ZAGREB, 26 April, 2021 - Social Policy Minister Josip Aladrović said on Monday he supports a ministry report that identified omissions by welfare services in Nova Gradiška in the case of a two-and-a-half-year-old girl who died as a consequence of domestic violence, a report which contradicts expert reports.

The Chamber of Social Workers and Croatian Chamber of Psychologists conducted separate expert analyses of the case and concluded that the social workers and psychologists working on the case acted according to standards, while the ministry last Friday said that it would examine the findings and forward everything to the County Prosecutor in Slavonski Brod.

"We, as the ministry, support the administrative oversight findings. The oversight identified certain mistakes in procedure and the findings have been submitted to the County Prosecutor as will the results of the expert analysis. I cannot comment on who was wrong, the chamber or the ministry," said Minister Aladrović while presenting an action plan to improve the social welfare system.

He said that the ministry had immediately sent a supervision team which compiled a report that, he said, is an indicator of the efficient work of public administration and not hasty decision making. One of the reasons why the Chamber of Social Workers' report took longer was because the social worker involved in the case was COVID positive, he added.

He said the omissions identified by the ministry's supervision team were sufficient to dismiss the director of the welfare centre in Nova Gradiška. The ministry does not want to impact the chamber's findings but there isn't any third body that could determine any further procedures, he added.

"There currently isn't any legal framework on how to reconcile those two findings and conflicts," said Aladrović and added that the only thing he can do is to send all the findings to the County Prosecutor to see if there is cause for any other kind of responsibility.

Amendments to the Family Law not planned for this year

As far as amendments to the Family Law are concerned with regard to taking children from their birth parents, Aladrović said that that is a complex bill that wasn't planned in the government's legislative activities for this year and is not a priority, but "we are not unwilling to discuss the Family Law as well in the following period" because there is room for improvement.

To read more about politics in Croatia, follow our dedicated page.

April 26, 2021 - The latest flight news to Croatia as new Croatia Airlines flights from Split and Dubrovnik were introduced, and many lines have been increased from May. 

Croatian Aviation reports that Croatia Airlines announced the planned flight schedule for May. In addition to 13 international routes from Zagreb Airport, the company will operate 5 international routes from Split and one route from Dubrovnik Airport.

13 lines from Zagreb Airport

In May, Croatia Airlines continues to operate regular international traffic to 13 European destinations. Daily flights to Amsterdam continue, as well as more daily flights to Frankfurt.

The company will continue to operate to the following destinations, with several operations planned from mid-May:

Munich - from 20 May twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays,

Vienna - from 17 May three times a week, on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Sundays,

Brussels - from 17 May three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Sundays,

Dublin - from 27 May twice a week, on Thursdays and Sundays,

Copenhagen - from 10 May four times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays,

London - from 7 May twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays,

Paris - from 2 May three times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays,

Rome - from 2 May four times a week, on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays,

Sarajevo - from May 11 four times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays,

Skopje - from 17 May three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays,

Zurich - daily from 17 May.

More international lines from Split Airport

In addition to the existing international routes to Rome, Frankfurt, and Munich, Croatia Airlines will resume operations on three more seasonal routes to the following destinations at the end of May:

Vienna - Saturday 22 May,

London - from 29 May, Saturday. From June, additional flights on Fridays and Mondays,

Zurich - from May 22, Saturday.

Croatia Airlines will operate on the existing three routes according to the following schedule:

Rome - from 2 May four times a week, on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays,

Frankfurt - three times a week, on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays, daily from the end of May,

Munich - from 14 May four times a week, on Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Dubrovnik - Frankfurt line reintroduced
In the second half of May, from Friday, 21 May, Croatia Airlines will again operate on a regular international route between Dubrovnik Airport and Frankfurt. By the end of May, two flights a week have been announced, on Fridays and Sundays. 

Croatia Airlines' flight schedule for May looks far better than in previous months. There will be an increase in the number of weekly frequencies on almost all routes, and the introduction of three more routes to Split Airport and regular flights on the line between Dublin and Zagreb should be especially emphasized.

Follow the latest on flights to Croatia HERE and the latest travel updates and COVID-19 news from Croatia HERE.

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

ZAGREB, 26 April, 2021 - In the past 24 hours a total of 3,417 tests were conducted in Croatia, with 410 returning positive to coronavirus while 51 people died in that period, that national COVID response team reported on Monday.

There are currently 13,432 active cases in the country, 2,315 of whom are hospitalised patients and 259 of them are on ventilators.

Since the first case was identified in Croatia, there have been 323,036 registered cases of coronavirus in the country and 6,905 people have died as a consequence.

A total of 302,699 people have recovered, with 2,207 recovering in the past 24 hours.

The share of positive cases among those tested in the past 24 hours is about 12%, which is 3% less than last Monday.

