ZAGREB, 18 Dec, 2021 - Activists of the Workers' Front party on Saturday addressed reporters outside the Sisak General Hospital, by a newly installed sculpture representing Virgin Mary and Child Jesus, calling for the termination of agreements between Croatia and the Vatican.

The sculpture, installed outside the entrance to the new hospital block in early December, was a gift to the hospital by the Sisak Diocese.

Workers' Front activist David Bilić said the sculpture "is a tasteless expression of the wealth of the Catholic Church outside an earthquake-damaged hospital that has still not been reconstructed."

"The Workers' Front believes too much money is set aside for the Roman Catholic Church in Croatia, as a result of the Vatican agreements, signed on this day 25 years ago," Bilić said, adding that the party believed the Vatican agreements should be cancelled.

He said that the situation in society had changed due to the economic crisis that was even more felt in the earthquake-struck Sisak-Moslavina County.

The coronavirus pandemic is making the situation worse, not to speak of earthquake damage, while work on removing it is not starting, he said.

"Some will say that the Catholic Church justifies the donations through its charity work," Bilić said, noting that 11% of that money is used for charity work.

"The rest is used for other needs of the Church, which can secure quite a sufficient amount of money for its financing from alms and Vatican sources," Bilić said, with RF activists calling for the reconstruction of the earthquake-hit county to begin as soon as possible.

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ZAGREB, 18 Dec, 2021 - The Croatian Security Association - Professional Security Chamber on Saturday most strongly condemned an attack on a female security guard at the entrance to the social welfare centre in Rijeka as well as increasingly frequent attacks on security guards doing their job.

The security guard in Rijeka was attacked by a man who wanted to enter the social welfare centre just before its closing on Thursday. After the guard inquired about the purpose of his visit, the man hit her twice in the shoulder and walked away.

The centre's head, Karlo Balenović, said the man wore sunglasses and a face mask and was difficult to identify but police are investigating the incident and checking surveillance camera footage.

The Croatian Security Association - Professional Security Chamber said attacks on security guards happen as they perform their duties in line with legal regulations and the authority vested in them by the state, protecting persons and properties, public areas and state institutions, financial institutions, and shopping malls.

It called on  the competent institutions to act proactively and start treating treating attacks on security guards as attacks on persons executing the state's public authorities and adequately punish the perpetrators to discourage repeat offenders.

The association notes that more than 15,000 security guards do their job responsibly on a daily basis, working in 12-hour shifts, frequently for a minimum pay while being exposed daily to stressful situations that require prompt reaction, including and particularly in the context of compliance with current epidemiological rules.

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ZAGREB, 18 Dec, 2021 - Croatia has registered 3,487 new coronavirus cases and 51 COVID-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus response team reported on Saturday.

Currently, there are 23,935 active cases in the country. Among them are 2,154 infected persons receiving hospital treatment and 283 of them are on ventilators.

A total of 23,714 people are self-isolating.

Since 25 February 2020, when the first infection with the SARS CoV-2 virus was confirmed in the country, 673,427 people have been registered as having contracted the new virus, of whom 11,930 have died while 637,562 have recovered, including 3,432 in the last 24 hours.

A total of 3,638,581 persons have been tested to date, including 10,836 in the last 24 hours.

As of Friday, 4,519,310 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered, with 55.21 per cent of the total population, or 65.81 per cent of the adult population, having been vaccinated. A total of 2,240,403 people have received at least one dose and 2,082,035 of them have been fully vaccinated, which is 61.34 per cent of the adult population.

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ZAGREB, 18 Dec, 2021 - Once it enters the Schengen area of passport-free travel, Croatia will not erect a fence on the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in an interview with the Večernji List daily Saturday issue.

Commenting on his visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina earlier this week, Plenković said that Croatia supports BiH's sovereignty and integrity as well as its spirit as agreed in Dayton - one state, two entities and three equal constituent peoples, noting that Croatia will not allow the inequality of Croats in relation to the other two constituent peoples.

"My position is clear and I reiterated it once again in Sarajevo and Mostar - Croatia will not erect a fence or a wall on the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. That border connects us and that will remain so after Croatia's accession to the Schengen area. But that makes cooperation between our police forces and other relevant services extremely important, so that we can prevent illegal migrations," he said.

Schengen entry is not only a major privilege, it is also a major obligation for Croatia. Our state border with BiH, Serbia and Montenegro will become the external Schengen border and that is why effective, responsible and thorough control of the border will be a permanent task of the Croatian border police, Plenković said.

He added that agreement was reached during his visit to Sarajevo on the continuation of talks on a possible change of the categories of individual border crossings and on facilitating the flow of people and goods in line with EU regulations.

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ZAGREB, 18 Dec, 2021- The Croatian Tourism Board's (HTZ) revenue in 2022 is expected to amount to HRK 311 million, 9% more than in 2021, and it will focus all its activities to further enhance Croatia's status as the most desirable and safest Mediterranean destination and ensure 90% of the tourism turnover of 2019. 

This was said by HTZ director Kristjan Staničić, who also noted that these goals are to be achieved by intensive marketing activities and PR campaigns, designed to suit individual markets.

Promotional campaigns will focus on boating and cycling tourism, gastronomy and wine tourism, natural attractions and active and medical tourism, he stressed in an interview with Hina.

In 2022 the HTZ's activities will focus, apart from the national market, on the traditionally close, neighbouring markets like Germany, Slovenia, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy and others. As for remote markets, emphasis will be put on the US market.

