ZAGREB, 22 Sept, 2021 - Government officials and representatives of the judiciary on Wednesday attended a commemoration at Zagreb's Municipal Court for three women killed at that court 22 years ago. 

On 22 September 1999, during a divorce hearing, Mato Oraškić killed his wife Gordana, her attorney Hajra Prohić and judge Ljiljana Hvalec as well as wounding court reporter Sanja Cvetković.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said the perpetrator had been given a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison and called for joint, strong and coordinated action in preventing violence against women.

"In partnership with civil society organisations we have enabled progress in the cooperation of all government agencies, introducing stricter penalties, improving procedural law, and ratifying international treaties such as the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, which has made it possible for us to align our legal order and improve legislative and procedural frameworks for dealing with that phenomenon," said Plenković.

He noted that the COVID-19 pandemic had resulted in an increase of violence but noted that the number of misdemeanor reports for violence had decreased while the number of criminal reports had increased.

Sanctions are now harsher and the message of the government and the entire society to abusers is that violence is unacceptable and that the victims are not alone, he said.

Attending the commemoration were also European Association of Judges President Đuro Sessa, Justice and Public Administration Minister Ivan Malenica, and Supreme Court Deputy President Marin Mrčela, who all called for raising awareness of the problem and resolutely fighting and preventing violence. 

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

September 22, 2021 - 2018 World Cup finalist and respected former Croatia national team goalkeeper Danijel Subašić returns to Hajduk, the club he first joined in 2008. 

Danijel Subašić will defend Hajduk's goal again after 9 years! The experienced 36-year-old goalkeeper signed a contract with Hajduk until the summer of 2023 and arrives at Poljud as a free agent. Danijel will wear the number 1 jersey, reports the official Hajduk website. 

The former Croatia national team player, who won the silver medal with Croatia at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, will return to Poljud after leaving in 2012 when he was transferred to Monaco. Subašić arrived at Hajduk from his hometown of Zadar in 2008, and in the next three and a half years, collected 126 official appearances for Hajduk while keeping his net clean in 47 games.

He was part of the Hajduk team that won the Croatian Football Cup in the 2010/2011 season, and a season later, advanced to the Europa League group stage. After that, he played for Monaco until 2020 and recorded a total of 44 appearances for the Croatia national team.

"With Danijel, we got an experienced goalkeeper, our former player, and captain, who will be a role model for our young players, but also great support for the more experienced ones. Unfortunately, Josip Posavec is injured, and we will not count on him for the next three months. We reacted immediately and brought a goalkeeper who, with his rich experience and pronounced winning mentality, will greatly impact the locker room and is a great choice for the second goalkeeper. Subašić defended his entire career at the highest football level, he is an authority, and he will have an immeasurable influence on the development of our young goalkeepers," Hajduk's sports director Mindaugas Nikoličius said after signing the contract.

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

To learn more about sport in Croatia, CLICK HERE.

September 22, 2021 - Sinj is joining World Cleanup Day by cleaning illegal landfills in the area this weekend!

As part of World Cleanup Day, the City of Sinj, in cooperation with numerous associations and institutions including Čistoća Cetina Region, HGSS, JVD, DVD Sinj, the Sinj Tourist Board, Biom, PD Svilaja, HPDO Koćari, PD Vukovi, Cetina Adventure Club, JU More i Krš, Croatian Forests, Kamičak, and volunteers, organizes the environmental action "Zelena Čistka - Sinj 2021."

Interested volunteers will clean several illegal landfills in the City of Sinj in cooperation with the city partners. 

After the coordination meeting on the action, locations were agreed to be cleaned of various types of waste. They include the Cetina river, from Panj to Despotuša, and the significant Sutina area landscape, with numerous illegal landfills.

Ivan Alebic

The Cetina River will be cleaned by HGSS members with divers, while the volunteers will go to the Sutina area, where the employees of the Čistoća Cetina Region, JVD, and DVD Sinj will have the necessary equipment.

Gloves and waste bags will be provided for all volunteers. All interested parties should bring their cleaning tools (rakes, shovels, trowels).

Zelena Čistka is a national campaign to raise awareness of Croatian citizens about their role in waste generation and disposal. The campaign's culmination is cleaning illegal dumps, which will be held for the tenth year in a row in Croatia. By implementing the Zelena Čistka campaign, Croatia remains part of a larger-scale story that affects citizens' awareness of healthy habits, a cleaner environment, and an active approach to solving problems.

By cleaning our corners of the environment, we raise awareness of the human impact on the environment and the importance of responsible waste management to preserve the environment, nature, and planet Earth, which is our common good.