There are currently 31,841 people in self-isolation.

To date a total of 1,762,625 persons have been tested.

As of 25 April 795,597 doses of COVID vaccines have been administered, inoculating 627,216 people.

Of that number 456,398 have received the first dose and 168,381 have received both doses, while in 2,437 cases it is not sure which of the two doses they have received.

To read more about coronavirus in Croatia, follow our Covid-19 in Croatia guide.

April 26, 2021 - Former Slovak Deputy Prime Minister Ludovik Cernak seeks concession to build a marina with 250 berths in Sucuraj on Hvar, a project worth half a billion kuna. 

A few years ago, there were open protests in Sucuraj on Hvar and the very thought that a large marina would be built in their town, primarily due to fears for the fate of a nearby beach, now the news that the Ministry of the Sea has announced its intention to grant a concession has been accepted. The construction of the nautical facility includes a planned 250 berths.

As Slobodna Dalmacija reports, the tender documentation stipulates that the state grants the selected partner the right to manage the maritime domain for 30 years. It is a little more than 100 thousand square meters of sea and land space, and the value of the concession for the entire duration is estimated at almost half a billion kuna.

The potential investors will have to submit their bids by June 18 to the Zagreb headquarters of the relevant administration.

"With the realization of this project, which we have been working on for several years, a marina will be built in Sucuraj, which will be among the 20 leaders in our part of the Adriatic in terms of size. To get to this stage, we had to make an urban development plan, enroll in the "maritime domain," and obtain all necessary certificates from the relevant ministries. Still, we are not sorry because the nautical tourism port will bring us progress and revive the eastern part of the island as a whole," says Ivan Slavić, chief of Sućuraj municipality.

However, this is a repeated tender for the same future marina, originally announced in 2018, because the Government then awarded the concession to the Czech company "MFA Invest" from Brno. Still, the procedure was subsequently annulled as a foreign potential investor did not provide a bank guarantee of one percent of the total project value.

Now, a new procedure is starting at the initiative of Czech and Slovak investors, namely the mentioned company and the company "Marina Sucuraj," which was founded last year by the real estate "Sitno Holding Real Estate" from Bratislava, owned by entrepreneur Ludovit Cernak, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy in two mandate during the 1990s; and the former president of the right-wing Slovak People's Party, whose member and later president of that state is Ivan Gašparovič. 17 years ago, he became the owner of the football club "Slovan" from the Slovak metropolis, which was then in a deep financial and results in crisis, and after "recovering" under the leadership of members of the Cernak family, five years later he was sold to entrepreneur Ivan Krotnik.

A potential foreign investor on the Croatian islands is currently much better known for last year's purchase of 77,000 square meters of municipal land near Lukoran in Ugljan for just under 20 million kunas. Although the deal did not go without "tails" and calling out local oppositionists for (too) cheap sale of public plots, a representative of Cernak's company, after signing a contract with the Municipality of Preko, announced that in four years, it would build a settlement with 220 villas, two moorings with 150 berths and a hotel with 500 beds, with a total value of as much as 150 million euros.

As for the project in Sucuraj, if, in the end, the mentioned investors get a concession, the initial amount of the permanent part of the fee will be two kunas per square meter of occupied maritime property. However, the amount of the permanent part of the concession fee after the tenth year of operation will increase every five years by 50 lipa per square meter of occupied space at sea and on land, and the minimum variable part of the fee will be two percent of the revenue generated in the area entrusted with the management. 

"I believe that these are serious investors and that they have long ago made all the necessary calculations related to the job they are entering, and as far as the benefits for our municipality are concerned, we expect new employment in the first place. The marina will employ 12 to 15 full-time employees and a dozen more seasonal workers. Still, we are certainly counting on the accompanying facilities and activities that will be necessary during the operation of the marina", said Chief Slavić.

However, Sućurani expects a longer tourist season to realize the new content because they already have a lot of ships sailing through the Hvar and Neretva canals. When they have an attractive port on their sea route, the number of boaters will surely grow.

The first onshore gas station will be built in that part of the island, and a private initiative will be strengthened in the surrounding bays so that tourists can enjoy the beauties of the unique landscape and good gastronomic offer of their hosts and spend evenings and nights in a safe harbor—the easternmost town of Hvar.

To find out more about Hvar, click HERE. 

April 26, 2021 - Rimac C_Two against Porsche Taycan - which is faster? Mate Rimac races to find out. 

Mate Rimac published a video of the race between the Rimac C_Two and Porsche Taycan Turbo S on the runway of the airport in Nova Gorica. The C_Two he drove was one of only five prototypes, Rimac said, and announced that he would invite journalists to test it in the coming weeks. Rimac C_Two will not be the official model name, though Rimac said it will be announced soon.

"The car is not finished yet, there is still room for improvement," he says.

