April 25, 2021 - Search and rescue dogs were deployed after the 29 December earthquake in Petrinja, and 18 dogs of the HGSS mountain rescue service helped locate six people under the rubble, the Ministry of the Interior Civil Protection Directorate said on International Search and Rescue Dog Day, April 25.

The International Search and Rescue Dog Organisation in 2008 declared the International Search and Rescue Dog Day, which has been observed every year on the last Sunday in April.

A dog used in search and rescue operations replaces up to 30 people who would be needed to search an area in the same period, the ministry said.

It recalled that on 26 November 2019, when a 6.4 magnitude earthquake hit Albania, Croatia sent to that country a search and rescue team with 15 members of the Civil Protection Directorate and eight search and rescue dogs.

A dog's sense of smell is 10,000 times better than that of a man, and they hear and see better than humans. These traits make dogs man's best friends and well co-workers in crises. Search and rescue teams, consisting of a dog and its handler, are exceptionally important in civil protection forces and are indispensable in rescue operations.

Search, and rescue teams save people's lives in urban areas when earthquakes, explosions, and large-scale disasters happen.

Search and rescue dogs easily locate the place where a person is trapped, regardless of the distance and obstacles between them and the victim. They can search 1,000 square meters of rubble in only 20 minutes, the Civil Protection Directorate said.

To keep up with news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page. 

April 25, 2021 - The European Throwing Cup, which consists of Shot Put, Discus Throw, Hammer Throw, and Javelin Throw, will be held in the biggest Croatian Adriatic city of Split on 8 and 9 May.

The organization of the event, which will bring together 564 athletes from 44 countries, was discussed recently by Tourism and Sports Minister Nikolina Brnjac and the Croatian Athletics Federation president, Ivan Veštić.

Veštić said that the purpose of hosting the competition was to make Split a popular European destination for track and field events.

He informed the minister that the shot put event would be held at the historical Salona venue dating back to ancient Roman times.

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

ZAGREB, 25 April 2021 - Slightly more than one-fifth of Croatians do not want to get vaccinated against COVID-19, which puts Croatia among the top few EU countries in that regard, shows a Eurobarometer survey released by the European Commission this past Friday.

When asked when they would get vaccinated if the authorities had approved a COVID-19 vaccine and if it was available, 22% of those polled in Croatia said 'never'.

This type of answer was the most frequent in Cyprus (26%), Latvia (23%), and Croatia, Bulgaria and France (22%).

Twenty percent (20%) of Croatian respondents said they would get vaccinated as soon as possible or that they had already been vaccinated, 27% said they would get inoculated this year while 30% said they would do it later.

The share of sceptical respondents was the lowest in Denmark (2%), followed by Ireland, Sweden and Malta (4%), and Portugal (5%).

The survey was conducted in February and March and covered all 27 member states.

More than half of Croatians, 55%, are satisfied with measures taken by the EU to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

The least satisfied were respondents in Greece (31% said they were satisfied with the EU's measures), followed by those in France (32%) and Germany (33%).

Danes were the most satisfied with the EU's measures (68%), followed by Lithuanians (67%), and the Portuguese (66%).

Support for EMU in Croatia 48%

The European Monetary and Economic Union (EMU) with the euro as the single currency is supported by 48% of Croatians, 45% are against, and 7% said they did not know, shows the survey.

The EMU is supported the most in Portugal (95%), Slovenia (94%) and Ireland (91%). It is the least supported in Sweden (25%), Denmark (32%), Poland (34%), and the Czech Republic and Bulgaria (40%).

Eighty-seven percent (87%) of Croatians consider the economic situation in their country bad while 13% consider it good.

More dissatisfied than Croatians are Greeks and the Portuguese, of whom 90% said that the economic situation in their respective countries was bad, followed by Spaniards (91%) and Italians (93%).

The most satisfied respondents were those in Luxembourg, where 86% of those polled described the economic situation in their country as good, followed by respondents in Sweden (81%) and Denmark (71%).

EU citizens expect recovery from pandemic in 2023 or later 

Only 6% of Croatians believe the national economy will recover from the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic this year, 20% think that recovery will happen in 2022, and 57% in 2023 or later.

Most of those polled in all member countries, 44-82%, believe economic recovery will happen in 2023 or later. Between 10 and 31% expect recovery next year.