The cleanup action was initially scheduled for Saturday, September 18. However, due to the bad weather conditions, it was postponed to Saturday, September 25.

Participants will gather around 09:00 at the starting locations (near the bridge on Panj and in the parking lot near Sutina).

The action will last until 13:00, after which lunch will be provided for all participants.

All interested nature lovers can join the cleaning action. Please send your application to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the name of the action: Zelena Čistka, as well as your name and surname. 

For more on Inland Dalmatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 22 Sept, 2021 - If it steps up efforts to reduce the gap between the sexes and uses the potential of the female population, Croatia could increase its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by €4 billion a year by 2030, shows an analysis by the McKinsey & Company consultancy, released on Wednesday.

A Winning Combination: How empowering women can benefit central and eastern Europe (CEE), is the title of an analysis studying the presence of women in the cooperate sector in the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine.

Women account for 52% of the population in those countries and more than 60% have university education. Despite that, they account for only 45% of the total workforce, McKinsey's analysis notes, adding that by increasing the equality of the sexes, central and eastern Europe could unlock €146 billion in GDP a year until 2030, which is roughly the amount of Croatia and Slovakia's GDP combined.

Three key factors for that would be increasing the participation of women in the total workforce, increasing paid hours for women and better representation of women in high-productivity sectors.

Increasing women's participation to help curb labour shortage

A partner at McKinsey & Company, Marta Matecsa, underscored that more women participating in the workforce would significantly help resolve labour shortages. Currently, the CEE has 630,000 job vacancies.

If the region reinstates its pre-pandemic growth rate, the number of job vacancies could increase to more than 2 million by 2030, said Matecsa.

Women hold only 8% of director positions

McKinsey's analysis shows that women account for more than 60% of graduate students in the CEE and as much as 37% of all managers - a share that is larger in comparison to Western Europe and even Nordic countries.

Nonetheless, women account for only about 20% of executive positions and only 8% of director positions. As many as 44% of the leading companies in the CEE do not have even one woman in that role.

In 2012 the share of women in management in CEE was 14%, just one percentage point behind Nordic countries and five percentage points ahead of Western Europe. Eight years later, the gap between the CEE and Nordic countries increased six-fold while the gap between Western Europe and the CEE was reduced to just three percentage points, McKinsey reported.

McKinsey added that a correlation existed between the portion of women in management positions and better financial results in companies.

Pandemic worsens balance between private and business life

The analysis shows that the COVID-19 pandemic has further worsened the balance between business and private life and even though both women and men now spend more time on household chores and unpaid care, more than 40% of female respondents said that the pandemic has significantly contributed to them considering reducing paid work or working hours and transferring to less demanding jobs or even leaving the workforce.

The analysis shows that 54% of women with children under 10 are actually considering just that.

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

September 22, 2021 - International flights are returning to Osijek, as ExYuAviation reports Croatia Airlines set to announce a new Munich route at a press conference tomorrow. 

Finally some good news for those wishing to travel to eastern Croatia, as Croatia Airlines is set to announce a new flight from Osijek to Munich. According to ExYuAviation, more details will be announced at a press conference tomorrow at 11:30 on the service, which should begin in the 2021/22 season.

The arrival of Ryanair in Zagreb has shaken up the Croatian flight market, and the Irish airline's supremo, Michael O'Leary, was in the Croatian capital yesterday explaining the low-cost carrier's plans. With some 40 Ryanair destinations from Zagreb in the pipeline by next summer, there is clearly some pressure on Croatia Airlines to respond.

In addition to the Zagreb announcement, Ryanair also announced that they are returning to Rijeka, with an initial service to Brussels Charleroi. This means that the airline will now service six out of the seven mainland Croatian airports next season. The only exception - at least for now - is Osijek, an airport that Ryanair once connected to, with flights to London and Germany. 

Currently, there are no international flights to Osijek, with only domestic routes offered by Trade Air and Croatia Airlines. 

The new Munich route will be good news not only for tourists, but also for the many local people who have emigrated to Germany in search of a better economic future. 

The potential of tourism in Slavonia and eastern Croatia is largely untapped, and improved connections to other international destinations are key to its development. Whether or not Ryanair has plans to reenter the Osijek market remains to be seen, as is whether or not there will be additional routes from Osijek Airport by the Croatian national carrier. 

TCN will being you an update of this story after tomorrow's press conference.

For more information about flights to Croatia, follow the dedicated TCN section.

To learn more about Osijek Airport, click here. 

September 24, 2021 - Update at 22:00 Dana Adamcova: New Details, Chat with Mystery Croatia Woman Family

September 22 - 22:30 Many more details emerge, including interview with waiter who took her to the remote bay.