Despite a poor start, Rimac C_Two overtook Porsche and was the first to cross the finish line.

"Of course, not everything is accelerating," said Rimac and announced significant progress in the car's performance in the next few weeks.

The Bugatti Chiron currently holds the record with 9.4 seconds for a quarter-mile, while Rimac was just under 9 seconds. 

Rimac C_Two is an electric hypercar presented in 2018 at the Geneva Motor Show. ‘A car brought together with technology', as some have called it, has seen a lot of hype in the automotive world.

According to Rimac, it reaches a speed of 415 kilometers per hour, develops a power of as much as 1914 horsepower, and reaches 100 in less than two seconds, so it is currently one of the cars with the highest acceleration in the world.

The C_Two is unlocked by the face recognition system, and in just half an hour it will charge 80 percent of the battery that drives it.

For the sake of humor, a fire extinguisher has been added to C_Two with the inscription "if driving uphill, put out the fire" as a reference to the famous Grand Tour crash when Richard Hammond was behind the wheel of Rimac's Concept One.

Rimac Automobili previously announced that they need about eight weeks to produce each prototype, which is twice as fast as the previous production process. In full operation, the factory will be able to produce up to four prototypes per month. This means that the entire batch of 150 should be produced in three years.

For more news about everything made in Croatia, be sure to follow TCN’s dedicated page.

April 26, 2021 - Croatia handball and Ivano Balić are together again as the new assistant coach will guide the national team to new victories this week at the EHF EURO Cup. 

The Croatia handball team gathered this morning in Zagreb ahead of the EHF EURO Cup matches against Slovakia and Hungary.

On April 28 (Wednesday) and April 29 (Thursday) in Varaždin, the national team will play two matches against Slovakia and then travel to play Hungary in Veszprem.

There are many new names on coach Hrvoje Horvat's list, and the most resounding is the reinforcement in his coaching staff. Ivano Balić is back, who will be the right hand of the new coach. The new goalkeeper coach is Ninoslav Pavletić.

The national team has had a turbulent year: for the first time in 21 years, they failed to qualify for the Olympics, and in January, they experienced a debacle at the World Cup in Egypt.

Croatia has won the two matches they've played in the EURO Cup so far. In Osijek, Croatia celebrated against Hungary 31:27, and then in January, just before the World Cup, they defeated Spain 31:28.

Captain Domagoj Duvnjak, Željko Musa and Igor Karačić have been spared.

"This is a new role. The coach and I speak the same language. There are a lot of young players; we will need more time and more work. I think everything will come on its own. I came back because handball is my life. The goal is to improve the overall game. Croatia has potential, and we can do it. I have always helped young people throughout my career, and it is a challenge for me; it fulfills me, and I think I can help. I have no ambitions to be a coach; I am here to help Horvat. The goal is for the national team to progress, day by day," said Ivano Balić. 

"So far, I've watched the games as a fan. We were better in France than in Egypt, but I wouldn't go back in time. We need to look to the future."

"Due to the situation with COVID-19, Martinović, Cindrić, Mamić, and Ivanković dropped out of the list. We stopped there. Our first goal is to select players who can play in both directions to reduce the substitutions. That has been a problem for us so far. We have a lot of new faces, especially in the pivot position. Every coach has time, and then when he loses the national team, he has very little time. We must not wander; we must not waste time on it. We have to work patiently and find players who will follow my and Balić's vision for Euro 2022 in Slovakia and Hungary. I also worked with Ivan when he was an assistant to Željko Babić, and I led the young national team. We clicked. The coaching staff must blow in the same sail."

Player list:

Goalkeepers: 

IVAN PEŠIĆ – MC MESHKOV BREST
MORENO CAR – RK NEXE
MATEJ MANDIĆ – RK IZVIĐAČ CO

DAVID MANDIĆ – RK PPD ZAGREB
LOVRO MIHIĆ – ORLEN WISLA PLOCK
KARLO GODEC – RK DUBRAVA
IVAN ČUPIĆ – RK VARDAR 1961
VLADO MATANOVIĆ – RK PPD ZAGREB
FRAN MILETA – RK NEXE
LEON ŠUŠNJA – ORLEN WISLA PLOCK
TOMISLAV KUŠAN – HC EUROFARM PELISTER
NIKOLA GRAHOVAC – RK PPD ZAGREB
VERON NAČINOVIĆ – RK CELJE PIVOVARNA LAŠKO
MARKO MAMIĆ – SCDHFK LEIPZIG
HALIL JAGANJAC – RK NEXE
ANTE IVANKOVIĆ – RK DUBRAVA
LUKA CINDRIĆ – BARCA
DOMAGOJ PAVLOVIĆ – MT MELSUNGEN
TIN LUČIN – ABANCA ADEMAR LEON
IVAN MARTINOVIĆ – HC HANNOVER -BURGDORF
LUKA ŠEBETIĆ – TREMBLAY EN FRANCE HANDBALL
MATEO MARAŠ – HC EUROFARM PELISTER
 

Coaching staff: 
HRVOJE HORVAT, IZBORNIK
IVANO BALIĆ, TRENER
NINOSLAV PAVELIĆ, TRENER VRATARA
MILJENKO RAK, KONDICIJSKI TRENER

Source: Index.hr

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

To learn more about sport in Croatia, CLICK HERE. 

