ZAGREB, June 26, 2020 - The Croatian Journalists' Association (HND) on Thursday called on Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic to stop accusing journalists, saying that they were only asking legitimate questions and his duty as the prime minister was to answer them.

On Tuesday, the prime minister openly accused N1 television reporter Hrvoje Kresic of campaigning for the opposition after he asked Plenkovic when he would go into self-isolation given that he had had contact with tennis player Novak Djokovic, one of the participants in a tennis tournament in Zadar who were infected with the coronavirus. On Wednesday, he also behaved inappropriately towards 24 Sata reporter Nikol Zagorac by refusing to answer her question, the HND said in a statement.

It recalled that it was not the first time Plenkovic had "lectured and publicly accused journalists and the media questioning his work and his actions."

"He accused us of waging 'hybrid wars', during the Agrokor affair he said that we were working under instructions, he told our female colleagues that they were 'sweet' and he lectured us on how to do our job," the HND said.

Such behaviour on the part of the prime minister is unworthy of the office he holds and yet another proof that politicians in Croatia, regardless of the political camp they belong to, do not understand the purpose and importance of journalists and the media, the HND said, stressing that journalists work neither for the government nor for the opposition but solely in the interest of the public.

ZAGREB, June 26, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Thursday that the July 5 parliamentary election was very important for the future of the country and that the date was decided by the President.

By dissolving Parliament in May we wanted the election to be held when the intensity of the coronavirus was lowest, and it was the President who decided that the election would be held on the second to last date possible under the constitution, Plenkovic said in the eastern town of Vukovar.

Earlier in the day, during his visit to Vinkovci, he said that the election could also have been set for June 21.

Plenkovic reiterated that he did not think that the ongoing election campaign should be suspended because the Croatian healthcare system was capable of coping with the coronavirus outbreak. 

As Marta Duic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 27th of June, 2020, Friday, June the 12th marked the sixth day since Mike Saran, otherwise the owner of the popular Le Meridien Lav hotel in Split, left Prague and covered more than 700 kilometres through the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovenia on his bicycle. He eventually arrived here in Croatia.

In addition to owning the aforementioned hotel, Mike Saran is also the founder of the Sport2Life foundation.

''Before the trip, I studied various possibilities and chose the route that I thought would be the safest and most interesting. I wasn't wrong. And in addition to knowing that we were going to drive through the Czech plains and the Austrian Alps, it was raining all the time through Austria. However, I was most looking forward to coming to the Croatian border and entering Croatia.

Crossing the border was fast, I announced my arrival via the Enter Croatia application and there were no difficulties. I visited all the destinations I'd planned - Trakošćan Castle, I stopped in Zagreb, then Slunj and the Rastoke waterfalls, Plitvice Lakes, Krk, Trogir, Šibenik… I wanted to visit destinations in Croatia that I'd not been to before, and about which I'd read and heard so much about so many times. I succeeded in that, and I was especially impressed by Plitvice Lakes.

It’s an amazing wonder of nature, I knew they were beautiful and worth visiting, I'd heard about them and I'd seen the photos, but I couldn’t even imagine in my dreams how beautiful they really were. But most of all, I was looking forward to the hospitality of the local people I met on the trip and it was exactly as I imagined - friendly,'' the Le Meridien Lav owner stated in sharing his first impressions from the trip to Croatia.

The project was also supported by the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ)

Before continuing his journey down to Split, he stopped in Zagreb to once again tell the story and goal of his cycling adventure and meet some friends, the celebrated volleyball player and ambassador of the Sport2Life Foundation, Senna Ušić Jogunica, retired water polo player Dubravko Šimenc, representatives of the Czech Embassy in Croatia and partners from Croatia.

"Split is my second home and I had to find a way to get there in these challenging times. I've missed it immensely over the past few months. I was pleased with the information that the borders were opening, but there were still no flights, so I decided to go by bike at that moment. My wish was to present to everyone how beautiful Croatia is.

Come to Croatia, it's safe and beautiful here - that was my message and the goal of my challenge. Croatia, and especially Dalmatia, offer everything a modern tourist could want at the moment - it's a beautiful destination with a preserved coast, you can visit it by car, bicycle, you can enjoy the sea or the mountains, it's full of excellent locations for adrenaline junkies, has an excellent gastronomic and hotel offer, is located in the heart of Europe and is a very safe destination that has successfully defended itself against a global pandemic.

