June 8, 2020 - The 305th Sinjska Alka will be traditionally held in Sinj this year on Sunday, August 9. 

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, countless planned events that would gather people en masse have been canceled all over the world, including Croatia. In order to protect human health, all power is delegated to epidemiologists who have been given the authority to prescribe measures and determine behavior in areas under their jurisdiction.

Croatia has somewhat returned to normalcy, but with the recommendation to continue maintaining distance, the main question in Sinj was when and under what conditions the 305th Sinjska Alka would be held. It has run consecutively since 1715, after all. 

This issue troubled members of the Alka Knights Society and the Alka Administration, led by President Dr. Stipe Jukić, who are most responsible for nurturing this segment of cultural heritage that makes Sinj, the Alka region, but also the whole of Croatia, proud. 

Slobodna Dalmacija interviewed Stipe Jukić to find out more.

Due to the favorable movement of the coronavirus epidemic, there are no doubts that this year's Alka will be held. 

"This year's 305th Sinjska Alka will be held according to ancient customs, as required by the written regulations of the Alka Knights Society and oral tradition. We will hold the Alka on August 9, according to the statutory provision that the Alka be held on the first Sunday in August, with Bara and Coja having to be held in the same month. We removed all doubts about the maintenance of this year's Alka, which was especially at the peak of the coronavirus epidemic, when the cancellation of various events began, so we worked out different scenarios for maintaining the continuity of our knightly game," says Dr. Jukić.

Preparations for Alka candidates and flag bearers in the Alka procession usually begin in the second half of May. Have they started yet?

"It is true that the coronavirus pandemic affected the usual movement of things. All Alkar candidates, or at least most, practice riding regularly throughout the year. So it was at the height of the pandemic. Alkars would announce themselves, come to the barn, saddle a horse that is, conditionally speaking, "theirs", and go individually or in a group to ride at the hippodrome, on the nearby Piket or through Sinjsko polje. Every Alkar who truly lives for the Alka trains regularly, as far as his work commitments allow.

Therefore, this year's delay in the start of joint preparations will not affect the training of the Alkars and their horses. That the shortened preparations do not mean an omission, we were convinced during the Ceremonial Sinjska Alka in Vukovar, for which the Alkars prepared for about twenty days, and which, according to the general assessment, was superbly performed in every respect."

When will the candidates gather for the 305th Sinjska Alka?

"Over the next few days, I will hold talks with the Duke of Alkar, Boško Ramljak, and Ivica Filipović Grčić, and then I will convene a session of the Board of Directors of VAD. The first gathering and the start of joint preparations for the Alkar candidates will begin next week."

During the prescribed epidemiological measures, most of the VAD's activities were dormant?

"The Board of Directors did not meet physically for almost two months, but we were in contact almost daily by phone or e-mail, we held telephone sessions and made the necessary decisions. The Sinjska Alka Museum was closed to visitors because visitors could not be expected due to the movement ban. In our Alka stables, activity took place every day because the horses have to eat, drink, be cleaned, new hay has to be put in... We managed to renew some of the horse equipment. During this time, we acquired a dozen new saddles and harness parts. Our phones rang daily. We were called by friends from all parts of Croatia who inquired about holding this year's Alka. Among them was a large number of our sponsors and donors who have already introduced the practice of bringing their business partners from the country and the world to the final Alka festival. We told everyone that we would strive to maintain the Alka under any circumstances, expressing hope that the pandemic would pass and that we would maintain the Alka in the usual atmosphere, with heightened precautions."

In the peak of the pandemic, were different variants of maintaining the Alka worked out just to maintain the continuity of tradition?

"The worst and only inadmissible would be no Alka. We peeked into the Alka’s history and found that the Alka was properly maintained even at the time of the Spanish flu pandemic. That is why we were united in the decision that the Alka must be maintained. At the same time, we knew that if the spread of coronavirus was not curbed, we would have to impose restrictions on performance. So we considered holding the Alka without an audience, raising tribunes only for the Court of Honor and the Duke, but not for spectators, and we also considered reducing the number of participants in the Alka procession to the statutory minimum of eleven spearmen. We worked out all these variants without compromising the ceremony and performance that make the Alka. Thank God, as things stand now, all those variants have gone away and we are preparing to maintain the Alka as usual."

