August 29, 2021 - Back and better than ever, Sandra Perković has won the Diamond League discus throw in Paris!

Croatia's best female athlete reached her 44th victory at the Diamond League in her career with a throw of 65.68 meters in the decisive sixth series. With that, she surpassed the second-placed Cuban Yaime Perez by 37 centimeters, while the Olympic winner from Tokyo, American Valarie Allman, took third place with a throw of 64.51 meters.

Perković performed the best throw of the competition in the second series when she threw 66.08 meters and thus secured a place in the final series. Her result from the fourth series of 64.69m was the second-best in the first five series, and Perez repeated that range in the fifth series.

On the other hand, Allman made it to the final series with just one correct throw from the first five attempts. In the first series, the American threw 62.47m, and then she crossed four times. Very close to knocking Allman out of the finals was Portugal's Liliana Ca, who finished fourth with 62.43m, and France's Melina Robert-Michon, who finished fifth with 62.42m.

With this victory, Perković reached Perez in the overall standings of the Diamond League discus throw. Both now have 22 points, while Allman is third with 13 points.

After a disappointing campaign in Tokyo, where she was left without a medal after two consecutive gold medals in London and Rio, Sandra came back stronger than ever. Sandra is full of desire and motivation to show that she is once again the best in the sport and that the Tokyo Olympics were just on her bad day. 

Sandra is also a big favorite at the Hanžeković Memorial on September 14, and her main competitor will be the American Allman.

Source: 24 Sata

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

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ZAGREB, 29 Aug, 2021 - Nineteen Afghan nationals, who worked as support staff for the European Union Delegation in Kabul, arrived at Zagreb Airport on Saturday, the Croatian Ministry of the Interior has reported.

The 19-member group consists of three families with children and a single.

They have all said that they intend to apply for international protection in Croatia, the ministry said.

The Afghan nationals had all been vetted prior to their employment with the EU Delegation.

The European External Action Service (EEAS) has called on EU members to take in EU staff from Afghanistan, around 500 Afghan nationals, mostly interpreters, logistics staff and their families.

Croatia has responded to the appeal, deciding to accept 20 persons whose lives and security are threatened by the restoration of the Taliban regime.

The ministry's immigration service is now in charge of the Afghan nationals.

Since the group includes as many as ten minors, it will be accommodated at a ministry facility for vulnerable groups.

The ministry said that it would not provide further information on the immigrants for the sake of their security.

For Croatia's daily news updates, CLICK HERE.

August 29, 2021 - Volunteer speleological initiative "Čisto podzemlje" (Clean Underground) is on a mission to raise awareness about the increasing number of Split area caves and pits that are becoming active landfills. 

The volunteer speleological initiative "Čisto podzemlje" (Clean Underground) is tirelessly fighting against throwing waste into the karst underground, and the increasing number of negligent scenes throughout Croatia has not discouraged them on their mission, reports Slobodna Dalmacija.

The association members shocked their Facebook followers after sharing photos of the huge landfill they found in Gaćina jama in the Biokovo hinterland, where waste from the densely populated area of Zagvozd ends up.

"Let's wake up after the summer break. Cave reports about new underground atrocities are arriving ... We start with the Gaća pit in the hinterland of Biokovo near Zagvozd. It is one of over 103 contaminated sites in the vicinity of Split (only a few have been cleaned).

The garbage in the pit is completely fresh ... dumped from a nearby road yesterday. Local people injected over 100 cubic meters of household waste, carrion, bulky and construction waste, medicines, chemicals, and pesticides. So far, only we speleologists have seen the garbage, because the surroundings of the entrance are as clean as a tear, and in the underground a horror movie. Thank you, Osmica Karlovac, for reporting!"

"30 years of flattery and pain have come to fruition," "We haven't learned anything, nor will we," "So what are uncivilized people doing to us?" "You will poison us all," the comments below the post follow.

"We devastate everything we touch and, what’s craziest, we think we have a right to it," another remarked.

"It is important that the biggest problem in Split is the new beach for dogs, because they will dirty the sea," someone else protested.