Most Croatians consider the Next Generation EU recovery instrument, worth €750 billion, an effective response to the economic consequences of the crisis.

Sixty-eight percent (68%) of Croatians consider the instrument very effective or quite effective. That view is held by 83% of Maltese respondents, while on the other end are Finns (42%), the French (45%) and Latvians (47%).

Slightly more than half of Croatians, 51%, trust the EU while 44% do not.

Trust in the EU is the highest in Portugal (78%), Ireland (74%) and Lithuania (70%).

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

ZAGREB, 25 April, 2021 - Health Minister Vili Beroš said during a visit to Zadar on Sunday that it was not true that the cijepise.hr platform for registration for vaccination against COVID-19 was not functioning, calling on citizens to register and noting that everyone would get vaccinated.

"Maybe the platform is not functioning the way we wanted but it functions well enough to cope with the challenges of vaccination. I read in the papers that the system of vaccination has collapsed. That's not true! We are increasing the daily number of vaccinations, currently around 23,000 people get vaccinated on a daily basis," the minister said.

He stressed that he was aware of his own responsibility but noted that the system was decentralised and that county public health institutes organised vaccination in their own areas of responsibility.

"The City of Zagreb and other counties use the platform, maybe not to the extent we would want them to use it, but they do use it. Local platforms do not include what is necessary to organise the system. You can vaccinate people, but then you have to enter the information in the system that incorporates all information for green COVID-19 certificates," the minister said.

Register and you will be vaccinated

He added that it was not him as minister but professionals who had come up with the idea to design a platform for registration for vaccination.

The platform is now available, he said, adding that there was no duplication or deletion in the process of registration.

"Register and you will be vaccinated," he said, calling on everyone to register.

He also said that there was no wasting of vaccines, that vaccination points were full and that the vaccination process would be stepped up.

"All resources must be mobilised so that we can inoculate as many people as possible and reach the 55% vaccination rate by summer, which will also enable a safer tourist season," Beroš said, describing the reform of the health system and its financial stability as the most important challenge and noting that changes could no longer be delayed.

Reporters also asked the minister about the case of Deputy Prime Minister Boris Milošević who was vaccinated against COVID-19 and received both doses yet he got infected.

"That is very rare, all vaccines that are used in Croatia should respond to all variants of the virus that have been registered in the country," he said.

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

ZAGREB, 25 April, 2021 - Over the past 24 hours, Croatia has registered 1,254 new cases of the coronavirus infection and 39 deaths, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Sunday.

The number of active cases in Croatia stands at 15,280, and there are 2,288 COVID patients in hospitals, 240 of whom are on ventilators.

Since the first case of infection was registered in Croatia, 322,626 people have contracted coronavirus, 6,854 of them have died, while 300,492 have recovered, including 2,282 in the last 24 hours.

There are currently 33,759 people in self-isolation.

To date, 1,759,208 people have been tested, including 7,007 over the past 24 hours.

As at 24 April, 785,869 doses of the vaccine have been administered in Croatia, and 621,077 people have been vaccinated, with 453,854 people receiving the first dose and 164,792 receiving both doses. For 2,431 people there is no data on how many doses they have received.

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

April 25, 2021 - The current and seven-time world champion Frenchman Sebastien Ogier (Toyota) won the first edition of the Croatia Rally, the third World Rally Championship, on Sunday.

Just before the last gear, the Welshman Elfyn Evans (Toyota) had a 3.9-second advantage over Ogier but made a mistake in the last turn of the rally and lost the victory by only six-tenths of a second. Ogier thus reached the 51st triumph in his career.

Evans finished in second place (+0.6), and third place went to Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), who drove great in reverse gear, but at one point spun on the track and lost several precious seconds.

The winner of the Finnish Arctic Rally, Estonian Ott Tänak (Hyundai), was fourth with a minute and 25.1 seconds behind the winner.

Ogier was the leader after the first two days of the rally, i.e., after 16 of the 20 scheduled special stages. On Sunday, the last day, he came in with a 6.9-second lead over British teammate Elfyn Evans and 10.4 seconds ahead of Belgium's Thierry Neuville (Hyundai).

On the way to today's first gear, Ogier had a minor traffic accident on Avenue Dubrovnik. The world champion was heading east and then tried to rearrange himself in the right lane and was then hit by a personal car, which hit the back of Ogier’s Toyota. No one was injured, and Ogier continued to race. Further precious seconds were lost in the 18th gear where Evans took the initiative and skipped over them.