Will there be a full crowd?

"Of course. We will still have contacts with the Civil Protection Headquarters, both local and national. If the pandemic continues to end in our area, Croatia and Europe, there will be no reason not to hold this year's Alka festival in its entirety, which means that the Alkars and Alkar boys will hold another commemorative event in front of a crowded audience and crowded streets of our city."

When, in that case, can we expect ticket sales for this year's Sinjska Alka?

"Along the dirt track of the Alkar racetrack, the assembly of grandstands for the auditorium with a capacity of 5,000 seats will begin in July. When epidemiologists definitely confirm to us that we can prepare for the maintenance of the Alka under normal conditions, we will announce ticket sales. We will put about 3500 of them on sale because we have to set aside about 1500 tickets for our sponsors, donors and guests. Last year, we sold tickets online for the first time and had a positive experience. Therefore, we will apply this practice this year as well. This year's Alka should be held in a calmer political atmosphere, as presidential elections were held at the end of last year, and parliamentary elections will be held in July."

For years, the most prominent state officials have appeared at the Alka. Are you expecting them on August 9 for the 305th edition?

"It is already a tradition for the Alka to be held under the auspices of the head of state. In this context, we asked the newly elected President of the Republic of Croatia, Zoran Milanović, to be the patron of the 305th Sinjska Alka, which he gladly accepted. The delegation of the Alka administration invited President Milanović to personally attend this year's Alka and we received a promise that he would come.

Of course, we also invited the Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and the President of the Croatian Parliament Gordan Jandroković, as well as numerous other high-ranking guests and guests from the political, public, cultural and economic life of Croatia.

The July elections will play the most crucial role in the composition of this year's guests. Regardless of everything, we will be happy to host them all on Alka Day, because we receive all well-wishers at the Alka Feast with an open heart."

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

June 7, 2020 - A 3D video by young Split student Petar Alfirevic envisions Diocletian's Palace as it once was. 

Dalmacija Danas writes that the Architectural and Geodetic Technical School in Split in the Erasmus + project not only helps students to complete cultural and heritage aspects, but also develops their intercultural competencies by promoting cultural differences as common values and wealth.

The students participating in this project are: 

Ante Dražen Tranfić, 3rd grade student, Marta Vladušić, 3rd grade student, Ante Pauk, 3rd grade student, architectural technician; Petar Alfirević, 2nd grade student, architectural technician; Toni Šarolić and Bernarda Franić, 2nd grade students, technician for geodesy and geoinformatics; Daniel Barada, 2nd c grade student and Petar Bašić, 2nd b grade student, construction technician; Ivan Žižić and Magdalena Vukušić, 2nd grade students, architectural technician.

Students most often present the heritage of Split by making models in wood, drawings, videos, floor plans, and 3d visualizations that work in ProgeCAD and SketchUp. This time, a genius and self-taugt student of the School of Civil Engineering and Geodesy, Petar Alfirević, created a 3D video of Diocletian's Palace, faithfully reconstructing what it looked like in Diocletian's time. Modest by nature, unobtrusive and self-effacing, Peter spoke about his 3d video:

"I made the video in SketchUp. It took me about a month to finish it even though I worked a couple of days a week. I started from the floor plan of the whole palace and started to build the walls and towers. When I finished the walls, I made the northern part of the palace and after it, the Peristyle, the mausoleum, the Temple of Jupiter and then the rest of the southern part. I worked on the details later."

You can watch the brilliant new 3D video of Diocletian's Palace below:

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

June. 8, 2020 - The 27th round of the Croatian First League was played from June 5 to 7, 2020, nearly three months after the corona crisis put the Championship on hold. This round saw wins for Dinamo, Rijeka and Hajduk, who take the top three spots in the table. 