September 22, 2021 - Daniela Adamcova from the Slovakian town of Trenčín has been named the mystery woman on Krk, Croatia. 

Index.hr reports that her nickname is Danka, and she was a jewelry designer worn by stars like Brigitte Bardot, Barbara Streisand, and the cast of the Friends series. She reportedly moved around the world several times and traveled often. She lived in the US at the age of 19 and was married to a film producer. After her divorce, she returned to Slovakia in the late 2000s, only to move back to the United States a few years later.

An interview with Adamcova from 2008 is available on the Slovak portal MY Trencin. The portal revealed that Daniela was born in Trenčín, where she lived until she was 19, when she went to America. Daniela said she wanted more freedom and did not reveal her plans to anyone in the family until the last minute.

"I wanted to go to Australia or New Zealand, I called my sister and friends to go with me, but no one wanted to. So in the end, I went alone and ended up in America, in Los Angeles," Adamcova said.

For the first few months, she was assisted by an emigrant organization, both financially and for employment. She also learned the language and worked as a babysitter and a cleaner.

After a while, Daniela started working for a real estate agency and rented an apartment. "Then I decided to enroll in design and painting studies and specialized in handmade jewelry. I also changed jobs, got a job in a jewelry store, and fell in love with jewelry," she recounted in 2008.

Daniela's friend, a music producer with contacts in the film industry, helped her sell jewelry through film studios. Her pieces were later worn by Diana Ross, actresses in Friends, Brigitte Bardot, Barbara Streisand, and the stars of the then famous television series Melrose Place.

In 2000, Daniela returned to Slovakia. But in an interview eight years later, she said she could not get used to life back home.

"I wanted to come back because of family, to spend some time with them. I wanted to be with my friends, to bring back that closeness with them and with the family I had," she said.

"I've been alone since I was 19, and I've relied only on myself. It strengthens you, but it's still nice to have someone behind you. It's nice to have a family that takes care of you. I realized that there are other joys in life besides wandering the world," Adamcova said.

"It's my country, I'm Slovak, and I always will be. But in America, I'm used to a different system of life, to a different mentality," she says of why it was difficult for her to get used to living back home.

"Maybe it's because it's always sunny in Los Angeles. So when you wake up, and it's sunny, you're always in a good mood. I've never been bored in America. People live there in the full sense of the word. At home, they just sleep," she said. 

However, Daniela remained in Slovakia longer than planned - for three years. "I can't say I'm not well, I have family and friends that I love very much, but I have a routine here. I miss the sun and the sea; without the sea, I'm like a bird without wings," Adamcova said back in 2008.

This morning, the police confirmed that the missing woman on Krk, Croatia was a 57-year-old Slovak woman.

"In cooperation with citizens and the media, officers from the Krk Police Station, the General Crime Service and the Primorje-Gorski Kotar Police Department for Reporting Analytics and Public Relations gathered several pieces of information, which resulted in the identity of the woman found on September 12 on the island of Krk.

Based on Art. 33 para. 4 of the Law on Police Affairs and Powers, the Police publicly published photos of the woman, requesting assistance in establishing her identity, since she could not provide information about herself. The woman had injuries when she was found, which were determined not to have occurred due to a criminal act. The woman was given medical assistance and placed in the hospital.

Since the photos were published, the police have received dozens of e-mails from citizens in Croatia and abroad, both from European Union countries and other countries, who wanted to help the police establish the woman's identity. In addition to e-mail, reports were received in other ways and checked in detail by police officers using the methods and techniques available.

For example, some of the reports received a few days after the photos were published led to the discovery of the backpack, although the items found in it did not help reveal the woman's identity.

Furthermore, the fingerprint databases of the Croatian police did not lead to her identity, so Interpol was informed about the woman, and the help of foreign police was requested.

The first of several reports that led to the woman's identification was received by the police on September 20. As it appeared that the woman could be a citizen of Slovakia, the assistance of the Slovak police was requested through international police cooperation. Thanks to good collaboration and a matter of urgency, a response from the Slovak police was quickly received, confirming that the woman was identified as a Slovak citizen, aged 57, through a photograph.

"The police would like to thank the citizens, in Croatia and abroad, domestic and foreign media, as well as our colleagues from Slovakia, for their help and cooperation in establishing the identity of the woman.

According to what has been established so far, the Slovak citizen stayed in Croatia as a tourist, and the police will continue to determine the circumstances that preceded her arrival and discovery on the island of Krk, in the inaccessible terrain of Dobrinj," the police said.

Police enquiries into the circumstances of this usual situation will continue.

