August the 19th, 2021 - The Zagreb Infectious Diseases Clinic, known simply as ''Zarazna'' has expanded its coronavirus department as more patients require medical help. A warning to other hospitals has come with it.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Zagreb Infectious Diseases Hospital has appealed to other Zagreb hospitals not to send other patients to them because they have more and more COVID-19 positive patients needing car, which is why they have increased the capacity of their COVID department, Vecernji list reported.

''Due to the increased influx of adult COVID-19 positive patients and the opening of additional facilities for the care of COVID-19 positive patients, we ask that until further notice, COVID-19 negative patients, who don't require intensive treatment, be referred and cared for in other healthcare institutions,'' read the request in a letter sent out to other Zagreb hospitals by the deputy director of the Zagreb Infectious Diseases Clinic, Zoran Barusic.

The letter also notes that the clinic will receive patients who are negative for COVID-19 whose condition requires intensive treatment depending on available accommodation at any given time and in the case that infectologists from the clinic are still available for possible consultations.

There are currently 33 COVID-19 patients and 44 non-COVID-19 patients being treated for their illnesses at the clinic.

Barusic explained that more COVID-19 patients started arriving on August the 12th and that they had to increase their ward capacities, stretching over to the non-COVID ward as well. He added that the COVID-19 sufferers they are treating are mostly unvaccinated, and among them there are seriously ill people in their thirties, forties and fifties. A smaller proportion of patients are those who are vaccinated but are elderly with comorbidities.

In the last three weeks, the number of hospitalised patients needing treatment at KBC Split has been continuously growing. At the moment, there are more than 40 of them, and thirteen requiring respirators, Vecernji list has learned from Ivo Ivic, the head of the Clinic for Infectious Diseases at KBC Split, where all those hospitalised are unvaccinated.

"On average, a dozen patients are hospitalised every week, they're mostly residents of Croatia. There are some younger people, but most of them are older patients, so we can say that the epidemic is circulating among the younger people, and the older ones the ones being taken into hospital,'' said Ivic.

“Of the ten people needing a respirator, nine were not vaccinated and without comorbidities, and one was vaccinated and had severe comorbidities. Therefore, it's scientifically and statistically clear that vaccination is the only reasonable thing we can do to protect ourselves,'' pointed out one doctor.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and choose your preferred language.

August the 19th, 2021 - Croatian state inspectors will be able to use secret identities under new rules and new powers as Croatia aligns itself with another new EU regulation.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, according to the bill that has just been put up for public consultation, Croatian state inspectors will be able to purchase samples, including under secret identities, when checking the technical requirements and assessing the conformity of industrial products out on the market, and the costs will be borne by the responsible companies.

This is part of the process of harmonising Croatian legislation with the new European regulations, which came into force this summer and which complements and strengthens product supervision on the European Union's single market.

As stated in the explanation of the proposal of the Croatian Law on Technical Requirements for Products and Conformity Assessment, the bill is set to regulate the manner of prescribing technical requirements for products, the obligations of economic operators, the prescribing of the requirements which need to be met by conformity assessment bodies, product contact points, single liaison office and cross-border mutual assistance, and inspection and misdemeanor provisions.

Its adoption is proposed by urgent procedure because EU Regulation 2019/1020 has been in full force since the 16th of July, and Croatia has an obligation to ensure the proper conditions for its implementation as soon as possible.

Of course, the inspection of products upon import for their placement on the EU market is performed by the Customs Administration of the Ministry of Finance, and the powers of the Croatian state inspectors themselves and the administrative measures related to them are prescribed in detail.

This European Union regulation provides for the granting of these powers to market surveillance authorities, and this is especially applicable, as has been stated, in cases where products are sold at a distance, ie via the Internet. The EU regulation itself enumerates a number of powers for market surveillance authorities, including the power to purchase product samples under a secret identity "in order to inspect those samples and reverse engineer them to establish non-conformities and gather evidence".

The misdemeanor provisions state that a fine of 50,000 kuna to 1 million kuna will be imposed in the case of violations carried out by manufacturers and authorised representatives if they place a product out onto the market that isn't designed and manufactured in accordance with the regulations, if they fail to test samples, if they don't provide the competent inspector with all data and documents, if they don't affix the prescribed CE marking or if they're marked with markings that are similar to the CE marking and may mislead consumers, as well as for a number of other infringements.

For them, the responsible person from the company will be fined from 20 to 50 thousand kuna. The importer will be fined from 25 to 500 thousand kuna, and the responsible person from 15 to 50 thousand kuna, writes Jutarnji list.

Penalties are also provided for distributors, and "order providers" are also listed. These are all those who offer warehousing, packaging, addressing and shipping services within the trade, excluding postal services.

For more, follow our business section.

August the 19th, 2021 - The Croatian Chamber of Notaries is involved in an international project called ''Undisputed Trials in Europe/ Nesporno sudovanje u Europi'', which is being co-financed by the European Commission (EC).

