ZAGREB, 6 Dec 2021 - In the past 24 hours Croatia has registered 728 new COVID cases while 51 people died of this infection, the national COVID response team reported on Monday.

There are currently 25,567 active cases in the country including 2,444 hospitalized patients with 326 patients on ventilators. As many as 23,453 people are self-isolating.

Since 25 February 2020 when the first case of the novel coronavirus was registered in Croatia, there have been a total of 631,756 cases of contagion and 11,269 people have died as a consequence while 594,929 have recovered, including 4,588 in the past 24 hours.

To date, there have been 3,512,277 tests conducted, including 2,732 in the past 24 hours.

As of Sunday, a total of 4,249,704 doses of a vaccine have been administered under the vaccine rollout. Thus, 54.40% of the total population or 64.89% of the adult population have received at least one dose.

A total of 2,207,786 people has received at least one dose of a vaccine while 1,981,397 are fully vaccinated, which is 58.74% of the adult population.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and select your preferred language.

December 6, 2021 - A promising 2022 on the music scene gets even stronger with the announcement of The Cure in Croatia! The legendary English band will perform at Arena Zagreb next fall for their first-ever solo concert. Tickets will go on sale on December 9.

Giants of the alternative rock scene - The Cure will hold their first solo concert in Croatia on October 27, 2022 in Arena Zagreb! The huge base of domestic fans of this cult band, which does not give up on performances, still active 42 years after its founding, will finally come to its senses and see the first and long-awaited solo performance of The Cure in Croatia. The Zagreb concert is part of the just-announced European tour The Cure Tour 22, where The Cure will hold 44 concerts in 22 countries, all as part of an announcement of a new album that will bring another 67 minutes of The Cure sound.

The indie-rock pioneers have released 13 studio albums so far, more than 40 singles, their albums have sold 30 million copies worldwide, and there are a number of live albums, soundtracks, books… The Cure marked the lives of a generation of fans with their music, and although they are difficult to classify into a single musical genre, they influenced the formation of several of them such as goth rock, new wave, and post-rock. In 2019, five members of The Cure were officially inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

The Cure was formed in 1978 in Crawley, England, and since its first concert that same year, The Cure has played over 1,500 concerts, and live music and direct contact with the audience is what The Cure does best. So two years ago, they were named the best festival headliners by NME, which only proves their love for the stage. The Cure Euro 2022 tour will be the first since concerts in 2019, the year in which they celebrated 40 years of existence, and 30 years since the release of the cult album "Disintegration" in 1989, which secured the title of one of the best British bands in the last 50 year. That same year, after a three-month festival tour, they held an epic three-hour concert in Mexico City. In Arena Zagreb, a full 135 minutes of pure The Cure concert energy and enthusiasm await us, which will be preceded by the performance of the pre-band The Twilight Sad.

Tickets for The Cure in Croatia are on sale from Thursday, December 9 at 10 am, through the Eventim.hr website and at Eventim sales points. Ticket prices range from 175 to 650 kuna.

For more information, details, and the full list of dates for The Cure tour that will include Zagreb, visit their official Instagram page and their official website, or in Charm Music Croatia's official Facebook and Instagram pages.

For more concerts news, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

December 6, 2021 - The 22nd Pannonian Challenge in Osijek was attended by more than 200 athletes from 24 countries, and more than 15,000 visitors attended the event during the five days of the festival.

For 22 years, the Pannonian Challenge, a festival of extreme sports and urban culture, has successfully withstood all challenges and imposed new standards year after year, both in sports results and organization, reports HRTurizam.

Over the years, the Pannonian Challenge has become one of the most key events in Osijek and the whole of Slavonia. Moreover, due to its international character, it has crossed the borders of Croatia. Therefore, the importance of this event is unquestionable for Osijek, as the Drava river city is positioned in the world as a center of sports, entertainment, and team spirit.

The 22nd edition of the Pannonian Challenge was attended by more than 200 athletes from 24 countries, and more than 15,000 visitors attended the event during the five days of the festival.