Hajduk v. Inter Zapresic (2:1)

Hajduk and Inter opened the 27th round at Poljud Stadium in Split for the first game of the HNL after 88 days on June 5, 2020. 

Inter's Mamut put them in the lead in the 37th minute for 0:1 just before the half, though a Hajduk penalty scored by Caktas and an Inter red card made it 1:1 in the 60th. Hajduk sealed the victory in the 7th minute of added time thanks to a header by Dimitrov for 2:1.

Hajduk is currently in 3rd place with 48 points, while Inter is in 9th with 17. 

Slaven Belupo v. Gorica (0:0)

Belupo and Gorica met on Saturday, June 6, 2020, at the City Stadium in Koprivnica. 

Neither team was able to score, and the game ended 0:0.

Slaven Belupo is currently in 7th place with 27 points, while Gorica is in 6th with 36. 

Varazdin v. Dinamo Zagreb (1:3)

Varazdin and Dinamo met on June 6, 2020, at the NK Varteks Stadium. 

A goal for Ademi in the 13th minute and a penalty for Petkovic in the 18th made the game 0:2 for Dinamo at the half. Obregon made it 1:2 in the 79th minute, though Marin's goal in the 4th minute of added time gave Dinamo the 1:3 win. 

Varazdin is currently in the last place with 10 points, while Dinamo is in first with 68. 

Istra 1961 v. Rijeka (1:3)

Istra and Rijeka met in Pula on Sunday, June 7, 2020. 

Rijeka's Loncar scored in the 5th minute for 0:1 at the half. Colak increased Rijeka's lead to 0:2 in the 70th, though Istra came back with one in the 88th thanks to Peric-Komsic for 1:2. Muric sealed the victory for Rijeka in the 3rd minute of added time for 1:3. 

Istra is currently in 8th place with 19 points, while Rijeka is in 2nd with 50.  

Lokomotiva v. Osijek (0:1)

Lokomotiva and Osijek closed out the 27th round on Sunday, June 7, 2020, in Zagreb. 

The only goal of the game came from Bockaj in the 22nd minute for 0:1 Osijek. 

Lokomotiva is currently in 4th place with 46 points, while Osijek is in 5th with 45. 

You can see the full HNL table here. 

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

June 8, 2020 - A few weeks ago, Index.hr and Dalmatian portal (Dalmatinski portal) published an article which presented some devastating results by analysing the work of tourist boards in Croatia. Pokret Otoka has done something similar. The Solta tourist board stood out in particular...

The person responsible for discovering this "phenomenon" is the British journalist Paul Bradbury, who, with his experiment, once again drew attention to where taxpayers' money actually goes. If you didn't know, Bradbury contacted the Croatian National Tourist Board, which shared the public e-mail addresses of all tourist boards to help them in their business. Namely, they were offered free marketing assistance during these challenging times caused by the COVID-19 crisis, since some budgets were drastically reduced, while some even had their salaries reduced (from 4 to 20%). It is important to point out that the mayor of Sucuraj on Hvar was the only one to react by abolishing the Tourist Board in his municipality until the situation stabilises.

But let’s get back to the published article. Paul sent the offer mentioned above to 319 addresses. Only 26% of them opened the mail, and only 18 of them accepted the offer, not as a percentage but in a total of 18 tourist boards. Surprised by the results, he published his findings in the media and interested the public.

Many questions arise: Why have the employees of tourist boards turned down a great opportunity to have part of their work done for free by an expert, especially since some of them have already had their salaries reduced and their budget for marketing activities has gone down with it? We really wonder, like most of the public, what these individuals are paid for and how tourist boards contribute to their communities, with what results they participate in the overall tourist traffic of the destination, how they promote it and what they will do now when strategic changes are needed such as innovation, digitisation and all sorts of new skills for the general survival of the tourism market?

Here, we want to emphasizse that we do not think that all tourist boards are useless, we don't have accurate and relevant insights into their work, but some individuals were obviously prompted to consider the work of the tourist board on the island of Solta and present their business analysis to the public.