The last day of the Croatia Rally started with the 17th speed test Bliznec - Pila (25.2 km), and Evans was brilliant and the fastest on the 17th and 18th speed, while Thierry Neuville had the best time on the penultimate speed test.

The last speed (Zagorska Sela - Kumrovec, 14.09 km) is the so-called "power stage" where drivers have extra points for the World Cup. Elfyn Evans took the lead; in second place was Ogier with 3.9 seconds behind, while in third was Neuville with 8.0 seconds less time. But in the last gear, Ogier was the fastest and surpassed Evans.

Source: HRT

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

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April 25, 2021 - The president of the International Automobile Federation Jean Todt visits Rimac Automobili.

Sportske Novosti reports that the president of the International Automobile Federation, Jean Todt, arrived at the World Rally Championship Croatia Rally, which is being held in Croatia this weekend. The first man of the FIA, whose decision was crucial for Croatia's entry into the WRC calendar, shared his first impressions.

"Maybe we should ask people who have been involved in the organization and implementation of the rally from the beginning, but according to what I heard from the participants of the race, the impressions are good, and everyone is satisfied. In Croatia, we won a very demanding competition, an uncertain race that requires the creativity of the team and the driver. The weather is great, the fight on the track is open, and first impressions are good, but we need to wait for the end of the race for the final grade," Todt said.

"This season, some legendary rally races such as Greece and Kenya are returning to the WRC calendar, but Croatia, along with Estonia and a new race in Finland, further enriches the World Championship, and I think that this year we will enjoy an interesting season despite the problems brought on by the pandemic. Croatia has so far been known in the world as a tourist country, and from now on, it will be a country that hosts the WRC. It’s just a new step in the history of car racing and a good reminder of the first club founded 115 years ago."

Emphasizing the great efforts of the rally organizers and the Croatian Car and Karting Association, Todt also recalled the recently deceased Mayor of Zagreb, Milan Bandić.

"I visited Croatia several times on the occasion of the WRC race, and Milan Bandić was one of the people who always supported the whole project. He put a lot of personal effort into making it happen in the end. Unfortunately, he is no longer with us, and I think that in the end, this rally should be dedicated to him," said Todt, who on Saturday had the opportunity to visit the plants where Rimac cars are made and take a short test lap in one of his prototypes in Sveta Nedelja.

"I really appreciate people who can push the boundaries, and Mate Rimac is one of them. I was impressed by the acceleration achieved by his cars, but even more by the vision and passion behind everything he has done in just 10 years. It was necessary to have the guts to start developing an electric hypersport car when electric cars were just exotic. I was also introduced to his plans and future projects, and you have to respect and support such things."

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

To learn more about sport in Croatia, CLICK HERE. 

April 25, 2021 - Croatian Premium Wine Imports, Inc, a Boston-based online retailer of indigenous Croatian wines in the US, several public and private organizations, and a team of people on the ground, in Croatia and in the US, recently produced a highly interesting, educational and entertaining video program under the title “Timeless in Dubrovnik: Wine and History Preserved” - with the goal to connect the US public with Croatia as a destination for this coming summer.

The Zoom meeting connected speakers from Dubrovnik, Croatia (including the Mayor of Dubrovnik) Washington, DC, and Boston, MA welcoming over fifty participants, and was also shown on Facebook Live, where within the first 24 hours more than two thousand additional viewers joined in to enjoy the beautiful view of the peaceful Dubrovnik Old Port.

The sensational view from “Gradska Kavana” is still possible to see through high-quality video at the Coravin Marketplace: Timeless in Dubrovnik: Wine and History Preserved | Coravin. Croatian Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to the US, his excellency Pjer Šimunović, was present and emphasized to all that Croatia is open for business and encouraged travelers so that Americans can now start thinking about booking their flights to Croatia, particularly as the news about United Airlines, direct flight from Newark, NJ, to Dubrovnik has been just announced.

Mr. Šimunović, as well as Ms. Ana Hrnić, director of the Dubrovnik Tourist Board, underscored that the country is putting a lot of effort into creating all necessary protective measures, including vaccination of the people working in tourism and creating centers for testing the foreign visitors. She mentioned www.SafeStayinCroatia.hr website where everybody can be easily informed about the epidemiological situation throughout Croatia, including the islands, and get the key information regarding the nautical industry.

