As Morski writes on the 29th of October, 2020, following the first two years of the EU Clean Energy Secretariat's initiative, these Croatian islands form part of a growing community of islands actively working on the energy transition of the European Union.

22 European islands will announce their clean energy transition programmes, thus taking a firm step towards decarbonising their energy systems with a special focus on citizen involvement. An additional 7 EU islands will announce their programs in the near future, reports the Island Movement (Pokret otoka).

A Ilha de Arousa (Spain), the Hvar Archipelago (Croatia), Brac (Croatia), Cape Clear (Ireland), Halki (Greece), Ibiza (Spain), Kasos and Symi (Greece), Korcula (Croatia), Kökar (Finland) ), Menorca (Spain), Pantelleria (Italy), Ouessant, Molène and Île de Sein (France) and Eigg, Muck, Rum, Canna, Fair Isle, Foula and the Knoydart Peninsula (Scotland) have developed a transition plan adapted over the past nine months which also covers their individual needs and resources.

Most of these islands were pioneer islands selected back in February 2019 in a competition by the Secretariat for Clean Energy of the EU Islands, an initiative of the European Commission.

The islands' energy transition strategies have been written by island transition teams themselves, with the support of the Clean Energy Secretariat for EU Islands. A year ago, six pilot island initiatives announced their strategies.

An additional 7 islands currently in the process of final approval that will soon announce their transition plans are: Azores (Portugal), Mallorca (Spain), Marie-Galante (France), Belle-Île, Hoedic and Houat (France) and Crete Greece). They will be available on the website when they are ready.

The official announcement of the strategies will take place during the island's Clean Energy for EU Islands Forum, when decision-makers and representatives of the EU island community come together to discuss the future of the European Islands, EU Islands reports.

''These energy transition strategies are proof of the hard work and productive cooperation among islanders, both within their communities and between countries. It was truly inspiring to see what is possible when local people have the power and support to write their own future. We look forward to continuing to work with the EU's island communities to make the European Green Agreement a reality, both through this initiative and through other EU actions to support local energy transition,'' said European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson.

Among these Croatian islands lies the Central Dalmatian island of Brac which wants to become energy independent by 2030 in order to provide its residents and visitors with a healthy environment. It plans to do so by increasing its own energy efficiency, installing renewable energy sources, arranging and improving public transport, and building a waste management centre.

The Hvar archipelago plans to be energy self-sufficient by 2035, and this transition should ensure the proactive involvement of both the islanders and energy communities.

Korcula wants to become carbon neutral by 2050 and become a green island where the community is guided by the principles of caring for people, caring for the environment, and preserving the common good and resources.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

October 30, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as Vueling returns to Dubrovnik in January, and Transavia completes services to Split and Dubrovnik for this year. 

Croatian Aviation reports that Spanish low-cost airline Vueling plans to return to Dubrovnik Airport in January 2021.

At the end of the summer flight schedule, the company suspended traffic to all Croatian airports, and Dubrovnik is currently the only planned destination in Croatia in the winter months.

This summer, Vueling flew to Zagreb, Split, and Dubrovnik, with reduced flights compared to last year's summer flight schedule.

Vueling plans to re-establish the Barcelona-Dubrovnik line starting in 2021. Regular flights between the two cities are currently announced from Sunday, January 3, 2021, twice a week, every Thursday and Sunday.

The line should operate until the end of the winter flight schedule (March 28, 2021) with the above two flights per week, and for the summer flight schedule next year, the company currently has daily flights on this line.

The realization of these flights will primarily depend on the global situation with COVID-19, which directly affects the demand itself, so Vueling will cancel the announced flights in case of commercial unprofitability. 

Vueling announced flights to four Croatian airports for the next summer season; Zagreb, Zadar, Split, and Dubrovnik, but we will know more about the summer flight schedule later, as it is too early to conclude so many months in advance, especially in these uncertain times.

Vueling's intention to operate on the Barcelona-Dubrovnik route in the winter flight schedule is certainly positive news, but the question remains: Will there be demand?