If you have any information regarding the strange circumstances of this case that you would like to share, please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

ZAGREB, 22 Sept, 2021 - Economy Ministry state secretary Ivo Milatić said on Wednesday that electricity prices for households would not increase this year.

"You heard (power provider) HEP's clear statement that this is not being considered by the end of the year," he told Davor Dretar of the opposition Homeland Movement, who asked if electricity prices for households would go up this autumn.

Dario Zurovec of the opposition Fokus asked if arise was expected in a year's time given the turbulence on the world market.

Milatić said that if prices were corrected next year, the corrections "will not be as in neighbouring markets."

He said that if electricity prices continued to increase, some corrections would be inevitable, but added that Croatia was in a different position as 60% of the total energy production was renewable, with half of that from the hydro potential.

Household electricity prices won't be raised for political reasons

Mirela Ahmetović of the opposition SDP said household electricity prices would not be raised for political reasons but that they would be for businesses and that this would affect households through more expensive goods.

She said Croatia imported almost 35% of electricity and that this made it dependent on galloping prices.

Milatić said Croatia was in a "good position" with regard to the price of electricity and would stay there.

Croatia ranks 26th among 33 European countries when it comes to household and 21st when it comes to corporate electricity prices, he said, adding that refunds for energy poor citizens would increase if the price of energy they could not pay went up.

He also said that significant funds were envisaged to co-finance the construction of charging stations for electric cars.

Milatić said Croatia had a number of power providers, with HEP's companies holding 80% of the market. This is good, he said, as Croatia is not as affected by prices as some other countries.

MPs were debating an electricity market bill which envisages transition to clean energy and transposes an EU directive on common rules for the electricity market. One of its main novelties is that Croatian households will be able to buy electricity from a provider in any other EU member state and their citizens will be able to buy it from HEP.

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

September 24, 2021 - Update at 22:00 Dana Adamcova: New Details, Chat with Mystery Croatia Woman Family

September 22 - 22:30 Many more details emerge, including interview with waiter who took her to the remote bay.

September 22, 2021 - After 10 days of little news, an official Croatian police statement confirms that the mystery woman on Krk, with no ID or memory of who she is, is aged 57 and from Slovakia. 

Here is the Croatian police statement in full (original here).

In cooperation with citizens and the media, police officers from the Krk Police Station, the General Crime Service and the Reporting Analytics and Public Relations Department of the Primorje-Gorski Kotar Police Administration gathered a series of information that resulted in the identity of a woman found on September 12 on the island of Krk.

It has been established that she is a 57-year-old Slovak citizen.

We remind you that this Police Administration is based on Art. 33 st. 4. of the Law on Police Affairs and Powers, publicly published photos of the found woman, with a request for assistance in establishing her identity, since the found woman could not provide information about herself, and the measures and actions taken by the police since her discovery did not lead to . The mentioned woman had injuries during the discovery, which were determined not to have occurred as a result of a criminal act. The woman was given medical assistance and placed in hospital.

Since the publication of the photos, the police have received dozens of e-mails from citizens from the country and abroad, both from European Union countries and other countries, who wanted to help the police establish the identity of the woman by submitting photos or other information. Also, in addition to e-mail, reports were received in other ways and were checked in detail by police officers using the methods and techniques available to them.

For example, some of the reports received a few days after the photos were published led to the backpack being found, although the things found in it did not help in finding out the identity of the woman found.
Also, the checks in the fingerprint databases of the Croatian police did not lead to the establishment of identity, so Interpol was informed about the found woman and the help of foreign police was requested.
Furthermore, the first of several reports leading to the identification of the woman found was received by police on September 20, in the evening. As it appeared from what was submitted that the found female person could be a citizen of Slovakia, the assistance of the Slovak police was requested through international police cooperation. Thanks to good cooperation and appreciating that it was a matter of urgency, a response was received very quickly from the Slovak police, which confirmed that the woman was identified as a Slovak citizen, aged 57, through a photograph.

The police would like to thank the citizens, from the country and abroad, domestic and foreign media, as well as their colleagues from Slovakia, for their help and cooperation, who contributed to establishing the identity of the found woman.

According to what has been established so far, the Slovak citizen stayed in Croatia as a tourist, and the police will continue to determine the circumstances that preceded her arrival and discovery on the island of Krk, in the inaccessible terrain of Dobrinj.

****

Police have so far not named the Slovakian national, although most of the Croatian media are reporting her as Daniela A, following a TCN article earlier this morning, which included photos and background information from two sources in California. You can read Mystery Woman in Croatia: Daniela from Slovakia? here.

Police enquiries into the circumstances of this usual situation will continue.

If you have any information regarding the strange circumstances of this case that you would like to share, please contact us on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.