I'm glad that the Croatian Tourist Board, especially through its representative office in the Czech Republic, recognised the interest, but also the importance of this project for Croatia because in these times we have to stick together, we all have the same goal - to make the tourist season as successful as possible,'' explained the Le Meridien Lav owner.

In addition, says Saran, he wanted to inspire parents and children to be more active, to enjoy the outdoors and the nature, to play sports, which is the main goal of his foundation Sport2Life. Accompanied by a friend and fellow cyclist Tomaš Grim, he covered a distance of 720 kilometres through the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia to Zagreb, and then another 580 kilometres in which he visited Karlovac, Rastoke, Plitvice Lakes, the Gacka Valley, Krk and Skradin, Šibenik and Trogir. He shared all this and the beauty he saw along the way on social media using the hashtags #MikeChallenge and #CycleYourDreams.

''Basically, throughout the trip, there were three of us who were constant companions. My friend and professional Czech cyclist Tomaš Grim was with me the whole time. The original plan was to follow me to the Czech-Austrian border, but he liked it so much that he decided to continue with me until the end, to Split. We were accompanied on the trip by a technician.

Namely, on the trip I had three different bikes - one for riding on the road and on the flat and two mountain bikes. The bikes and all the technical equipment travelled in a vehicle, a camper that we met at pre-arranged destinations. The camper was great, especially through Austria where we were sheltered from the rain when it got really strong.

I always had enough groceries with me to get from one point to another. During the trip, some of my friends and partners of the Sport2Life Foundation joined me on certain routes. It isn't my intention to end this journey as a normal point to point bike ride.

I want to take advantage of every moment of this journey and enjoy this challenge, the landscapes, the environment we're moveing through, the whole experience. This is by no means just a physical challenge, although I have to admit that it is hard to cycle eight to nine hours a day because I'm not a cyclist, but this is above all an amazing journey with many beautiful discoveries. And my intention is to share all that beauty with others,'' Saran pointed out.

A challenging year ahead

As the Le Meridien Lav owner says, he has been doing business in Croatia for several years and every time he finds something that makes him happy again - from adventurous challenges, to the nature to the hospitality of people. Le Meridien Lav resort opened on June the 15th, the day Saran arrived in Split, officially starting the 2020 summer season.

''This will be a very challenging season and year, but we've taken appropriate and responsible steps in our business. It's important to say that in Split we have an excellent team and top employees who are with us during these challenging times. Whether small or large, challenges are an inevitable part of our daily work so we have no choice but to be ready to respond to them properly and quickly.

Our team at the hotel did an amazing job adopting all the new procedures through additional training, and in order to successfully adapt our employees and our guests to the new normal situation. It's still too early to estimate how the season will develop as this includes many factors that we at Le Meridien Lav cannot influence such as flights, border restrictions and the like. We believe that after the first half of July, the situation for this year will be a bit clearer and that we'll eventually see some positive changes,'' believes Saran.

So far, the most numerous guests of Le Meridien Lav resort were from North America and Western Europe - British, Dutch, Germans, Scandinavians… As Saran says, this season they expect the largest number of guests from Croatia and European countries, and all other arrivals will depend opening European borders, introducing flights and so on.

For more, follow our lifestyle page.

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has seen many a previously planned investment grind to a halt not only here in Croatia (where investments are tricky enough) but across the world. Thankfully, that isn't the case for all of them, and the cash injection for the brand new Korcula Port is just one which is set to go ahead on the popular Dalmatian island.

As Morski writes on the 24th of June, 2020, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure has made a decision on financing the project governing the new Korcula Port, more precisely the new Port of Polaciste in the amount of 182.6 million kuna.

This covers 100 percent of all of the eligible project costs with a total value of 189.7 million kuna, of which 155.2 million kuna (or 85 percent in total) has been financed from the Cohesion Fund, and 27.4 million kuna (or 15 percent) comes directly from the state budget of the Republic of Croatia.

The new Korcula Port (Port of Polaciste) will be a port which is open to public traffic and is a maritime construction facility which will possess the function of accepting vessels in maritime traffic. It covers more than 500 metres of operational shoreline, and the entire port will cover a little more than 20 thousand square metres in total. The construction of the new Korcula Port will relieve the core of Korcula Town of some of the crowding. It has so far been under pressure from maritime traffic, especially during the busy summer months when tourists are abundant.

The port will be primarily intended for the reception of ferries operating within local traffic lines such as Peljecac - Korcula, as well as for the reception of other vessels operating within domestic regular traffic. A maritime border crossing is also planned within the port.