Next year the HTZ plans to open new offices, including in Ukraine and Spain. Also planned for next year is a new strategic marketing and operational plan as a long-term framework defining communication strategies and guidelines for affirming Croatia as a high-quality destination, Staničić said.

Epidemiological situation, clear protocols, quality products

Asked about the coronavirus pandemic and the related restrictions, which also affect the travel sector, and about plans for 2022 in that regard, Staničić said that all goals set can be achieved, on the condition the epidemiological situation is favourable and there are clear protocols for cross-border travel and a high level of health protection in destinations, with a sufficient number of testing centres, as well as quality and attractive tourism products.

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ZAGREB, 18 Dec, 2021 - The Croat minority in Serbia faces many challenges but it has been making significant achievements and perseveres in protecting its unity, Croat National Council (HNV) head Jasna Vojnić said in Subotica, in the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, on Friday. 

The HNV on Friday marked the day of the establishment of the first HNV, a holiday of the Croat minority in Serbia.

"The house where Count (Josip) Jelačić was born has been bought and is being renovated, offices have been secured to house the association of Croats in Belgrade, construction work on Croatian House has begun, the first crèche has been opened..." Vojnić said, speaking of the results of the current HNV.

Another, invisible achievement is the preserved unity among Croats in Serbia and their representatives becoming credible partners to the state institutions in Croatia, she added.

The event in Subotica was also attended by the deputy head of the Serb National Council (SNV), Croatian member of parliament Dragana Jeckov, who said that the Croat and Serb minorities shared many problems.

"When Croats in Serbia are attacked, Serbs in Croatia feel it very much and, I am sure, vice versa," she said.

"To all those who are not willing to give a helping hand to promote relations - stop and let us minorities live normally," she said.

The envoy of the Croatian prime minister, Milan Bošnjak, commended the ethnic Croat community's achievements and positive steps made by the Serbian authorities, but also warned of situations that make life for the Croat minority more difficult and harm bilateral relations.

In that context he mentioned the decision by the Subotica town government to declare the Bunjevci Ikavian dialect "an official non-Croatian language" and the fact that the issue of representation of Croats in the Serbian parliament had not been resolved yet.

"We look forward to the moment when a Croat will be elected to the Serbian parliament in a separate constituency," Bošnjak said.

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December 18, 2021 - Adria Business Network #19 hosted TikTok sensation with half a million followers Dario Marčac at the third and last ABN in 2021.

Dario Marčac is in the Top 10 Balkan TikTokers and is one of the organizers of the first TikTok meet-up in Croatia.

The event was organized by entrepreneurs Željka Barišić, owner of Forca Digital Agency (www.forcadigitalagency.com), and Lea Kosović, owner of LOL Event Management (www.lol.hr) at Aspira College, which is a partner of the event. The goal of the event is business networking in Croatia and the region, creating business opportunities and encouraging continuous education. In addition, the event offers the opportunity for all participants to get to know each other better and network in a more targeted way.

“The visit was especially interesting because Lea and Barbara studied the topic of the panel well, asked quality questions, and maintained a relaxed atmosphere throughout the event. Thank you Željka for the invitation and to everyone for the excellent organization and interactive meeting!" said Dario after the event. 

The diamond partner of the event is A1 Croatia. The silver sponsor is ManpowerGroup. The sponsors of the event are Bagatin Polyclinic and the Aspira High School.

Partners are Vladimir Abicic Photography, Kupovino Vino - Kupilek, Planet Art Theater, and Sana Delicatessen.

Media partners of the event are the magazine and portal Poduzetnik, magazine and portal Zaposlena, Netokracija, She.hr, Zagrebonline.hr, Rep.hr, Glas Istre, Flash.hr, Moja Domovina, Total Croatia News, Fama, ZgExpress, Akademija Art, Radio 92 FM and Znatko.

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December 18, 2021 - Croatian Carwiz rent-a-car opened a new branch office in Pula to expand its business and open a new market.

On this occasion, Carwiz rent-a-car became a proud sponsor of Croatian First League football club Istra 1961 this season, which lasts until May 21, 2022, reports HRTurizam. 

"Because we recognized the football club NK Istra 1961 as our future strategic partner for development and positive business, we decided that sponsoring NK Istra is the basis for business relations between Pula, Istria, and Carwiz," said Carwiz.

Since Carwiz operates throughout Croatia, including Istria, this cooperation is a logical path by which both sides will achieve their desired goal. Carwiz thus strengthens the promotion and vision of the brand, while NK Istra 1961 gets a solid and stable sponsor.

Carwiz recognizes NK Istra football club as a future strategic partner for development and positive business and sees sponsorship with NK Istra as the basis for friendly relations between the city of Pula and the entire Istrian region Carwiz said. The company added that in this way, they are building the foundations and giving NK Istria and the people of Istria their rent-a-car professional service with the desire for mutual business cooperation.

"We believe that new acquaintances are created through sports, which eventually become friendships. New customers who become loyal customers. With this act, we want to get acquainted with NK Istra and create a long-term cooperation with football fans and loyal fans of this famous football club, with the desire to see in the future how our club, NK Istra, competes in the Croatian First League and European competitions, in to which we give them our full support," concluded Carwiz.

Through its business and active participation in promoting sports through sponsorships in various sports clubs, Carwiz is already established as a company that promotes sports and shows that doing this is not a foreign concept.

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