Furthermore, Croatian Aviation reports that low-cost Dutch airline Transavia, a subsidiary of the world's oldest airline, KLM, and also a member of the Air France - KLM group, will perform the last flights to Croatian airports for this year this weekend. 

Transavia had reduced traffic to Pula, Rijeka, Zadar, Split, and Dubrovnik this summer, connecting five Croatian airports with destinations in France and the Netherlands, despite reduced demand.

The company cut traffic to Rijeka, Pula, and Zadar in September, and Transavia operated only to Split and Dubrovnik in October with a relatively small number of weekly flights.

The Split - Paris Orly line operated 2 to 3 times a week in October, and on Friday, October 30, the company will perform the last flight to Split on the line from Orly.

In Dubrovnik, Transavia had two active lines this month, from Nantes and Paris. These two lines will end with traffic for this year, a day later compared to Split, on Saturday, October 31. 

In October, two routes from France to Dubrovnik operated with a minimum weekly frequency, only once a week, on Saturdays. Still, all routes were operated by B737-800 aircraft with a capacity of as many as 189 seats in the carrier's fleet.

Transavia will no longer have regular operations at Croatian airports after the last weekend in October, and re-establishing numerous seasonal routes is expected in mid-April next year. This low-cost carrier has not operated to Croatian airports in winter before, and Transavia will not operate to neighboring airports (Ljubljana and Belgrade) in the winter months.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages.

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

October 30, 2020 - The 2nd round of the Europa League was played on Thursday evening, in which Dinamo and CSKA Moscow drew, and Rijeka suffered a tough defeat to AZ Alkmaar. 

In the 2nd round match of Group K, Dinamo played 0-0 against CSKA in Moscow, while in the second match of Group K, Wolfsberger surprised by beating Feyenoord 4-1 in Rotterdam.

A week ago, Dinamo played 0-0 against Feyenoord at Maksimir Stadium, and the Blues' visit to Moscow ended with an identical result.

CSKA completely outplayed Dinamo, but was unable to score. Dinamo had another bland performance and can be happy that they won a point mostly thanks to the excellent Dominik Livaković who had a number of excellent saves in goal. 

How harmless Mamic's side was is shown by the statistics - they had only one shot on goal. 

Even after their second group stage match, Dinamo has a goal difference of 0-0 and with two points takes third place in the standings. CSKA has the same number of points, but with a goal difference of 1-1.

In the second match of this group, Austrian club Wolfsberger surprisingly defeated Feyenoord in Rotterdam 4-1 (2-0) and thus took the lead with four points, while Feyenoord is in last with one point. The triple scorer for Wolfsberger was Liendl (6-11m, 13-11m, 60), and one goal was added by Joveljić (66-11m), while the goal for Feyenoord was scored by Berghuis (54).

Dinamo will host Wolfsberger in the 3rd round in one week.

Rijeka suffered a heavy 1-4 (0-2) defeat away to AZ Alkmaar in their 2nd round match of Group F. 

The scorers for the Dutch team were Koopmeiners (6-11m), Gudmundsson (20, 60) and Karlsson (51), while Rijeka's Kulenović (72) slightly reduced the result. 

Rijeka quickly fell behind in Alkmaar, and after 20 minutes, it was 2-0 for the home team, who then calmly held the advantage. With two more goals at the beginning of the second half, they convincingly reached the victory. 

Kulenović's goal was Rijeka's first goal in the group competition this season. Recall, in the 1st round a week ago at Rujevica, Rijeka lost to Real Sociedad 0-1.

In the second match of this group, Napoli defeated Real Sociedad 1-0 in San Sebastian, and the only scorer was Politano in the 56th minute.

After two rounds, AZ is at the top of the group with a maximum of six points, followed by Napoli and Real Sociedad with three points each, while Rijeka is in last without points.

For the 3rd round match in one week, Rijeka will host Napoli, and at the same time, Real Sociedad will host AZ Alkmaar.

Source: HRT

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

ZAGREB, October 29, 2020 - Croatia is establishing diplomatic relations with South Sudan, Somalia, the Central African Republic, Tonga and Bhutan, Croatian Foreign Affairs Minister Gordan Grlic Radman said on Thursday, noting that this will contribute to "the realisation of Croatia's foreign policy goals".