For more on investments in Croatia in the coronavirus era, follow our lifestyle page.

The Arena Hospitality Group isn't letting the coronavirus pandemic stand in their way when it comes to investments, even though they readily admit that times are indeed currently very difficult.

As Novac/Barbara Ban writes on the 24th of June, 2020, all the hopes of Istrian hoteliers are focused on the peak of the season, where they expect that at least a few guests will arrive and that they'll still manage to earn at least something. As we rapidy approach the end of June, this month's results are sadly expected to be very bad.

The facilities are open, but many are empty. Here and there, there's a guest. If they had at least 30 or 40 percent of last year’s guests this season then they would be happy. However, a larger number of infected people in Croatia and Europe is frightening everyone again.

The same story can be seen with the facilities owned by the Pula tourist company Arena Hospitality Group itself. The hotels and tourist resorts are just waiting for their guests to come, but luckily their camps are a bit better filled. Additionally, their facilities in Medulin are being filled up more than the ones in Pula are.

But, regardless of all that, they have not given up their huge investments, which in 2020 amount to about 370 million kuna.

This year, the Arena Hospitality Group renovated two restaurants in Verudela, added a dose of quality to the Kazela camp in Medulin, bought the Riviera Hotel in Pula from the state, started renovating the Brioni Hotel in Verudela, and leased out the palace in Amruseva Street in Zagreb on a 45-year lease.

''This year, we decided to renovate the famous hospitality facilities that we have in Pula on the coast, namely the Yacht Club and the Svjetionik (Lighthouse). I think that they'll be a great additional service to all visitors to Verudela and Pula itself, where everyone will be able to come and enjoy the beautiful views, good food and good drink. It was time to take those facilities to the next level. But these aren't our only investments this year that we started before the crisis caused by the epidemic hit. We've renovated all of our apartments in Verudela beach and thus completed all of our investments on the Verudela peninsula,'' the CEO of the Arena Hospitality Group, Reli Slonim, explained at the presentation of the newly renovated Yacht Club.

He also pointed out that the extensive investment in the Kazela camp has been completed, and that they are now in the middle of their investment in the Brioni Hotel in Pula, which they intend to open next April.

''We also plan to start investing in the historic building in Amruseva Street in Zagreb at the end of this year. It will be a fantastic hotel with 120 rooms, a great restaurant, a spa and a rooftop pool. We'll also start rebranding our hotel in Belgrade. We bought the Riviera Hotel in Pula from the state, which I don't consider to be an acquisition because we have actually been in possession of that facility for years. I'm glad that we've reached an agreement with the state. Our goal is to transform the Riviera into a fantastic art hotel that would keep hold of the spirit of this amazing historic building. I believe we'll be able to do that over the next two years. So, all in all, we can say that we're getting into the big investments that started before the crisis itself. But regardless of that, we decided to finish them all. I hope that we will be ready for better times to come,'' Slonim admits.

He says that like everyone else, the Arena Hospitality Group is rightly worried about this year, not only regarding their facilities in Croatia, but also those in Germany.

''Our statistics have started to rise, but in very small numbers. We're somewhere at 20 percent of last year's traffic, and in some facilities, we're reaching up to 40 percent. But overall, that’s 15 to 20 percent of last year’s traffic in June. As for July, we hope to reach 40 or 50 percent of last year’s turnover. We expect most of that to be realised in camps and mobile homes. As for our hotels in Germany, we've noticed that more and more guests are starting to come, mostly from the domestic German market, especially in Cologne and Nuremberg. Berlin is still at a standstill. I believe this is because our hotels in Berlin have received mostly foreign guests who are now missing,'' Slonim pointed out.

Times are tough not only because of all of the travel restrictions, but also because it's very difficult to sign new contracts, but the company isn't going to give up on its new investment opportunities.

We hope to be able to accomplish everything we set out to do in the next few months. In the long run, we're still looking for investment opportunities, both on the Croatian coast and in the cities. We're also looking for new opportunities over in Germany. We're now living day by day and we'll just have to see where we'll be in a few months. We're evaluate everything and are being very careful with our plans,'' concluded Slonim.

For more on investments and the Arena Hospitality Group, follow our business page.

As Morski writes on the 24th of June, 2020, renowned Croatian chefs from various restaurants within the country which boast a Michelin star have been representing the rich Croatian gastro scene on the popular Australian gastro portal Chef’s Pencil. This is a cooperation initiated on the Australian market by the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) with the aim of promoting Croatian gastronomy, chefs and regional gastronomic specialties.