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Suzana Varosanec writes, the project the Croatian Chamber of Notaries is involved in has the purpose of studying and analysing the procedures within the jurisdiction(s) that Austria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia have all respectively entrusted to notaries.

In the first place, this refers to probate proceedings which in almost all of the aforementioned countries, to a greater or lesser extent, are carried out by public notaties as commissioners of the Municipal Courts in whose territory they have their seat.

The project also includes CNUE - Council of Notaries of the European Union, which has developed the European Notary Network (ENN), a platform that serves notaries public in 22 European Union member states (which have a public notary services available in them) for mutual communication and assistance in all situations when working on cases with an element of foreignness to them.

In addition to the above, they were also involved in the project "Inheritance in Europe/Nasljedjivanje u Europi'', and the purpose of that was to analyse the application of the EU Inheritance Regulation over the past five years in the territory of 22 EU member states and to identify the European Commission's recommendations for the procedure of future amendments to that same regulation.

The results of the analysis are expected in the second half of 2022, and the application of this regulation through one procedure for all assets avoids the implementation of special probate procedures in all member states of the bloc.

The transfer of ownership of property to heirs under a decision on inheritance from another country is carried out according to the European Certificate of Inheritance (EPN), which was also introduced by the same regulation.

Here in the Republic of Croatia, it is issued by a public notary who issues a decision on inheritance and it isn't necessary to conduct long and expensive procedures for recognising a foreign court decision, which speeds up the process and reduces the costs of claiming inheritance.

For more, follow our lifestyle section.

August 18, 2021 - The latest flight news to Croatia as the Ryanair Zagreb base boosts operations on two lines, and Blue Air Split and Dubrovnik routes are on the horizon. 

The newly launched Ryanair Zagreb base will boost operations on two routes from September 1, reports Ex Yu Aviation. 

Namely, the airline will operate four weekly flights to Charleroi compared to the existing two, while there will be four weekly rotations to Gothenburg compared to the existing three flights a week. 

Furthermore, Ryanair will station a second jet, the Airbus A320, in Zagreb from September 1, thus launching nine new routes. 

Ex Yu Aviation reports that Romanian low-cost carrier Blue Air will run seasonal flights from Bucharest to Split and Dubrovnik in 2022. The new routes will work from June 23 and June 28, with two flights per week on the 189-seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

The airline is introducing seven new routes next summer, with Split and Dubrovnik included. 

Eurowings has also announced that it will introduce its third route to Zagreb Airport, a year-round flight between Dusseldorf and Zagreb, which was canceled in 2019. The route will run on Tuesdays and Saturdays beginning August 31.

Follow the latest on flights to Croatia HERE and the latest travel updates and COVID-19 news from Croatia HERE.

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

August 18, 2021 - Will we see a red Croatian coast on the newest ECDC corona map on Thursday? Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac doesn't think so. 

On Wednesday, Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac said that she did not expect the Croatian coast to change from orange to red in the newest ECDC corona map on Thursday, reports T.portal.hr.

Answering questions from journalists before the Government session, the Minister pointed out that Croatia has much better numbers in tourism this year than last year.

"As of today, we are at 55.3 million overnight stays and 9 million tourist arrivals, which is 1.2 million more arrivals compared to 2020, and compared to 2109, we are at about 60 percent of arrivals and more than 70 percent of overnight stays. But what we are pleased about is the data on consumption, i.e., the value of fiscalized bills, which is about 70 percent compared to 2019, which means that more is spent this year in accommodation, especially in higher categories," said Brnjac.

For July and August, the value of fiscalized bills exceeded the results from the same months in 2019, which means that the tourism sector is stable and able to work the season in such conditions.

There are good announcements for the continuation of the season. Booking is good for both September and October, Brnjac pointed out, and therefore appealed to everyone to pay attention to the epidemiological situation, because, as she emphasized, if we continue with good numbers, we can remain the safest destination in the Mediterranean and try to stay in the orange zone on the ECDC map.

She hopes that good booking will continue. We need to stay responsible and get vaccinated in as many numbers as possible, and we need to look at the whole country, not just the coast, and do everything we can not to have closures like some countries had earlier this season.

She reminded that the Ministry co-finances rapid antigen tests for tourists with more than 20 million kuna, and that they held meetings with all prefects and the sector several times around the season, as well as other institutions, and established more than 350 testing points across the coast so tourists can return to their countries as easily and quickly as possible.

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

ZAGREB, 18 Aug 2021 - Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said on Wednesday that 20 Afghan citizens who had worked for the EU Delegation in their country would be accepted by Croatia.

The European External Action Service (EEAS) has called on the EU member-states to take in EU staff from Afghanistan, that is, about 500 local residents who worked as interpreters and logistic support providers and their family members.

Grlić Radman said that 20 would be allocated to Croatia.