Grlic Radman said after a government session that the goal of establishing those relations was "mutual strengthening of bilateral relations in the economic field and in all aspects of mutual interest".

Diplomatic relations with those countries will be established through a permanent mission to the United Nations (UN) in New York.

Grlic Radman said that Croatia thus "completes the process of establishing diplomatic relations with all modern and internationally recognised countries in the world", of which there are 194.

The foreign minister also announced that he would take part in the annual ministerial conference of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Croatia has been invited for the first time to actively take part in that conference, and topics to be discussed include the coronavirus pandemic and the countries' recovery, Grlic Radman said. The minister will report on the measures Croatia has been taking to fight the virus.

He reiterated that Croatia joining the OECD was one of its most important remaining foreign policy goals.

Croatia applied for membership in early 2017, and the minister hopes that this will be realised in the future.

ZAGREB, October 29, 2020 - PM Andrej Plenkovic has said that Croatia is entering the most difficult stage in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic but that even though forecasts are a thankless task, judging by the current trends, the country seems to be slowlymoving away from the exponential growth of new infections.

"It is essential that our citizens understand that we are possibly entering the most difficult stage of the fight against the pandemic," Plenkovic told a press conference after a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

Plenkovic said that the number of new cases in the past few weeks had been increasing rapidly, that it was still growing significantly but that in the past few days the increase was a little slower than in the past few weeks.

"It seems that, judging by the current trends, we are slowly moving away from the exponential curve. The coming days and weeks will show whether that trend will continue. Unlike Germany, Italy and Austria, where that growth is much faster, our numbers are growing, but at a slower rate," he said.

He added that the latest anti-epidemic measures were proportional to developments regarding the epidemic and that the government wanted all citizens to be aware of the need to adhere to those measures.

"If they do, I believe that these indicators... will lead to a gradual decrease in the number of new cases and curb the epidemic in the next few critical weeks," underscored Plenkovic.

 A total of 2,776 new cases of coronavirus infection have been confirmed in Croatia in the last 24 hours, the largest number in a single day since the outbreak of the epidemic, and 18 people have died, the national coronavirus response team reported on Thursday.

ZAGREB, October 29, 2020 - Domestic tourism in the European Union has seen a faster recovery from the consequences of the first wave of the epidemic than foreign tourism, and Croatia is among countries with the mildest drop in domestic overnight stays, according to Eurostat data.

In 2020, the tourism sector was hit hard by the travel restrictions at the end of Q1 and at the beginning of Q2, which resulted in a sharp drop in the number of tourists in March and April compared to the same period last year.

In June, most countries started to relax the restrictions, but tourists still had to undergo quarantine after returning from some foreign destinations, and the result was a faster recovery of domestic tourism than of foreign tourism, Eurostat said.

After a 93% slump in April, domestic tourism in the EU came closer to last year's level in July, with a 22% decrease in domestic overnights stay in tourist accommodation. Overnight stays of foreign guests dropped by 64%, according to Eurostat.

Biggest jump in Slovenia

The Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria and Slovenia registered more domestic overnight stays in July 2020 than in July 2019. In Slovenia, their number more than doubled.

In Croatia, the number of domestic overnight stays in July 2020 was 8.1% lower than in July 2019. The number of overnight stays of foreign guests fell by 44.6% compared to July last year.

This placed Croatia among EU countries with the mildest drop in overnight stays by domestic and foreign guests, together with Cyprus, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Austria and Latvia.

The biggest drop in the number of foreign visitors, of over 80%, was registered by Spain, Portugal, Finland and Romania, the report by the Europan statistical office has shown.

ZAGREB, October 29, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Thursday that his government was doing its utmost to ensure funds in the revised 2020 budget for the disbursement of Christmas bonuses.

"Considering Christmas bonuses, so far in my premiership, we have never omitted to pay Christmas bonuses, and you know that we increased their amount," Plenkovic told a news conference, reassuring the general public that efforts were being made to find enough funds for this purpose in 2020, too.