''After we successfully presented the entire richness and quality of Croatian gastronomy on the Chef’s Pencil platform, the focus of our cooperation is now on presenting famous Croatian chefs who represent our most important gastro regions through their original recipes. At a time when we're hard to reach for Australians and for many other guests from distant markets, this is one of the ways in which we're maintaining the visibility of Croatia and at the same time representing the richness of our gastronomic offer,'' said CNTB director, Kristjan Stanicic.

The first to be introduced was the youngest of the Croatian chefs with a Michelin star, Deni Srdoc, who presented the flavours of Kvarner by sharing a recipe for a lamb dish called "Heritage lamb". Srdoc shared his story with the readers, starting from the first culinary steps all the way to the restaurant called Draga di Lovrana, for which he secured a prestigious Michelin star in 2019.

Marko Gajski, chef of the LD Terrace restaurant on the beautiful island of Korcula, which was awarded his first Michelin star this year, revealed that his participation in Masterchef marked the beginning of his life's journey dedicated to dealing with top quality gastronomy. Through the recipe for Komixa bread, he revealed the story according in which sailors brought the recipe for Komiza bread with dough from India, and then enriched it with ingredients they already had in Dalmatia, more precisely on the island of Vis.

The Chef’s Pencil platform will also feature chef Bruno Vokal from Noel, the first Michelin star restaurant in Zagreb, who will share his original recipe for ''deconstructed strukle'' with his readers, one of the most popular dishes on Noel’s menu. After Bruno Vokal, Marina Gasi, the chef and owner of the family restaurant Marina in Novigrad, will present herself on the platform, presenting the rich flavours of Istria, while one of the renowned Slavonian chefs will reveal all the charms of continental Croatian cuisine which unfortunately gets less of the limelight than Dalmatian and Istrian cuisine does.

Otherwise, the Australian web platform Chef’s Pencil has been publishing content for eleven years for people interested in gastronomy, from professional chefs to amateur food lovers. In addition to numerous recipes, the site contains tips for cooking and visiting gastronomic tourist destinations, the latest reports from the culinary industry and professional advice for all people interested in gastronomy.

For more, follow our lifestyle page.

June 26, 2020 - We are a little more than two weeks away from the Jubilee 60th Split Festival at Prokurative, which began its story back in 1960.

Slobodna Dalmacija writes that over a time that includes the Homeland War, as well as many other social turbulences, the festival has spawned more than two thousand songs and many great hits ("Nima Splita do Splita", "Moj galebe", "Picaferaj", "Skalinada", "Ne diraj moju ljubav", etc). It seems that, as things stand now, not even the coronavirus pandemic will not stop the cult festival.

Director Tomislav Mrduljaš says that everything is ready for July 11 and 12, when a retro evening with hits that marked the past decades of the festival should be held, interpreted by the best performers from the Croatian stage, and finally an evening of new songs.

Twenty-two songs have been selected, some of which were written during the recent quarantine in March and April. Some of the musicians you'll be able to see at Prokurative are Neno Belan, Jole, Goran Karan, Ibrica Jusić, Mladen Grdović, Klapa "Rišpet", Alen Nižetić, Teddy Spalato, Giuliano, Petar Dragojevic, Marko Tolja, and Frajle from Serbia. 

HRT will broadcast everything live, starting at 9:30 pm, as it has in previous years. However, given the re-emergence of the coronavirus, the question is whether there will be any changes, which Mrduljaš is aware of. All of his plans, unfortunately, are still up in the air.

"We regularly monitor the entire situation, measures and instructions of our National Headquarters and we will act in accordance with them. So far, there are no changes, the production is going according to plan and we are not thinking about postponing the date, but we are very organized. Of course, I'm not happy about everything that is happening with the corona again, but I can guarantee that we will hold the festival in safe conditions and that no one will be endangered," Mrduljaš points out and adds that the festival orchestra of 30 to 35 people will be on the spectacular stage, as well as four backing vocals.

"All of them will be separated from each other as prescribed by the measures. There are no stands this year, and we decided to put round tables with chairs. In total, we will be able to accommodate up to 500 spectators, and we have also organized this in a way that respects the spacing. It may happen that the operation of catering facilities will be banned again, so it is possible that this won't happen, but it is difficult at this moment to predict what will happen," says Mrduljaš.