"We are happy that the Pannonian Challenge, despite the corona crisis, managed to continue and for the 22nd year in a row promoted our city, county, and state and brought positivity among our fellow citizens. These figures and data best show the impact of Pannonian on all of us and the community we live in, and thanks to our partners and understanding of the authorities, we have survived the worst and plan a strong return - hosting the BMX World Cup as part of the 23rd Pannonian Challenge! We have a big job ahead of us. Still, we believe that with the support of all our partners and associates, we will succeed, just like in all previous years," said Jurica Barać, director of the Pannonian Challenge.

More than three million kuna was invested in the organization of the event, facilities, and the event's promotion, and thus in Osijek and the whole of Croatia. In addition, viewers from as many as 93 countries worldwide had the opportunity to see Pannonian Challenge footage.

Namely, the media platform Icarus Sport broadcast the show "The Outdoor Sports Show," which was partly dedicated to the Osijek event and shown on 53 sports channels, with a media reach of more than 1.3 billion households worldwide. In addition, the video is shown on flights of Air China, Air Canada, Qatar Airways, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Oman Air, TAP Air Portugal, and many others. Through October 2021, it was seen by tens of thousands of people, with the important note that the video is also shown during November.

The sporting significance of the Pannonian Challenge was further confirmed this year when for the first time, BMX freestyle became an Olympic discipline. The Osijek team led by Igor Vukadinović Poki and Zdenko Liška, president of the Pannonian Association, set up a skate park in Tokyo at the Olympic Games.

The Pannonian Challenge has become a unique brand of its city and the entire country. For years, it has achieved a high global promotion for Osijek, Osijek-Baranja County, and Croatia. 

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

December 6, 2021 - The Croatian Cup semifinal draw was held at the Croatian Football Federation headquarters on Monday. 

In the Croatian Football Cup semifinals, Rijeka will play against Osijek at Rujevica Stadium and Hajduk will face Gorica at Poljud, according to the draw held on Monday in Zagreb.

The semifinal matches will be played on March 1 and 2, 2022. There were no top seeds in the draw and the semifinals will be played in one match.

The Cup final will be played on May 22 next year at Poljud Stadium in Split.

This is a great opportunity for Hajduk, which has played 19 consecutive Cup games away. Hajduk last won the Cup in 2013, which is also the last trophy for the Split club. Hajduk has the chance to play two home games in the Cup and a historic opportunity for their first trophy in eight years. The last time Split hosted the Cup was in March 2016 in the semifinal match against Dinamo.

The Rijeka and Osijek match will certainly be a bit more competitive, though Rijeka will have the home pitch advantage. 

Split will be the seventh different host of the final match for the Croatian Cup since the decision was made in 2016 that only one match will decide the winner of this trophy. The hosts of the previous six finals were Osijek, Varaždin, Vinkovci, Pula, Šibenik, and Velika Gorica.

Recall, in the quarterfinal matches which were played on Tuesday and Wednesday last week, Gorica topped Istra on penalties, Hajduk beat Lokomotiva 6:3, and Osijek beat Belupo on penalties. In the last quarterfinal, Rijeka knocked out Dinamo 3:1, which forced the resignation of Dinamo coach Damir Krznar. 

The sports betting company SuperSport became the title sponsor of the Croatian Football Cup this year. The most massive football competition thus bears the name SuperSport Croatian Football Cup for the 2021/22 season.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

December 6, 2021 - In our new TCN series, we meet the Vukovar businesses that are changing the landscape of the city. First up, introducing Ella Design. 

Vukovar, oh Vukovar. What comes to mind when you hear the name? Most likely war, the parade, the memorial museums. Its citizens are leaving, searching for a better life in Ireland, Germany, Austria. Fortunately, that is not all it is. It is a living breathing city, full of wonders and full of amazing people with passion and a vision for a bright future right here. The thing is, not many people realize how much potential there is in a place that is now brand new. How many smaller cities (bigger, too) can show off their refurbished baroque facades, perfectly maintained parks and greenery, strategically grown all around the city centre to allow for walks of several kilometres along the river? New infrastructure, housing, and roads? A 10-minute drive or a pleasant walk to get anywhere? An abundance of schools and kindergartens? What a dream. And yet, rarely is this a picture that is painted. There is tradition, culture, gastronomy, you name it. And with the implementation of Vukovar Card, outlined here who knows where we can go? Though the challenges are numerous, so are the advantages. 