Plenkovic commented on the situation in the KB Dubrava hospital, following a letter by a physician at the hospital who alerted attention to some problems in the hospital's functioning. The Dubrava Hospital has been designated as the main facility for the treatment of COVID patients in Zagreb and Plenkovic said that the newly appointed steering board would analyse the situation and take necessary actions.

"I think that we should thank all healthcare workers in KB Dubrava and in all other hospitals throughout Croatia for their unselfish commitment to doing their job."

As for a reporter's remark that Health Minister Vili Beros also spoke about "dualism" that is, opposing groups in the KB Dubrava, the premier replied that it could be said that situation like that existed in any institution and in any sector.

Authorities have control over the developments surrounding coronavirus

Plenkovic said that issues related to the coronavirus epidemic were not going out of control.

The country's healthcare system has about 15,000 beds, 150 beds in intensive care wards, as well as 900 ventilators, and today there were about 80 patients placed on them, he explained.

"Healthcare capacities are not at risk. We are on full alert and we are taking cautious measures," he added.

October 29, 2020 - TCN joins Zagreb Volunteers Centre in Čučerje to find out who are the Zagreb volunteers and why they do what they do. Čučerje is a semi-rural community which lies at the epicentre of the March 2020 earthquake.

By the time we ran out of the building, the first tremor had stopped. At 6:25am, the asphalt road lay quiet and motionless. People in pyjamas, nightgowns or underwear stood on the pavement. Others emerged even later. Although masonry in other parts of the city continued to fall, the 5.5 magnitude earthquake that visited Zagreb on 22 March 2020 was over. It had lasted much less than a minute. Its repercussions would last much longer.

Damage to a Zagreb city-centre building in the 2020 earthquake © Franjo Tahy

The tragic news of a fatality filtered through the media several hours later, as did pictures of the devastation visited upon the Croatian capital's buildings. Some of its oldest were hit particularly hard. However, most modern constructions had emerged largely unscathed. Acknowledging the area's seismic capabilities, everything built after the 1963 earthquake of Skopje in neighbouring Macedonia had been constructed to withstand such force.

Offers of help soon began to arrive from overseas. Despite international struggles related to Coronavirus, many still had sympathy upon hearing of the Zagreb earthquake. This outside sympathy and the media that prompted it were rarely directed to the semi-rural communities which experienced the earthquake's fiercest force.

The front of the town church in Čučerje, surrounded by scaffolding seven months after the earthquake

The small town of Čučerje is just short of 11 kilometres to the north-east of Zagreb city centre. In late October, the town looks impossibly pretty – houses perched in the foothills of Mount Medvednica, surrounded by greenery and trees exploding in a myriad of autumn shades. But, behind the colourful exterior lies a hidden suffering.

The spire of Čučerje's church is scarred on all sides by long-veined cracks

Čučerje lies just 500 metres from the epicentre of the earthquake. Scaffolding bolsters the town church, its spire scarred on all sides by long-veined cracks. Back from the main road, down simple, country lanes, sit houses much older than those standng proud above the centre. Here, life still exists in a way similar to that of the original residents of such dwellings. Elderly neighbours are preparing to heat their homes by wood-fired burners, chasing away the chill seeping in through the cracks the earthquake has left. As winter approaches, such hardships are not always reported as loudly as those faced by the damaged cultural institutions holding priceless collections in the capital. But, the struggle does not go unnoticed by Zagreb Volunteers Centre (VCZ).

Čučerje residents and members of Zagreb Volunteers Centre meet in the community centre to plan the day's action

Established in 1998, Zagreb Volunteers Centre acts as a conduit between charities, communities and non-profit organisations who need support and those willing to donate their time to good causes. Since it was formed, over 18, 000 people have submitted their names to the centre as potential Zagreb volunteers who may be called upon. The centre has helped over 700 organisations find Zagreb volunteers.

“Before 1996, there was a set-up that facilitated international volunteering - it helped connect Croatians with international actions that were looking for help,” says 28-year-old Dunja Hafner, who works for Zagreb Volunteers Centre. “But, it was noticed that some people couldn't commit to an overseas trip and that others simply just preferred only to volunteer locally. The logical step was to move into facilitating that.”