In that case, it is easily possible for the Split Festival to be held without an audience, or a scene of visitors with protective masks on their faces awaits us, but everything will be clearer in the days ahead.

"We listen to the news day by day, the performers call me, some of them are worried, but we hope that everything will be fine, there is no reason to panic... I repeat, we will behave as we are told. The plan was to symbolically mark the beginning of some kind of tourist season in Split, for our local people to come, even those outside Split. Let them be convinced that they can spend their summers in our beautiful Dalmatia in safe conditions," concluded Tomislav Mrduljaš.

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

June 26, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for flights to Croatia with updates from Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik, Pula, and Zadar. 

Croatian Aviation reports that Germany's Lufthansa has announced its flight schedule for July. In June, the company started operating again towards Dubrovnik, Split and Pula, but with a very limited number of weekly flights, and only from Frankfurt.

From July, Lufthansa will increase the number of destinations to which it flies in Croatia, introduce new routes, and intensify weekly operations on existing routes. In addition to flights to Dubrovnik, Split and Pula, the company will again operate to Zadar and Zagreb.

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Lufthansa will fly again to Zagreb again

From July 1, the Munich - Zagreb line will be introduced three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Croatia Airlines, with which Lufthansa has a code-share agreement, is already operating on the route to Munich, as is the case with the route to Frankfurt.

Lines to Split

Lufthansa launched the Frankfurt - Split route in June, but with only one weekly flight. From July 3, this line will be in traffic 3 times a week, every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Also, Lufthansa is introducing the Munich - Split route, from July 4, with as many as four weeks of flight, every Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Dubrovnik connected with Frankfurt and Munich

As is the case with Split, Lufthansa also operates to Dubrovnik on the Frankfurt - Dubrovnik line, which will operate twice a week (until now once), every Saturday and Sunday, from 5 July.

The Munich - Dubrovnik line is being introduced, from July 1, four times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

Lufthansa to Pula

The existing line Frankfurt - Pula will get another rotation from July 3, and will connect Istria with Frankfurt twice a week, on Fridays and Saturdays.

The Munich-Pula line is also being introduced, from July 5, once a week.

The company is coming to Zadar

The company has not yet flown to Zadar in this year's summer flight schedule, but that will change from July.

From July 4, the Frankfurt - Zadar line will be introduced three times a week, on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

From the same date, Munich - Zadar will be introduced once a week, while from July 12, there will be two weeks of flights on the line, every Saturday and Sunday.

The only Lufthansa line to Croatia that is not yet in operation is the one to Rijeka Airport. Namely, in the summer flight schedule, the company operates once a week on the Munich - Rijeka line, but it is not on sale for July this year. Croatia Airlines also operates on the same route, the Croatian national company has not yet announced the start of operations on this route.

Lufthansa will use aircraft of various capacities on all these routes, from the smallest CRJ900 with a capacity of 90 passengers, to the A321 aircraft with a capacity of 200 passengers.

Croatian Aviation also reports that Polish LOT has announced as many as 13 new routes in this year's summer flight schedule from numerous Polish cities to destinations in Croatia.

The company previously announced the return of lines from Warsaw to Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik, but now it has announced a completely new set of lines that have not been in traffic so far.

New lines to Split

Lublin - Split is introduced once a week, every Friday, from July 3,

Katowice - Split is introduced once a week, every Sunday, from July 5,

Poznan - Split is introduced once a week, every Monday, from July 6,

Gdansk - Split is introduced once a week, every Wednesday, from July 8.

On the routes to Split, aircraft type E195 and B737-800 capacity, have been announced.

New lines to Zadar

Gdansk - Zadar is introduced once a week, every Friday, from July 3,

Szczecin - Zadar is introduced once a week, every Thursday, from July 9,

Rzeszow - Zadar is introduced once a week, every Saturday, from July 4,

Krakow - Zadar is introduced once a week, every Tuesday, from July 7,

Bydgoszcz - Zadar is introduced once a week, every Saturday, from July 4.

DashQ400 and E195 aircraft have been announced on the routes to Zadar.

New lines to Dubrovnik

Wroclaw - Dubrovnik is introduced once a week, every Saturday, from July 4,

Gdansk - Dubrovnik is introduced once a week, every Tuesday, from July 7.

Krakow - Dubrovnik is introduced once a week, every Friday, from July 3,

Poznan - Dubrovnik is introduced once a week, every Saturday, from July 5.

E195 aircraft have been announced on the routes to Dubrovnik.