In this edition, we will discuss business, ideas, perspectives. 

Running a small business anywhere in the world is quite a challenge. Doing so in Croatia is a slightly bigger one. Starting from scratch and running one in the east of Croatia, in Vukovar – mission impossible. Or is it? In a series of interviews, we present some excellent businesses in Vukovar. We talk to the owners to see how they are doing at the moment, the challenges they are facing, and their plans for the future. We also discuss the Vukovar Card idea with them to see what they think and if they would be willing to take part. Let their stories inspire you to visit and shop their products in Vukovar! 

Today we present Ella Design, a family-run creative design business. The owner, Lidija Azinović, is a bubbly personality with lots of stories to share and ideas to discuss. Her family's way into this was not very straightforward, but eventually, Lidija and her husband, who is now her employee, decided that it's worth pursuing a hobby if you love it.  They built a successful business selling personalised gifts such as picture frames, hanging decorations, and keychains. All their products are custom designed and made by Lidija and Kristijan in their home in Vukovar. Even though the times are quite challenging with the price of materials having gone up 100% for some, they keep a smile on their faces and a more than positive outlook with ambitious plans for the future. After our conversation, I had a sudden urge to go home and create something, start a business, be colourful, imaginative. I'm much better at writing though, so for now, I will only share what Lidija said to some of my questions:

Tell us about your business - what do you do exactly? 

I am the owner of Ella Design, more specifically the brand “Mamine Ručice” (Mother’s Little Hands), and I make custom gifts for various occasions. The materials that I use include wood, MDF panels, different kinds of plywood, acrylic sheets, etc. We cut the shapes out with a CNC laser and then sand, paint, put together, and pack by hand.

Where did you get the idea and how did you begin? 

I got the idea when I gave birth to my little daughter Ella as I was searching for something to decorate her room. Two months later, my husband and I created our first MDF wall decor and handed it as gifts to our little friends at my son Leon’s birthday party. Back then we did not have a laser but used my father-in-law's manual CNC machine which was, you can imagine, slow and tedious. We managed to surprise our friends and family who immediately wanted to order more! And so it began.

What makes your product unique?

I think that our offer is quite unique in the sense that it is really wide-ranging and customizable. I really dove deep into the idea of setting up a business and used all the advantages that I had. We did not need to rent space since we had some spare rooms in our house. Also, I made sure that my products are available outside of Vukovar in all of Croatia. 

How was it setting up a business in Vukovar? What is your outlook for the future? 

I am really pleased with the way we were able to set up our business, conduct it and grow so far. The fact that our efforts are seen even outside of Croatia makes me so happy. I am looking forward to all future projects and collaborations and I think that we will soon expand our business. 

Do you think that the fact that you are located in eastern Croatia affected your success?

The fact that we are located in the east did not affect our business in any significant way. I truly believe that the things that matter for success include willpower, desire, and hard work. With these combined, success will come your way no matter the location. 

What opportunities are there in our city and region? 

The opportunities in the city, as well as the region, are numerous, with a good business plan and vision, any business owner can create an amazing story of their business. I believe that it is important to connect with the city, the county, as well as the end client. Long-term success is not about how much money you make, but about how well connected you are and how much you matter to the community. 

What is your view on other small businesses in Vukovar? 

I liaise with other business owners, I buy their products and use their services because I want to encourage them and support their work and effort. Those who really try I support through my social media accounts, I praise their effort and recommend them to my followers. They do the same for me, creating an amazing circle of positivity. I see them as my partners and not competition. 

If we were to implement the Vukovar Card, would you take part and offer our guests discounts or special packages? 

The idea is excellent! I would be more than happy to take part in order to boost the local economy and connect with other stakeholders and express our support in such a way. To make it all worth it, we would be happy to offer discounted prices of our products for the holders of Vukovar Card. 