"They provided support to our (NATO-led) forces and it is our duty to protect them," he said.

They were vetted and tested for employment (in EU institutions), they are highly educated. They are not irregular, undocumented migrants but persons known to our institutions, the minister added.

After the Taliban rapidly took control over the whole of Afghanistan immediately upon the withdrawal of NATO troops, many countries are now trying to pull out their diplomats and Afghans who worked for their embassies in that Asian country. 

Until Tuesday, all the 26 Croatians who had been in Afghanistan were evacuated, and the minister today thanked the Ukrainian, U.S., British and German authorities for assistance in their evacuation.

Croatia to follow EU policy on the Taliban

Grlić Radman, who attended an informal online meeting of EU foreign ministers on Tuesday, said that he had emphasized the importance of protecting human rights, primarily the rights of women and girls, as well as the safety of all EU citizens and local staff that used to work for the EU Delegation, so they would not be the targets of Taliban retaliation.

After nearly 20 years, the transformation of Afghan society has failed, he said.

He recalled that Croatia had participated in 70 bilateral projects, including the establishment of a school for midwives in Afghanistan.

That contribution should not go unnoticed, he said.

The minister told the press that Zagreb would follow the agreement of EU member-states on the topic of international recognition of the new regime in Kabul.

Tuesday's informal meeting also focused on a possible new migrant tide after the establishment of the Taliban rule in Afghanistan.

In order to prevent a new wave of migrants, it is important to have communication with the Taliban, with third countries and Afghanistan's neighbors that are expected to share the burden of a possible migrant wave, the minister said.

"If the Taliban show and prove that they are ready to respect the rule of law and human rights, it will definitely be an opportunity to establish cooperation," said Grlić Radman.

He added that Croatia did not want a recurrence of the situation in 2015 and 2016.

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

ZAGREB, 18 Aug 2021 - Physical Planning and State Assets Minister Darko Horvat said on Wednesday that workers of the Orljava clothing manufacturer had received three wages that had been promised to them and that intensive talks were underway with two potential partners for that Požega-based company.

Commenting on statements made earlier in the day by a member of parliament Katarina Peović and New Union leader Mario Iveković, Horvat said that problems in Orljava had begun in 2012 and recalled that the government had promised to secure the payment of three overdue wages and do its best to find a strategic partner for the company.

The wages have been paid and talks are currently underway with two potential partners, Horvat said after a meeting of the inner cabinet.

The minister recalled that a major complaint by the German company Olymp, which returned its order to Orljava, was one of the reasons for the difficult situation at Orljava.

Olymp does not want to maintain its business relationship with Orljava but it does want to maintain cooperation with the Đakovo-based Hemco, and talks have been underway with that company, he said.

Hemco is interested in taking a lease on Orljava's premises and hiring back about 70 Orljava workers, Horvat said, stressing that the approach to ailing companies had changed, which was why bankruptcy proceedings were launched for Orljava on 13 July.

So far Orljava's losses have been covered by the government or from the state budget but the government no longer wants to maintain that approach. As long as there is interest in the brand and products, the government will try to have all workers hired back but it will also help find a strategic partner to invest in the company and raise production to a higher level to make its products competitive, Horvat said.

Earlier in the day, MP Peović and union leader Iveković warned about the difficult situation at Orljava, noting that the government should provide more significant support to it, considering that it was its sole owner.

Warning that on 22 July most of the remaining 172 workers were laid off, Peović said that responsibility for that rested solely with the government.

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

ZAGREB, 18 Aug 2021 - The sole MP of the Workers' Front Katarina Peović and leader of the Novi Sindikat trade union, Mario Iveković, warned on Wednesday of the difficult situation at the Orljava textile company, underscoring that the government should give more substantial support to that government-owned factory.

Warning that on 22 July, most of the remaining 172 workers were laid off, Peović told a press conference that in the current situation, the responsibility lay entirely with the government, which is the 100% owner of the Požega-based Orljava textile company.

"It is unacceptable that the government failed to react when workers hadn't received a salary for three months until a protest rally was staged in St Mark's Square on 30 June," she said.

It didn't react, she warned, even when trade unions tried to speed up the resolution of the problem and enter into communication with the government, and now the ruling party seems to be on holiday and is not getting involved in the bankruptcy proceedings initiated to maintain production.

She recalled that both Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Physical Planning and State Assets Minister Darko Horvat had been promising that the bankruptcy proceeding would be initiated primarily to maintain production.

Peović said that the Workers' Front had sent questions to Prime Minister Plenković and Minister Horvat about the situation in the Orljava company but hadn't received answers.

According to her, problems at the Orljava company started when German company Olymp, with which Orljava had had long-standing cooperation, reduced orders and then terminated them.

Also, the Olymp company wanted to know about the government's long-term plans for Orljava but received no answers, she said.

Peović also said that if Orljava's management had not been doing its job, Minister Horvat was directly responsible for that and should have replaced it.

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