Duje Mihovilović, originally from Solta, made an effort and shared several facts from the publicly announced business plan of the Tourist Board of Šolta for 2019. He is a young, educated person who has been involved in tourism for the last ten years and has the skills of digital marketing, social networking, and the segmentation of new customers. At a time when he sees the market changing and turning to sustainability, quality, natural resources, and local values, customers will be reached with new technologies and digital tools.

“The tourist board promotes the island through social networks, through the Visit Solta platform, which includes Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest. The goals of this direct communication with the target groups are an increased number of guests and consumption and an enhanced emotional connection with the destination (brand building). The realisation of the stated goals will be carried out through the activities of managing social network pages in English through the frequent generation of content (photos and videos) and communication with members."

Current status on social networks:

The expected result of the campaign on social networks is an increase in Facebook page followers to 15,000, and 2,500 followers on Instagram and an increase in video views on YT by 15,000. The planned costs for 2019 amount to HRK 60,000.00.

Currently, the Facebook page of TZ Solta has 14,560 followers, out of the planned 15,000 in 2019. Realistically, even then, it was not a challenging number or an ambitious goal, but, unfortunately, it was not achieved half a year after the planned period.

However, looking at communication with target groups makes it clear why the number of visitors is not increasing. Namely, from the beginning of this calendar year until today (June 4), six publications were published, of which the Tourist Board wrote 1 (one!) about Solta. This is a post related to the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic. Other posts are news feeds from other portals. Unlike last year, nothing has changed - in 2019, 14 announcements were published, and the tourist board's employees wrote none of them.

On Instagram, the situation is a little worse than it was last year. They have published four posts since the beginning of the year, but the authors are different people. The number of followers is 2096, and 304 are missing from last year's goal. Considering that half of this year has already passed, on average, their publishing pace is worse than it was last year. In 2019, a total of 21 announcements were published, approximately every seventeen days. This time we will not talk about the quality of posts, the use of #hashtags, or key messages.

Official website:

While doing the analysis, Duje was intrigued by the price of maintaining the website, which costs HRK 10,000 per year. We believe that everyone who runs any company, association, or trade and has a website knows that it is paid once, while maintaining the domain costs several hundred kuna. Of course, some sites need frequent content changes and technical and graphic improvements. Still, this site does not fall into that category, and the only changes it makes are the calendar of events on the island, of which there are many and which appear somewhat confusing. Additionally, even the structure of the page is not an author's original work, but an existing template was used, which cost the creator of the page the equivalent of about twenty dollars.

The Tourist Board of Solta has been employing two people since 2019, who, in addition to their duties, including travel expenses and the presentation of islands at fairs (about which we failed to find an announcement), planned to spend a total of HRK 300,000.

Besides, every year from May to October, four tourist information centres are opened: Maslinica, Rogac, Necujam, and Stomorska. Money amounting to HRK 125,000 is planned for their work, which includes the costs of salaries and offices.

The total planned budget for 2019 amounted to HRK 1,125,000.00, of which HRK 490,000 was planned from the budget of the Municipality of Solta. You can find more details in the document and evaluate the quality and purpose of this island tourist board.

At the end of the presentation, as he sees the whole situation, Duje commented: “Solta doesn't have enough opportunities to develop and it depends largely on tourism, like most other islands do. You, Solta locals, do not exist on that map! The money in this story is being thrown into the wind. In the current situation that has destroyed tourism, your tourist board has done absolutely nothing!”

On the Facebook group "Solta - for each other", the topic resonated loudly. This is a topic that concerns all islands and all islanders. Do we want to discuss it publicly and start to make a change from our city/municipality/village/local board? The crisis that is yet to follow will affect the entire system of the economy and life in general, our future depends on how we're going to act and live in the coming months. And again, the responsibility lies with all of us.

Read here this article in Croatian.

Follow our travel page for more.