Finally, tell us about life in Vukovar. What is it that you love the most, what would you say to all potential visitors? 

I love everything about Vukovar! I love the fact that there is more to our city than war tourism and that is slowly but surely coming out to the surface. An excellent offer of restaurants, wine, museums. Vukovar is a place that is only about to reach its peak and our generation will make sure that it does soon. 

Where can we find you? 

On my Facebook page “Mamine Ručice” and my Instagram - mamine_rucice.

Welcome! Hopefully, you can find something you’ll love. 

To read more about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

December the 6th, 2021 - Split scientists have published an important piece of work for the EU Marine Stragedy, placing Croatian scientists at the forefront once again.

As Morski writes, the Republic of Croatia, as a member state of the European Union, is obliged to respect the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC), which requires effective action in maintaining a good marine environment. Split scientists have stepped forward to do precisely that.

Each EU country, in accordance with the aforementioned directive, is currently developing a programme of measures that should maintain the state of the environment at a quality level and correct what was once poor.

In order for these proposed measures to really have an effect, it was necessary to create a methodology to test their effectiveness. That is why Split scientists from the Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, in cooperation with their colleagues from Europe, within the MEDCIS and MEDREGION projects, have been working hard for many years. The result of the work has just been published in the prestigious magazine "Marine policy".

Through this work, European Union-wide executive authorities have multiple new tools at their disposal to develop more meaningful and effective measures to preserve the marine environment. When asked how the Institute's cooperation with other large institutions in Europe came about, the senior expert associate of the Split Institute, Miso Pavicic, provided an answer:

''The Institute has been working for years on the implementation of the Marine Strategy in cooperation with the competent ministry. IFRS is an EU directive that member states need to implement. The Institute performs the monitoring of the marine environment, the assessment of the state of the environment and participates in the development of programmes of measures.

A consortium of Mediterranean-level partners has been formed and we have applied for a call for projects from the European Commission, DG Environment. First it was the MEDCIS project, then came MEDREGION. These are projects on the implementation of the EU Marine Strategy. This paper published in the magazine "Marine policy" is the result of part of the activities of these two projects,'' explained Pavicic.

Who will benefit from all the results of the work of these Split scientists?

''Primarily EU-level decision-makers, as well as all interested experts assessing the progress and potential of individual action programmes at both the national and subregional level. This method can contribute to more coordinated measures between EU member states and as such be more effective in protecting the marine environment,'' stated this scientist from the Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries.

The programme of measures is a document of the EU Marine Strategy that member states need to adopt if the state of the environment is bad. In that case, these measures should be applied in order to achieve a good state of the environment.

For more, check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

December the 6th, 2021 - The placed artificial Zadar reef has been a roaring success as more and more marine life begins flocking to it to set up home and breed.

As Morski writes, a round table which discussed the topic: "Monitoring the occurrence of marine organisms on the artificial reef within the project Adri.SmArtFish" was held at the Zadar County Chamber recently.

The Administrative Department for Agriculture, Fisheries and EU Funds of Zadar County is implementing the project "Adri.SmArtFish" funded by the Interreg V-A Italy - Croatia, its implementation began on January the 1st, 2019 and will last until December the 31st, 2021.

The overall objective of the project is to strengthen the role of coastal fishing in GSA 17 (northern and central Adriatic) in the near future by encouraging innovation within the context of "blue growth" through the adoption of an ecosystem-based management approach.

One of the activities of Zadar County in the project was the installation of the aforementioned artificial Zadar reef. Back in February this year, this artificial Zadar reef was set up near the island of Osljak. It was formed in the shape of a three-sided pyramid with sides spanning 7.30 metres, a height reaching 3.10 metres and a total volume of approximately 24 cubic metres. It is a prefabricated type of structure, consisting of 60 concrete slabs and made of environmentally friendly materials, whose shape and chemical composition allow for the safe settlement of organisms and the formation of a complete biocenosis as similar as possible to those found on natural reefs which occur across our oceans and seas.

