April 21, 2021 - Those interested in visiting one of the most beautiful national parks in the world will be able to, as great Plitvice Lakes offers have been announced for May.

Known for their magic during the four seasons of the year, the Plitvice Lakes offer their visitors dreamlike settings. From trees covered in snow in the winter that contrast with the turquoise color of the lakes, to a powerful combination of greens and blues in the summer, it is always a great time to visit one of the most popular national parks in the world.

And the month of May should not be an exception because, in addition to being in full bloom during spring, Plitvice Lakes offers include not only better prices to visit the natural attractions, but also to enjoy the best amenities and activities in the National Park.

Plitvice Lakes National Park through seasons (Plitvice Lakes channel)

As turistickeprice.hr reports, after lowering the prices of tickets and certain services in April, the Plitvice Lakes National Park announced that all visitors will be able to enjoy the spring magic of the Park in May as well. Thus, the April reduced prices will remain next month. This means that a single ticket for adults will still be 80 kuna. Let us remind you that the full price in this part of the year is 180 kuna, which is a discount of more than 80%. Other special prices from April remain the same. Students will pay 50 kuna instead of 110 kuna, and children from 7 to 18 years 35 kuna, instead of 50. Two-day ticket prices have been reduced, and will be 120 kuna for adults, 70 kuna for students and 60 kuna for children.

Spring packages are on offer at the Jezero Hotel, located in the heart of the Plitvice Lakes National Park, until the end of June. They include two or three nights with half board, a ticket to the Park, and an hour of renting a rowing boat to explore the corners of Plitvice's largest lake Kozjak. But Plitvice Lakes offers even more to their visitors in May.

For example, until June 30, at a price of 750 kuna per person, they offer two nights with breakfast, a ticket to the National Park for the entire stay, as well as a 50% discount on a one-hour rental of a rowing boat on Lake Kozjak. In addition, take advantage of a 20% discount on lunch or dinner at the Vučnica bistro, a 20% discount on the use of the Finnish sauna in the hotel, a 20% discount on RELAX massage in the Fors Fortis salon, a 15% discount on the ticket price to Barać's Caves, a 15% discount on prices of services at Ranch Equus Igni.

See the entire offer for May, which also includes discounts for Croatian Tourist Cardholders, the Park's gastronomic offer, and a picnic lunch for Labor Day in the Plitvice Lakes National Park on the official website of the Park.

For more about the nature and national parks in Croatia, be sure to check our Total Croatia 2021 guide to all of them HERE.

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ZAGREB, 21 April, 2021 - The Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE) indices dropped slightly on Wednesday, going down for the second day in a row, while turnover was somewhat higher owing to a block transaction with Končar - Electrical Industry shares.

The Crobex dropped by 0.09% to 1,877.80 points and the Crobex10 decreased by 0.28% to 1,171.80 points.

Regular turnover was HRK 4.4 million, around 600,000 less than on Tuesday, but total turnover was boosted by a block transaction with Končar Electrical Industry shares in the amount of HRK 3.4 million.

In regular trading, two stocks crossed the million kuna turnover mark, the Podavka food company, which turned over HRK 1.1 million and the Atlantska Plovidba shipping company, which generated a turnover of HRK 1.07 million.

Podravka traded at HRK 550 per share, a price increase of 0.56%, while Atlantska Plovidba rose by 5.77% to HRK 220 per share.

Thirty-seven stocks traded today, with 15 going down in price, 12 going up and 10 staying the same as on Tuesday.

(€1 = HRK 7.566672)

For more about business in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 21 April, 2021 - Labour and Social Policy Minister Josip Aladrović said on Wednesday that intensive talks had been underway with all stakeholders in the social welfare system, noting that the system was ready for a reform.

He said that an action plan for a broad reform was being prepared and that it would be presented in the next few days.

However, certain challenges have accumulated in the system for a long period of time so its reform will also take time and require quality engagement of all stakeholders, he said.

The action plan is comprehensive and detailed, the minister said, adding that no group of beneficiaries or employees would be left out.

"We want a solid and implementable document," he said, adding that the reform would focus on the beneficiaries of the social welfare system as well as deal with the problem of a shortage of social workers and excessive workload. 

An analysis has been made on the shortage of staff in all 83 social welfare centres in the country, he said, adding that the hiring of new staff would start soon.

The action plan also aims to facilitate the process of adoption and putting a child in a foster family, he said.

Commenting on a half-an-hour protest of social workers held earlier in the day, Aladrović said that it was their right and that he did not want to question it.

"But what we expect is the continuation of good cooperation with representatives from the entire system of social care," he said, expressing confidence that with joint work and implementation of the action plan the system could be improved to the benefit of its users.