ZAGREB, June 7, 2020 - Science and Education Minister Blazenka Divjak will be running in the forthcoming parliamentary election as an independent candidate on the Croatian People's Party (HNS) slate in Constituency 3, which covers the northern counties of Krapina-Zagorje, Varazdin, and Medjimurje.

"Behind us, behind me, are indeed three demanding and challenging years in government during which we launched education reforms and investments in education and science, and we also successfully coped with the consequences of the global coronavirus pandemic, the (March 22) earthquake, and teachers' strike," Divjak told a press conference in Varazdin on Sunday, with HNS leader Predrag Stromar at her side.

Divjak recalled that she had taken up the ministerial post as an independent with the HNS's political backing with the aim of implementing four reforms - a curricular reform, a vocational education reform, to promote excellence and increase investment in science, and make higher education more relevant.

She said she was pleased with the accomplishment of the first three goals, but not with the fourth, the purpose of which was to ensure that higher education better reflected the needs of the economy and society. 

"The reasons for this are many. Among other things, it's because there are powerful academic cliques led by rectors who stick closely together and stop those who can change the system and who can give a chance not just to young people but also to the economy in general, from going forward," the minister said, adding that these cliques "often have support in political circles."

Divjak said that the reform process should continue.

ZAGREB, June 7, 2020 - A coalition of six left-wing and green parties are launching a petition on Tuesday to ask President Zoran Milanovic to call an emergency meeting after the formation of the new parliament to adopt a new reconstruction bill after a strong earthquake struck Zagreb on March 22.

The initiative is being launched by the coalition of the parties We Can!, the New Left, the Workers' Front, Sustainable Development of Croatia (ORaH), Zagreb Is Ours! and For the City.

The petition will be open for signature at several locations in the city and online, Tomislav Tomasevic, who will head the coalition's slate in the July 5 parliamentary election, told a press conference outside the government and parliament buildings in St Mark's Square in Zagreb on Sunday.

Tomasevic recalled that it was about two and a half months since the earthquake had struck the capital and its surroundings and that many problems remained unsolved. "Two months after the earthquake the Croatian parliament was dissolved without passing a bill on the reconstruction of Zagreb which the present government had been announcing for weeks," he said.

Given the forthcoming elections and the fact that parliament would take a summer break from July 15 to September 15, Tomasevic said that the coalition parties had decided to launch a petition to President Zoran Milanovic because under the Constitution the President can call an emergency session of parliament. In that case, the new parliament would start work immediately after its inaugural meeting, and lawmakers would not go on holiday but would work on a new bill on the reconstruction of Zagreb and its surroundings.

Tomasevic said they were angry because only 16 families whose homes were severely damaged in the earthquake had been granted state-funded accommodation. "Many families cannot find rented accommodation because owners are reluctant to rent their apartments for a longer-term and because they don't want to pay tax to the state," he said, accusing the government of tolerating the black market for an apartment rental for decades.

Tomasevic said they were also angry because the government had still not reported the damage to the European Solidarity Fund so that money could be drawn for Zagreb and its residents.

In conclusion, he said he believed that because of all this the citizens would punish both Mayor Milan Bandic and the government of Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic at the ballot and would put their confidence in this coalition to fight for better laws.

June the 7th, 2020 - The Croatian Association for Artificial Intelligence (CroAI) recently presented its guidelines for encouraging the development of artificial intelligence in Europe as a review of the European Commission's White Paper on Artificial Intelligence, which is in public discussion for another week.

In February this year, the European Commission sent a White Paper on Artificial Intelligence out for public discussion so that the interested public could comment on the document indicating what the European legislative framework for this new technology would look like. Throughout the White Paper, the message is that Europe sees the development of AI as an opportunity to become a global leader, but at the same time protect its citizens and their digital rights.

During the Croatian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, CroAI decided to offer its voice to the debate and as such, it proposed three guidelines that the CroAl association considers key to the development of a competitive AI industry in Europe:

1. Limited legislation for the earliest stage of AI innovation that would allow small players to develop their ideas in safe conditions but without the need to obtain a large number of permits.