The bottom of Gaćina jama has a diameter of 20 m, and as of this weekend, it is covered with more than a hundred cubic meters of waste. However, it remains unknown whether it extends further into the depths.

"There is carrion, large and small municipal waste, construction and hazardous waste, drugs, chemicals, pesticides," it is stated on the association's website.

Speleologist Ruđer Novak of the "Clean Underground" initiative says that over 900 similar locations have been detected in Croatia so far, but he notes that this is certainly not all.

The initiative has cleared dozens of underground landfills in recent years. But, unfortunately, it also happens that the cleaned site is very quickly refilled with waste.

"There were cases when we thought that we would clean the pit 'once and for all, because the garbage in it is old, and the nearby village has been displaced. But then it happens that shortly after cleaning it, the weekenders come. In the abandoned villages, of course, there are no containers, so those who visit their grandparents to clean the old house, throw all the waste into the pit," said Novak as one classic example.

"The whole village used the landfill in the hinterland of Biokovo for a long time. This is partly a matter of the population's habit, which did not have organized waste collection until 15 or 20 years ago. It's just that it was once dead sheep, wood and stones, and today plastic, car tires, TVs… So the composition of waste has changed, which is a great environmental threat," said Novak.

The main problem, he points out, is the pollution of water, which seeps through the rubble and breaks through the waste deposits.

"Caves and pits are natural pathways by which surface water seeps into the underground, and it is the water that feeds our springs and makes up our water pumping station. In this case, the water is drained through landfills. This means that everything thrown into the pit eventually ends up in a glass on the table," he warned.

He also notes that 70 percent of all Croatian endemic species are underground animals.

"The area of ​​the Dinaric karst has the greatest diversity of underground fauna in the world; our country is unique in that respect," he said.

Novak adds that people are sometimes unaware of the damage they are doing and stresses the importance of educating people in local communities, to whom no one has so far explained how wastewater ends up in their wells as well. 

Speleologists have noticed that the majority of waste in Gaćina jama has been freshly dumped, which means that it is an active landfill.

"It is easy to unload a waste truck into a pit, while cleaning is very demanding," said Novak.

He emphasizes that landfills contain not only plastic and electronic waste but also carrion and mines.

"We are closely cooperating with the Ministry of the Interior's anti-explosion service since explosives were found in the pits not only from the Homeland War but also from the First and Second World Wars. Grenades found underground are full of heavy metals that decompose over decades and thus poison people and the environment," he added. 

Since cleaning underground landfills is a demanding and dangerous undertaking, only specially trained people can engage in it. Thus, interested and concerned citizens cannot participate in volunteer actions.

"There are 700 or 800 speleologists in Croatia. They are all volunteers. Only they and HGSS members are trained to clean landfills because they use speleological rescue techniques. Rope systems are used to bring the load to the surface. Civilians, unfortunately, cannot get involved in volunteering because it is physically impossible. So we are constrained in terms of the number of people," the speleologist explained.

Novak notes that cleaning actions are possible thanks to donors, among which the leading retail chain is LIDL. Because of this, the association was allowed to change the model of functioning.

"We try to attract as many donors as possible so that we can continue this story. However, speleologists volunteers do work for which the state is not capable; no company on the market would deal with it," Novak concluded. 

For more on lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page. 

August 29, 2021 - 13 months after an initial meeting with the Mayor of Dubrovnik, the Pearl of the Adriatic's digital nomad initiatives pick up two awards in Ljubljana at Conventa 2021. 

It is just over a year since Mato Frankovic, the Mayor of Dubrovnik, gave me 30 minutes to present some new ideas for Dubrovnik tourism at the height of the pandemic. 

Having had many such meetings over the years, I was not overly optimistic about the outcome of the meeting, beyond probably warm words of support. But some 30 minutes later, we had reached agreement to explore the digital nomad potential of Dubrovnik, and work started the next day. Was this really Croatia?