Zagreb volunteers gather in the early morning mist

“Since we started, the numbers of Zagreb volunteers in our database has grown steadily. But, over more recent times, volunteering does seem to have become a more popular thing to do. And, many people have put their names forward for volunteering since the advent of the earthquake. In the immediate aftermath, there were so many people volunteering that we had to just direct people to the specific groups who were appealing for help. We even had to turn down some Zagreb volunteers who offered their time. That had never previously happened in the history of the organisation. Now, we are managing better and we help co-ordinate some of the actions ourselves.”

“Before the earthquake, the main volunteering areas to which we would send people were actions for children, the elderly, events like culture, sports and music festivals, animals, ecology projects and nature conservation.”

My name is Dražen Blažević (centre), I was born in Croatia. My mother and grandparents are all from Zagreb. This is the city where I live. At the moment, I don't have regular employment, so I can afford to give my time to an action like this. While I'm looking for a full-time job, I make ends meet by doing food deliveries on my bicycle. Why am I here today? Honestly, it was only two weeks ago that I just had this feeling that I should give my time to help people. In one minute I decided I would volunteer. Before this, the kind of help I would give was only to my neighbours, the elderly relatives of friends. People like that. As an official volunteer, this is my first time. Maybe this sounds a little selfish, but I thought it would make me feel good.



My name is Alexandra and I am from Čučerje. I live here with my family. Right now, I am without a full-time job, so I take on some other daily obligations – I accompany kids to kindergarten and school, and I help out in our local church. I look after their social media pages for them. I also play the organ in the church. It was a very simple decision for me to join in with today's action – I live here. I walk past the devastation left by the earthquake every day. This town has experienced lots of problems because of the damage. For me, giving my time today is a way of showing the love I have for my town and the people who live here. Well, something like that.



My name is Borut Babanić (right) and I'm from Zagreb. I work as a project manager. I wanted to volunteer so I could help people. The residents of Čučerje are some of the worst affected by the earthquake and so that's why I want to come here specifically. I wanted them to not feel that they are alone. This is the first time I joined an action via the Zagreb Volunteer Centre.

My name is Antonio Frinčić (left). I'm from Zagreb. I work for the Croatian Foundation For Children. It's an organisation that assists in looking after children and families who have small incomes or limited means. It's a state-funded organisation. My position there is a paid one. This is not the first voluntary work I've undertaken, but it is the first time I have volunteered through the Zagreb Volunteer Centre. My answer is the same as Borut's – I came here because I wanted to help these people.

Borut and Antonio are pictured side-by-side because they spent most of the day working together. When they arrived in the morning, they were strangers. They left as friends.

My name is Marina Krolo and I'm originally from Split. I studied in Zagreb, finished university here and then stayed. My regular role in society is that I'm a tour guide and tour leader. That pretty much means that this is my year off, ha! There's not much work for a tour guide in 2020, so I'm trying to put my free time to good use. This is the first time I've volunteered through Zagreb Volunteer Centre.

My name is Vincent Matijaca. I was born in Split. I'm based in Zagreb now. We opened a company BioCro LTD in the United Kingdom a few months ago. What we're trying to do is assist small producers and OPGs from this region to place their products internationally, including the UK and other countries in Europe. Why am I here today? Well, we believe that you can't start promoting sustainability and help solely from the office, we believe our project to be more hands-on. By doing that we hope to be able to show what we're about, and to set an example that perhaps others will follow. We've previously joined actions through other Croatian volunteer organisations and others internationally, but this is the first time we've done so through Zagreb Volunteer Centre.

Local people from Čučerje and the surroundings had prepared food to make sure the volunteers didn't go hungry. This dish was made and donated by a local hairdresser. It is a local speciality called tenka gibanica. It was delicious.

My name is Tomislav Vlajčić and I'm from Zagreb. At the moment, my regular time is spent studying economy and training football. I'm the team leader of a faculty-related group Tourism Lab that's interested in that area of our economy. This is my first time volunteering. I decided to come because it's a good opportunity to help people who are in need and I'm really glad I came. The experience was really worth it and meeting new people, seeing a slightly different culture is priceless. I would recommend it to anyone because it all starts with us.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages.

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.