2. Prevent the emigration of innovative start-ups outside of Europe through the development of a competitive EU-wide start-up framework.

3. The role of the state as the first client in encouraging the accelerated development of the AI industry

Under one of these measures are the five mechanisms for strengthening start-up communities which include simplifying the process of starting and closing start-up companies, creating a better investment climate, enabling the better sharing of business success with employees (ESOP plans, etc.), the reduction of administrative barriers and the strengthening of the single digital market of the European Union as the greatest trump cards of European economic integration.

CroAl's guidelines were presented as part of a panel discussion on "Stimulating the development of artificial intelligence in the Republic of Croatia - legislation, entrepreneurship and past experiences" attended by Ilan Mor, Ambassador of the State of Israel to Croatia, Diana Helen Madunic, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden to Croatia, Mario Antonic, State Secretary of the Ministry of the Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts, and Mislav Malenica, President of the Croatian Association for Artificial Intelligence (CroAI).

On that occasion, the Ambassador of the State of Israel, Ilan Mor, pointed out that Israel is the third in the world, after the USA and China, in the number of start-up companies in the field of artificial intelligence, and added: academies and state institutions. He stated: ''A key ingredient in fostering and growing innovation is synergy between entrepreneurs, academia and government institutions. Without that, there is no progress.''

The Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden, Diana Helen Madunic, emphasised the importance of a strong industrial tradition in Sweden, which is a key accelerator of the demand for innovations in the field of artificial intelligence. "Croatia as a young country can take advantage of its membership of the European Union and place its innovations based on artificial intelligence om the European single market.''

State Secretary Antonic, who also the head of the working group for the development of the national plan on artificial intelligence at the Ministry of Economy, pointed out: "We're in the process of setting up an Innovation Centre located in Zagreb and it will be partly dedicated to the development of artificial intelligence."

The president of CroAI, Mislav Malenica, an entrepreneur and the director of Mindsmiths, believes that Croatia has a chance to become a leader in the application of artificial intelligence and could become a recognisable AI force in the world.''

For more on CroAI, follow Made in Croatia.

As Novac writes on the 6th of June, 2020, Fitch has reaffirmed the long-term Croatian credit rating of 'BBB-' with a stable outlook.

"The stable outlook reflects confidence in the government that medium-term fiscal stability will be maintained while short-term measures are taken for economic recovery in regard to the effects of the coronavirus epidemic, as well as the continuation of the gradual euro changeover process," Fitch said.

Fitch forecasts a decline in Croatia's GDP of 8.4 percent in 2020, which is more optimistic than the government's own estimate (which stood at a concerning 9.4 percent), primarily due to the major consequences of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic on tourism, Croatia's strongest economic branch. The new forecast is that Croatian tourism will fall by 70 percent (compared to 50 percent, as was previously assumed).

"Recent economic data points to a dramatic deterioration in economic activity (GDP fell 1.4 percent in the first quarter, while retail sales fell a record 22 percent in April and unemployment jumped to 9.4 percent). Sentiment indicators point to recovery in May, in line with mitigation of the previously stringent anti-epidemic measures put in place to try to slow down the coronavirus infection rate. Other risks will remain as they are in the short and medium term, including the extent and length of the pandemic, recovery in external demand, the potential impact of suspension measures and adverse demographics, Fitch explains.

As for Croatia's desire to join the Eurozone, Fitch writes that Croatia is close to completing the requirements for simultaneous entry into ERMII, a sort of proverbial waiting room countries enter into before adopting the euro as its official currently, as well as the Banking Union.

"In May, the government approved a law reducing non-tax and parafiscal costs, meeting all structural commitments agreed with their European partners. The ECB also conducted its comprehensive assessment and the results will be published in June. If the ECB's results are positive, Croatia is likely to seek entry into the ERMII/Banking Union in the third quarter of 2020,'' they state.

For more on the Croatian credit rating and economy, click here.