In partnership with Ana Hrnic, DIrector of the Dubrovnik Tourist Board, Deputy Mayor Jelka Tepsic, and Tanja Polegubic, of Saltwater Nomads, work began. A planned event three months later had to be postponed due to the pandemic, but it was replaced with Croatia's first-ever digital nomad conference, Dubrovnik for Digital Nomads. Coverage went around the world, including a mention in the Washington Post. 

The following April brought the world's first Dubrovnik Digital Nomads-in-Residence project, where 10 nomads from all over the world with different backgrounds and skill sets, came to the city for 4 weeks as guest of Dubrovnik, to not only experience digital nomad life in Dubrovnik, but to co-create strategies with the city, tourist board and community to make the destination a more welcoming place for the remote work revolution.  The ten motivated guests gelled perfectly and came up with  several excellent initiatives, which the Mayor committed to implementing during the final presenation. 

Word of the project has spread beyond Croatia's borders, the latest example being in Ljubljana on Friday night, as the Dubrovnik Digital Nomads-in-Residence program scooped two awards at Conventa 2021 Best Event Awards in the Slovenian capital. 

(Photos by Zoltan Nagy)

The Conventa Crossover Best Event Awards have been held annually since 2018, and follows on directly from the Conventa Events Trade Show. It brings together Event and Live Marketing leaders and awards events on their innovation, creativity, legacy, execution, results and sustainability. There are 4 categories (B2B, B2C, B2I and Crossover) plus an audience award, creativity, sustainability and best agency. The event every year brings together leading speakers, workshops and in 2021, over 300 MICE professionals.

Both Saltwater Nomads projects, Zagreb Digital Nomad Week and Dubrovnik  Digital Nomads-in-Residence made the final six in the Crossover section, along with Travelling with ICare (Italy), World of Synergy Confluence (Slovenia), 'Promotion of Entrepreneurship' by Komunikacijski Labatorij for the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, and Photomath Press Event (Croatia). Zagreb Digital Nomad Week was named the winner, with Dubrovnik Digital Nomads-in-Residence coming third, while DNIR took first prize in all categories for the Audience vote.

You can learn more about the Dubrovnik Digital Nomads-in-Residence project here. 

Each entrant was required to submit a project video (see above), as well as a 60-second live pitch on stage, which Tanja Polegubic performed with aplomb. Here are her some of Tanja's thoughts:

The appeal was certainly that we worked with digital nomads. Everyone is working from home, and could relate and quickly grasp that a destination would suit these needs.

I started the pitch with a strong statement - every year, millions of people come to Dubrovnik from around the world and are wowed by what they see. Most only stay about 3 days. Ron - who was one of our selected DN-I-Rs, was one of those millions. Someone like Ron never thought about staying longer. Even though he could work from anywhere…How might we work on a solution to transform his experience and get Ron - and others like him - to consider working from Dubrovnik, be it a month or a year?

 In addition to this, the human connections endure. This is an example of a transformative event - and the longterm plan which was produced will live on. Winning the audience Award meant the world- this meant, after all the presentations, this was the one the audience of event professionals - and online-  connected with the most! The feedback from people who came up to me after the pitches and online was really positive.

I am happy i did the partners and participants justice with sharing the story and impact of the Dubrovnik DNIR program.

I have to acknowledge and applaud the leadership and trust and Dubrovnik Tourist Board and the CIty of Dubrovnik  showed in us by taking on these projects. Beyond the success for the tourist boards, providing great outcomes for the city -  the broader events industry in Europe recognises this is a viable segment in tourism and the value of these programs.Winning these awards demonstrates this is a sustainable model Croatia can develop to engage this audience.

The Saltwater Nomads CEO made four trips to the awards podium in total, collecting another two awards for Zagreb Digital Nomad Week, a collaboration between Saltwater Nomads, Total Croatia News and the Zagreb Tourist Board. You can read more about that here. 

A successful night, as well as a pointer to how successful public/private tourism partnerships can work in Croatia to develop niche sectors. Both Dubrovnik and Zagreb responded superbly to the initiatives. 

To learn more about Dubrovnik, check out the TC Dubrovnik in a Page guide. 