To showcase Croatia’s history and culture, as well as the oeno-gastro scene, Mr. Mato Franković, the Mayor of the City of Dubrovnik, welcomed all to the Dubrovnik’s Old Port. Since the event was designed to promote not only Croatia and Dubrovnik as such, but the wines of the region, Ksenija Matić, sommelier, WSET, and a wine judge introduced the wines, starting with Dubrovačka Malvasija. For centuries, the Dubrovnik Republic’s Rectors were welcoming guests with that wine variety, which was first mentioned as early as in the 1300s. 

Mr. Mayor should know a thing or two about wines -  in addition to running the “Grod” for the last four years – because he originally comes from the Pelješac peninsula known for great wineries. - Although I am not a Rector - said Mr. Franković jokingly - I frequently welcome officials to Dubrovnik with Dubrovačka Malvasija -  as he raised a glass to the viewers, inviting them to come to Dubrovnik. Siniša Lasan, WSET, wine judge, and a three-time Croatian National Champion Sommelier, also joined the tasting to talk about #Plavacmali and specifically two different winemaking styles. The wines presented included  Crvik winery from Konavle and Vinarija Rizman winery, as well as Terra Madre Winery and Vinogradi Volarević, from Komarna Appellation, plus SAINTS HILLS WINERY with the wine from the Dingač Appellation. Ksenija Matić, the owner of www.Eventlab.hr event agency, and a sommelier, WSET, later commented:

"It was a great pleasure to participate in the wine tasting held in  Dubrovnik but aimed primarily for American wine lovers. In addition, I was also chatting with the inventor and founder of Coravin, Inc., Greg Lambrecht, who is an absolutely awesome guy!"

Greg is a self-professed American in Love with Croatia, who started coming to Croatia because of his professional background in the development of medical equipment. He was developing a medical device for spinal surgeries, and he started working with Croatian neurosurgeons, who are, according to Greg, among the best in the world. He was performing different clinical trials of the device at the Dubrava Hospital in Zagreb and at the University of Rijeka, so he got to know Croatia very well and desperately fell in love - with the country. He came to Dubrovnik for the first time with the Croatian Neurosurgical Society and was taken by the beauty of the city, the friendliness of the people, the delicacy of the food, and of course, delighted with the wines. When he decided to establish Coravin to develop revolutionary wine pouring devices, it was in Dubrovnik that he raised the largest amount to finance his venture. A wealthy businessman called him and said: - We will meet in the best city in the world!. When Greg asked which city it was, the gentleman said: - Dubrovnik, of course!

Today, Coravin company holds a whole line of different products used in restaurants and bars around the world - which help to preserve the wine, or as they say, let you sip a glass of wine at a time, and save the bottle to enjoy later. In fact, during the Zoom meeting - Greg showcased the new product they are just about to launch – the Coravin Pivot.

"Now you tell me that this is not a PHENOMENAL story !!! How much do we use similar stories, and there are more, and the potential we have in wine tourism – for the promotion of Dubrovnik and Croata? People like Greg are actually fantastic ambassadors and promoters of our wines and the country in general. I am happy that we can meet people like this through our business, connect with them and promote our wines," said Ksenija Matić. And she was right! 

Organizers of the event: 

• www.CroatianPremiumWine.com, an importer and online retailer of more than 50 Croatian wine labels available for shipping to most US states.

• the Croatian Embassy in Washington D.C., https://www.facebook.com/croembdc
• The Croatian Chamber of Economy, Dubrovnik County, https://www.hgk.hr/zupanijska-komora-dubrovnik 
• the Dubrovnik Tourist Board, www.tzdubrovnik.hr/lang/en/index.html, 
• the City of Dubrovnik, http://www.dubrovnik.hr/, 
• EventLab, www.EventLab.hr, a wine tours, and events company; 
• Gradska Kavana/Arsenal Restaurant, https://www.nautikarestaurants.com/gradska-kavana-arsenal/; 
• Malostonska Kamenica/Mali Ston Oysters Association, www.facebook.com/malistonoyster  and 
• Coravin, www.Coravin.com, a US-based company producing ultimate tools for preserving wine, including its founder and inventor Greg Lambrecht, an MIT scientist applying biomedical background to the wine field.