commission (EC) has told the Croatian Government that there will categorically be no deadline extension for spending on reconstruction projects for post-earthquake procedures.

As Index vijesti writes, the European Commission has refused to extend the deadline for the Republic of Croatia to use the funds from the Solidarity Fund and added that there is no consideration whatsoever being given to the proposed deadline extension of eighteen months to use the funds from the day the money was paid to the country, Jutarnji list unofficially reported.

Another Croatian publication, Telegram, has since published accurate quotations from a letter from the European Commission sent to the Croatian Government. It is clear from the letter that Croatia cannot receive a deadline extension for the spending of a massive 5.1 billion kuna from the Solidarity Fund.

"It was clarified that the EU Solidarity Fund Regulation doesn't provide for an extension of eighteen months for its implementation, and my colleagues explained that the costs of the first damage as a result of the original event (Zagreb earthquake) back in March 2020 are acceptable. Given its limited amount and timeframe, the EU Solidarity Fund should be used for emergency rehabilitation, while other means are more appropriate for significant and long-term reconstruction,'' reads the European Commission's letter signed by Sofia Alves of the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy of the EC.

This means that the Republic of Croatia will need to return part of the amount totalling 5.1 billion kuna because it will not be able to spend it until June the 17th, when the deadline is set.

Croatia will have to finance these projects contracted so far from other EU sources

The European Commission also requested that the Croatian Government's decision to establish special departments within the Ministry of Construction and Physical Planning, which were established exclusively for work on the Fund, be sent.

Special services within the Ministry were established only in December last year, one entire year after initially receiving the funds. They also noted that the funds of the Solidarity Fund are intended for emergency operations after damages, while the funds of other funds can be used for other projects.

On December the 27th, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said he hoped that the European Commission would accept Croatia's argument for a deadline extension. It seems that there will be none of that, which means that the country will have to finance the projects agreed so far from other EU sources, which means less money for development projects.

Plenkovic's ministers: Nobody sought postponement

Plenkovic's ministers, Obuljen Korzinek, Bozinovic and Horvat all claimed that no one had actually asked the European Commission for a deadline extension, nor that this letter published by Telegram (linked above) was rejected.

"These are incorrect allegations, the merits of the letter were to confirm what was discussed at the meeting, and the implementation of the projects financed from the Fund was discussed, as was the method of reporting. The letter reads the follow-up of our technical meeting with the EC during December and at which we agreed on the dynamics of further work. The aim of the letter was to confirm what was agreed at the meeting,'' claimed Obuljen Korzinek.

For more, check out our politics section.