For the latest news and features on digital nomads in Croatia, follow the dedicated TCN section. 

August 29, 2021 - Croatia captain Luka Modrić will miss Croatia's Russia and Slovakia qualifiers next week, but could still join the team in Split before the Slovenia match on September 7 at Poljud. 

The Croatia national team captain and Real Madrid midfielder, Luka Modrić, will not come to the Croatia national team gathering on Monday, August 30, reports HNS.

Due to an adductor injury, Modrić missed last week's La Liga league match against Levante and was in recovery treatment during the week. In consultation with the medical services of Real Madrid and the Croatia national team, it was established that Modrić cannot compete in the qualifying matches against Russia on September 1 and Slovakia on September 4. 

Coach Zlatko Dalić and captain Modrić agreed that therefore, Modrić will not come to the national team gathering in Moscow on August 30, and left open the possibility for the captain to join his teammates in Split for the match against Slovenia (September 7), if Modrić gets the green light from his doctor that he is ready to return to the pitch. 

After it was decided that Modrić would not compete in the qualifying matches, coach Zlatko Dalić decided to call up Lovro Majer.

The 23-year-old offensive midfielder signed a contract for Rennes this week, after playing his 100th game in the Dinamo Zagreb jersey against Sheriff. Majer was a regular member of the Croatia national youth team, and in 2017 he made his debut for the A national team in a friendly match against Mexico in Los Angeles.

However, Majer shouldn't be looked at as Luka's replacement. It is likely that Dalić will use Mario Pašalić or Nikola Vlašić to play with Mateo Kovačić and Marcelo Brozović. 

The 2018 World Cup finalists gather on Monday, August 30, and during this busy September week, they will play against Russia (September 1 in Moscow) and Slovakia (September 4 in Bratislava) and at home against Slovenia (September 7 in Split).

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

To learn more about sport in Croatia, CLICK HERE.

August the 29th, 2021 - Labour Minister Josip Aladrovic has revealed who the Croatian economic support created by the government as a result of the pandemic will continue to go to, and who it no longer will. Minister Aladrovic also announced a rise in both wages and pensions.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, economic aid for Croatian companies will remain in place only for those who continue to be the most vulnerable to the pandemic and to any introduced anti-epidemic measures, announced Minister Aladrovic. He stated that because of the easing of the country's epidemiological measures, he sees no reason to continue to stimulate individual employers.

Minister Aladrovic also stated that aid will continue to be paid out to the organisers of sport and cultural events, the event industry, and perhaps the hardest hit of all - travel agencies.

"So, this will keep being paid out to a relatively small segment of our society, but to those who are most exposed," said Minister Aladrovic as a guest on Dnevnik Nova TV, adding:

"If there are economic disruptions again, which we hope won't occur, we're still ready to help those to whom the disruption occurs," he said, calling once again for people to get vaccinated as the best way to preserve both public health and the domestic economy.

As for the much talked about reforms, Minister Aladrovic said that they have been implemented and that he will continue to implement them, but he didn't give a concrete answer as to when concrete reforms in the healthcare system, public administration, or the judiciary will start. He pointed out that the coronavirus pandemic has slowed down certain reforms, but he remains confident that the Government will implement them by the end of its term.

He added that it is difficult to assess whether rising prices will push certain vulnerable individuals even further into poverty.

"What is good, is that salaries are rising," said Minister Aladrovic, adding that pensions are also rising. The average pensioner will receive about 60 kuna more per month, and Aladrovic says that it is equal to almost a billion kuna annually for the state budget.

He didn't bother to properly answer the question as to whether or not it is fair for the average pension to increase by around 60 kuna, and for members of parliament to have theirs increased by as much as 230 kuna. Aladrovic briefly stated that "harmonisation takes place in accordance with the legislative framework".

''Aware of the inadequacy of certain types of pensions, we've decided on a new way of calculating family pensions that are the least adequate and we'll do all that in the next step. The lowest pensions have been increased by more than 20 percent. I'm sure that movements within the pension system will also prevent any increase in poverty,'' said Minister Aladrovic.