 For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 21 April, 2021 - Health Minister Vili Beroš on Wednesday commented on an opposition motion for his resignation, saying he is not interested in keeping his ministerial position at any cost and that current problems in healthcare will not be solved with his departure but require a broad political consensus of all.

"It is the opposition's political position to question and criticise. I have never had any problems with constructive criticism, in fact, I consider it motivating. However, I have a problem with unfounded accusations and insinuations that have conveniently intensified ahead of the local election," Beroš said in a Facebook post.

The opposition, he added, has unusually focused on the health sector and him personally, who have been fighting against the COVID-19 epidemic for more than a year now.

"I cannot accept that because for more than a year now we have been intensively combatting the COVID-19 epidemic which cannot be compared to any other previous challenge. I am not looking for an excuse, I am just describing the current situation during which activities are simultaneously  being conducted towards restructuring the system to make it sustainable in the long run. The opposition's manoeuvres take us away from that aim and I wonder just how ready it is to support real changes in the healthcare system so that it can be better for all Croatian citizens," said Beroš.

He noted that the opposition had an opportunity to resolve the existing problems but that did not happen. "In fact, with its inactivity it contributed to deepening the existing problems. I'm not interested in keeping my minister's 'seat' at any cost, however, I do not have the habit of leaving an unfinished job. The problems in healthcare cannot be resolved with the health minister's resignation but through a national consensus of all political options," concluded Beroš.

Opposition parties in parliament on Wednesday unanimously agreed that Beroš has to go and they expressed readiness to support the Social Democratic Party's (SDP) motion for a vote of no confidence in the minister. The opposition said that the motion will be launched soon but that it will allow Beroš some time to think about everything that has happened in healthcare and give him an opportunity to step down.

For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 21 April, 2021 - Opposition parties in parliament on Wednesday unanimously agreed that Health Minister Vili Beroš has to go and they expressed readiness to support the Social Democratic Party's (SDP) motion for no confidence in the health minister.

"There is a consensus among the opposition that Health Minister Vili Beroš has to go," SDP leader Peđa Grbin said after a meeting of opposition parties.

Grbin: We are giving Beroš an opportunity to step down

The motion will be launched soon but we will allow Beroš some time to think about everything that has occurred in healthcare and give him an opportunity to step down, said Grbin.

He denied that the motion was being launched as part of SDP's electioneering ahead of the 16 May elections, saying that this had to do with the health of Croatian citizens.

"The man who allowed hospitals to not be delivered medicines, for the debt in healthcare to escalate and who is being connected to numerous wrongdoings in public procurement in the hospital system, simply cannot be the health minister," underscored Grbin.

Grbin said that Prime Minister Andrej Plenković should think carefully in future about his criteria when selecting cabinet ministers.

Sandra Benčić of the Green-Left bloc said that she supports the no-confidence motion against Beroš but that Plenković too should be held responsible, who in the end is responsible for the entire situation in healthcare.

"It's clear that the prime minister will fervently defend his minister and then a month or two later when it is more politically opportune, he will call for his resignation. That is the prime minister's modus operandi. He expends people and then throws them out like an old rag and covers up his bad decisions with them," said Benčić.

Benčić: Opposition will prepare an expert analysis

She announced that in preparing the no-confidence motion, the opposition will prepare an expert analysis regarding access to therapy, medicines, the way the system is managed and of the Cijepise (Get vaccinated) application.

"Spending money in healthcare that way during the greatest ever crisis is equal to war profiteering," she claimed.

She too denied that this is all part of electioneering ahead of the local election.

Stephen Nikola Bartulica of the Homeland Movement said (DP) said that: "we are opening important topics and it is up to the prime minister to make serious moves. Instead of being a statesman and making courageous decisions he is a 'spin doctor' in Government House and releases cheap spins to the public every day."

The healthcare system is not being managed well and that practice has to change and reforms need to be urgently implemented, he added.

Hrelja: HSU supports motion to oust Beroš

Silvano Hrelja of the Pensioners' Party (HSU) said that the party supports the motion to oust Beroš, denying speculation that HSU would join the ruling majority.

"Cooperation on projects exists but there is no coalition there," said Hrelja.

For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 21 April, 2021 - A constitutional complaint by the parents and eight siblings of Afghan migrant girl Madine Hosseini, who died in 2017 after she fell under a train near the Croatian-Serbian border, regarding their application for protection in Croatia, has been granted, Večernji List daily said on Wednesday.

The Constitutional Court established that the Ministry of the Interior (MUP) and administrative courts did not establish with sufficient certainty that Serbia was a safe third country and that asylum seekers would not be at risk of being returned to their country of origin.