April 26, 2021 - A look at the vaccine side effects in Croatia until April 22, 2021. 

Slobodna Dalmacija reports that out of a total of 750,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered in Croatia by April 22, side effects were reported in only 0.4 percent of cases. According to the Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices (HALMED), 36 reports of suspected side effects were received for every 10,000 doses of vaccine.

Out of a total of 2667 reports, there were 1297 side effects for Pfizer / BioNTech's Comirnaty vaccine, 1166 for AstraZeneca, and 202 for Moderna.

So far, most citizens in Croatia have been vaccinated with Pfizer (about 390 thousand), and only 0.33 percent of those vaccinated have reported side effects, most often mild ones. Slightly less than 230,000 people were vaccinated with AstraZeneca, and 0.55 percent of side effects were reported. The fewest people were vaccinated with Moderna (about 103 thousand), and it had the least side effects of 0.19 percent.

Of the total reported adverse reactions to the COVID vaccine, 81 percent were mild health problems, while 19 percent were more severe.

The most commonly reported adverse reactions were fever (49.1 percent), headache (32.3 percent), application site pain (29.3 percent), chills (27.6 percent), muscle pain (24.7 percent), general weakness (24.1 percent), fatigue (15.4 percent), nausea (10.4 percent), joint pain (9 percent), and redness at the vaccine site (8.6 percent).

These are expected side effects, which occur frequently, are similar to the side effects of other vaccines, and are usually mild to moderate in intensity and resolve spontaneously over several days or with symptomatic therapy (e.g., cold compresses, antipyretic medications, and pain medications).

Among the serious side effects, hypersensitivity reactions, which manifested as rash, itching, and hives shortly after vaccination, were the most common. Antiallergic drugs were administered, after which recovery occurred in all cases. These were young to middle-aged adults.

Also, reactions of facial paresis or peripheral weakness of one side of the face have been reported less frequently. These reactions are usually associated with swelling of the tissue that presses on the nerve and is most often a transient condition.

Most side effects of all vaccines occurred within four hours of their administration. In some cases, side effects were accompanied by problems with breathing or swallowing or swelling of the face, lips, and tongue.

Several cases of thromboembolic symptoms have been reported, where patients were hospitalized and released home after therapy with instructions on medications to take.

Sporadic cases of blood clots accompanied by a reduced number of platelets in Croatia have not been reported.

For more on coronavirus specific to Croatia, including travel, border, and quarantine rules, as well as the locations of vaccination points and testing centers across the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section.

April 26, 2021 - The latest flight news to Croatia as Austrian Airlines flights to Split and Dubrovnik will finally operate after a series of delays! 

Croatian Aviation reports that Austrian Airlines will soon resume traffic on regular flights from Vienna to Dubrovnik Airport and Split Airport! Although the company has been planning regular routes to these two destinations since the beginning of April, this did not happen due to passenger restrictions, low bookings, and the epidemiological situation. At the end of March, the company resumed traffic on the line from Vienna to Zagreb and will now resume traffic to two destinations on the coast.

The Vienna-Split-Vienna route will operate from Friday, April 30, with three flights every Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. E190 aircraft are planned on the route, but in case of higher demand, the company will increase its capacity by replacing the aircraft with a fleet from the A320 family. In the peak of the summer season, Austrian plans to operate daily between Vienna and Split.

Only a few days later, the Vienna-Dubrovnik-Vienna line will be in traffic again. Two flights a week have been announced; from May 2, every Friday and Sunday, and from May 12, there should be an increase in the number of weekly operations. Lufthansa and Iberia have already resumed traffic to Dubrovnik; as was announced earlier, Spanish Vueling will soon do the same. At the beginning of May, Polish LOT planes will land at Dubrovnik Airport again.

In addition to Zagreb, Dubrovnik, and Split, Austrian Airlines also operates to Zadar Airport. The flight from Vienna to Zadar is currently postponed to May 13, and two flights a week are available for booking from that date. Austrian plans to gradually increase the number of weekly flights between Vienna and Zadar, and A319 aircraft have been announced on the route.

At the beginning of May, Austrian will operate between Zagreb and Vienna four times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.

Follow the latest on flights to Croatia HERE and the latest travel updates and COVID-19 news from Croatia HERE.

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