The University of Zadar and the Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries conducted the monitoring procedure after the artificial Zadar reef was initially set up, and presented their observations at a round table with nineteen participants from Zadar County, the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, IZOR, and from various fishing trades and local action group in the field of fisheries (LAGUR).

Although they used different methods in the monitoring of the artificial Zadar reef, they came to the same conclusions: they noticed the same species of fish arriving on the reef, they noticed that over time more and more fish and other organisms gathered around the reef, and it would be easier to monitor the depth the set ridge was smaller.

It was concluded that the reef has definitely fulfilled its purpose as a pilot project, ie it has been proven that fish do successfully gather in such areas. In the future, after the completion of the project, monitoring should continue, and the installation of more artificial fish reefs in the Zadar Channel should be considered.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

December the 6th, 2021 - A team of FER researchers have come up with some innovative and impressive mine detection technology, but it won't be producted here in Croatia.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes, although Croatia is fortunately no longer at the top of the global list of countries with the biggest problems with landmines and unexploded ordnance from previous conflicts, the country is one of the leaders in demining technology, which could be further developed in the coming period.

After Dok-ing developed complex robotic demining systems recently, primarily due to national needs and then increasing demand across the global market, the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (FER) in Zagreb is nearing the completion of an intelligent demining technology project of all other metals found throughout the country.

From Syria to Colombia...

The team of FER researchers led by prof. Dr. Vedran Bilas from the Department of Electronic Systems and Information Processing, which includes young scientists Marko Simic and Davorin Ambrus, developed a system for recognising and distinguishing metal objects hidden in the ground, found by a metal detector, based on their shape.

Confirmation of their success is their participation in this year's eighth Mine Action Technology Workshop organided by the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) in Switzerland.

Professor Bilas explained that there was significant interest in their project, mostly from countries where mines are still a major security and social problem, such as Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Yemen, Cambodia and Colombia, but also humanitarian and other specialised international institutions.

"Significant contacts have been made and we expect that concrete contracts will be reached in the next few months. I'm afraid that, unfortunately, here in Croatia, there is no interest of the economy in the implementation of our technology and it will certainly need to be produced elsewhere. According to our current plans, we'll open a development company with FER that will continue to develop this technology, and the production itself will be in some other country. This is a pity because demining technology is being developed in only a few countries now,'' the team of FER researchers stated.

Bilas added that their detector, which is a combination of electro-magnetic and digital skills and artificial intelligence, is nearing completion and its commercial application can be expected within a year. Mine detectors, ie metal detectors, have been known since the Second World War and since then this technology has been perfected mainly to move towards increasingly sensitive devices, ie those that can detect much smaller metal objects.

"This is where the problems arise because there's a lot of metal left behind in places where there has been war, in urban areas and elsewhere. Another serious problem is that the soil is not magnetically neutral. Some soils are magnetically very active, such as red soil, and then you find yourself in a situation where you can't make full use of such a sensitive instrument because on the one hand it bothers you that the soil produces a certain reaction, and on the other hand you discover new objects which are generally difficult to distinguish,'' explained Bilas.

That is why, four years ago at FER, they started their own project of improving technology in the field of humanitarian demining, for which they received financial support from the Foundation "Find a better way" of the legend of British football Sir Bobby Charlton. Bilas explained that the recognition of an object by the device developed by FER researchers is based on a signal from the metal detector, and it is then necessary to know the position of the "head" of the detector in real time, while the deminer searches the ground.

"Several research groups are working on the problem of determining the position, but they haven't come to a good and acceptable solution as yet. As part of this project, we developed and tested a positioning system in which we monitor the movement of the head with magnetic field sensors. It all works really well in the lab and in real conditions. We were able to move forward with that, so, using data on the position in space and the signals of the detectors, we performed the recognition of categories of objects with the algorithms of artificial intelligence,'' noted Professor Bilas.

He concluded that although he regrets that there is no great interest of the economy and institutions in Croatia in the field of mines and related technologies, on the other hand he is glad because he shows that after decades this security problem that burdened the Croatian state and society is mostly solved.

For more, check out Made in Croatia.