A complaint filed by the second wife of Madine's father and children has also been granted, so decisions of the High Administrative Court were quashed for a total of four adults and ten children aged one to 15 from Afghanistan and the case was returned to the Administrative Court in Osijek. All of them were represented by lawyer Sanja Bezbradica Jelavić.

After Madeine's death they were returned to Serbia, but in 2018 they re-entered Croatia and applied for international protection. The father and husband who filed the constitutional complaint said that the Taliban had threatened him because he had worked as a police officer and driver for the US military in Afghanistan, so in fear of them, since he had been wounded in one attack, he managed to flee with his family.

After they illegally entered Croatia, MUP rejected their asylum request by applying the safe third country institute. The explanation was that the Serbian constitution guaranteed fundamental human and minority rights.

Administrative courts also confirmed that Serbia's legal framework guaranteed an efficient and fair procedure of international protection, even from chain refoulement. The fact that they had not been exposed to inhumane or similar treatment in the year and a half they stayed in Serbia was also taken in to account.

However, the lawyer said that the evaluation of Serbia as a safe third country had not taken into account the fact that over the past 10 years refugee statuse had been granted to only 47 persons and subsidiary protection to 62, which was negligible in relation to the number of refugees.

The constitutional judges too ruled that it was not enough to examine the legal framework for asylum seekers but also the real situation, Večernji List said.

For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 21 April, 2021 - The foreign ministers of Slovenia, Croatia and Italy signed in Brdo Pri Kranju, Slovenia on Wednesday a joint statement on the protection of the northern Adriatic, after plenary talks on joint cooperation in that area.

Speaking to the press after the signing, Anže Logar of Slovenia said that he, Gordan Grlić Radman of Croatia and Luigi di Maio of Italy endorsed conclusions on strengthening the three countries' cooperation in the protection of the Adriatic, which he said was the basic framework for strengthening cooperation in areas of common interest.

Last year Croatia and Italy announced the proclamation of exclusive economic zones in the Adriatic, including Slovenia in consultations on the matter. Slovenia, which under international law does not have the right to do the same, assessed that as a positive move by its two neighbours.

Early this February, the Croatian parliament proclaimed an exclusive economic zone in the Adriatic, giving Croatia additional rights in relation to the Ecological and Fisheries Protection Zone declared in 2003 to build artificial islands and exploit the sea, wind and currents in that zone in line with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

At a meeting in Trieste on 19 December, the three ministers adopted a joint statement in which they share a vision of the sea as a bridge uniting all the peoples in this area and a source of progress for all. They were agreed that the Adriatic, as a closed sea with intensive traffic and a vulnerable eco-system, needs an integrated approach to environmental protection and sustainable development.

For more about ecology in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page

April 21, 2021 - A Touch of Baranja showcases 20 photos of the Baranja region to promote this rich natural and cultural site to both domestic and foreign visitors.

If you want to experience a touch of Baranja, but you're stuck in Zagreb, the city's Flower square (Cvjetni trg) offers you a compromise.  

Dodir baRAnJe (A Touch of Baranja), an outdoor photo exhibition that will remain open until the end of April, highlights 20 photos of beautiful Baranja.

''A picture says a thousand words, so this is how we decided to present the beauty of Baranja and motivate Zagreb's citizens and their guests to visit the region located between the Danube and Drava rivers next to the border with Hungary to have a proper break,'' says the website of the Baranja Tourist Board.

The Tourist Board, along with Tourist Boards of Draž and Bilje-Kopački Rit hosted the event.

Nenad Milić, Dubravko Franjin, Romulić&Stojčić Studio, Mario Đurkić, and Zvonimir Janković are the photographers whose work is being featured in the exhibition. Below every photo, there is a QR code that offers an explanation of the photo both in English and Croatian, and in the evening, the photos are illuminated by solar power collected during the day.

As written by the Explore Croatia site, Baranja is special for its display of multiculturalism of the people who live there and who have previously passed through the territory. Tradition and cultural heritage in the area have survived the challenges of time, and nowhere is that more visible than in Baranja's cuisine.

© Visit Baranja 

''Baranja continues to remain a special destination which will tell the traveller various stories about tradition, family, life secrets, love, death, wines, hot peppers, specific fishing, weddings…“, explains the Explore Croatia site.

Baranja also offers the richness of nature as it is surrounded by rivers and the Kopački Rit swamp and bird reserve that is home to a wide and impressive variety of animals and plants, representing a real treat for the dedicated traveller.

When in Baranja, make sure to try the delicious Fiš Paprikaš, Baranja's own local Kulen recipe, and carp prepared in a delicious way only Baranja knows how to do.

Learn more about Croatia's food on our TC page. 

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