Speaking about the Labour Law, Minister Aladrovic said that two things are changing, the relationship between fixed-term contracts and indefinite contracts.

''We want to reduce the number of fixed-term contracts and allow those who want to work more to be able to do that,'' he said.

For more, follow our politics section.

August the 29th, 2021 - There has been a record and entirely unexpected (when looking at previous predictions from various sources) Croatian GDP jump in the second quarter of 2021, some are even daring to say that the Republic of Croatia is ''out of the recession'' the global coronavirus pandemic forced it into.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Ana Blaskovic writes, the Croatian economy grew 16.1 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2021, the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) said.

Although the CBS points out that this is the first growth after four quarters of decline, it is also the largest since 2016, and it should be taken into account that the performance of the economy is compared with the same period last year during which the spring ''lockdown'' continued for some time. It's also worth noting that the fall in Croatian GDP reached a record 14.4 percent, which illustrates the scale of the low base effect.

While according to seasonally adjusted data, the Croatian economy recorded annual growth in the second quarter, the quarterly Croatian GDP was down by 0.2 percent.

Croatian GDP growth in the second quarter of 2021 is the first after four quarters of continuous decline due to the global coronavirus pandemic and its aftermath. At the level of the whole of 2020, the economy fell by 8 percent, which is one of the biggest minuses in the entire European Union (EU).

The growth of the economy in the period from April to the end of June is a consequence of the increases across all components of Croatian GDP, with personal consumption/spending expected to be the highest.

Household consumption grew 14 percent when compared to a 0.3 percent minus in the previous quarter. Exports of goods and services jumped 40.9 percent year-on-year; with exports of goods up by 35.2 percent and services up by 56.3 percent on the wings of a good preseason.

The imports of goods and services also jumped by 30.3 percent. The imports of goods rose 30.5 percent and services rose by 28.9 percent. Of the other components that make up the Croatian GDP, gross fixed capital formation rose 18.3 percent year-on-year and government spending rose by 4 percent.

For more, follow our business section.

August the 29th, 2021 - The popular American Travel and Leisure magazine has listed the gorgeous Istrian coastal town of Rovinj among the best seventeen small European towns.

As Novac writes, the Travel and Leisure magazine has published a list of the seventeen best small towns in Europe in their opinion, which includes Rovinj.

The article, signed by journalist Anne Olivia Bauso, points out that their chosen charming European towns are adorned with amazing landscapes, delicious food and much more, she adds that for every Paris, Rome and London, there are a hundred small European cities that capture the spirit of their nation; from a tiny Icelandic suburb surrounded by amazing landscapes to an ancient coastal settlement on the Black Sea, and advises readers to add these seventeen little places in Europe to their wish list.

The aforementioned writer describes Rovinj as a small town whose facades are painted in bright colours, with a baroque church on a hill. All this was created on a small peninsula that makes up the ancient fishing port of Rovinj - the flagship of the Istrian part of the Croatian coast.

The text also mentions freshly caught sardines from the Croatian Adriatic sea, famous local truffles, wine from indigenous Istrian grapes, as well as the fact that it is worth tasting various wildly popular Istrian delights, such as truffles and wine and cheese.

The description ends with a proposal to visit a famous Istrian National Park, which stretches across the stunning Brijuni Islands and is an excellent idea for a day trip by boat from nearby Fazana.

Here is the list of the seventeen best small towns in Europe according to this American publication, from as far north as Iceland and England to as far south as Greece and Spain:

Zell am See, Austria
Gangi, Sicily, Italy
Bled, Slovenia
Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany
Seydisfjordur, Iceland
Cadaqués, Catalonia, Spain
Sozopol, Bulgaria
Saint-Jean-de-Luz, France
Otepää, Estonia
Otranto, Italy
Zermatt, Switzerland
Idbidos, Portugal
Rovinj, Croatia
Castelsardo, Sardinia, Italy
Ambleside, England
Pyrgi, Greece
Telč, Czech Republic

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.