Interviews

December 8, 2021 – When there's an animal emergency in Zagreb, Azil Dumovec are the first to respond. TCN visits the city animal shelter to find out what they do. Zagreb bus driver Dario Buzjak was making his final run from Velika Gorica back to the city terminal when he noticed something unusual lying in the road. Saturday night had already turned to Sunday morning on this late November evening. Yet, despite the lateness of the hour, the cold and bad weather, Dario postponed clocking off to stop and take a closer look. As he got nearer, Dario could tell…

November 4, 2021 – Village tourism or countryside tourism - Seoski tourism in Croatia - offers authentic, traditional experiences. Aleksandra Kuratko, secretary of Udruga ruralnog turizma Hrvatske (Croatian Rural Tourism Association) tells us more about it, and their work to help facilitate it Croatia's visitor offer is evolving and expanding. There are exciting aspects of authentic Croatia to be discovered. Away from the beach, villages inland often look remarkably similar to how they did one hundred years ago. There, crops are grown and produce made in ways passed down through generations of families. And, in some lucky instances, these family…

October 22, 2021 – There's a riot of colour in the branches of trees right now. What better time to go mushroom hunting in Zagreb County? Autumn in Croatia is the perfect time to explore nature. The country's mountainous regions are currently being enjoyed by walkers and hikers. In less hilly regions, people take to walking the forests and riversides. There, an eruption of colour as the trees respond to the season – red, orange, yellow, purple, brown. Autumn's colours are epic. But, they're not around forever. Catch them while you can. One resident who is sure to take in…

January 2, 2021 – High on the mountains, overlooking the city of Split, the historic settlement of Klis stands on the border between two distinct climate regions – the Mediterranean and the Dalmatian hinterland. The sometimes rare and extraordinary plants of Klis Fortress are characteristic of both. A new book details the flora you can find on both sides of the Dinaric Alps The views from Klis are spectacular. The great city of Split lies below you, perched on the edge of the glistening Adriatic, beyond it, the islands of Čiovo, Šolta, Brac, Vis and Hvar. It's a view that…

December 28, 2020 – Amidst the difficulties of a second lockdown, a socially distanced Christmas and yet more earthquakes, have we forgotten about Croatian healthcare workers? TCN decided to interview a doctor working on the front line of the fight against COVID During the first lockdown, it was all about the balconies. Saxophonists, DJs, opera singers – we were entertained on social media by a string of balcony-based stunts that somehow showed resilience, community spirit, humour. Zagreb was no exception. A trend of clapping on balconies in appreciation of healthcare workers passed from country to country and was picked up…

November 12, 2020 - Named after St. Martin's Day, when we most often encounter them, the bug known as Stinky Martin aka Smrdljivi Martin has a bad reputation. But, according to Lucija Šerić Jelaska, a doctor in the Biology Department of the Faculty of Science at the University of Zagreb, such a reputation is undeserved. So usually pleasant is the weather in Croatia that it's not uncommon for home windows to be flung open in spring and rarely closed again until mid-late autumn. When we finally do so, we're looking to escape the increasingly chilly conditions outside. We're not the…

October 29, 2020 - TCN joins Zagreb Volunteers Centre in Čučerje to find out who are the Zagreb volunteers and why they do what they do. Čučerje is a semi-rural community which lies at the epicentre of the March 2020 earthquake. By the time we ran out of the building, the first tremor had stopped. At 6:25am, the asphalt road lay quiet and motionless. People in pyjamas, nightgowns or underwear stood on the pavement. Others emerged even later. Although masonry in other parts of the city continued to fall, the 5.5 magnitude earthquake that visited Zagreb on 22 March 2020…

ZAGREB October 23, 2020 - Preserved by Zagreb's Croatia Records, the vast archive of giant Yugoslavian music label Jugoton throws up some incredible surprises on the newly released Croatia Records Jugoton Funk Vol. 1 James Brown, Funkadelic, Sly & The Family Stone, Fela Kuti - when you think of funk music, it's black artists that usually come to mind. Although, not if you're Croatian. One of the country's best-loved (and most missed) musicians, Dino Dvornik, was often referred to as the King Of Croatian Funk - his electro explorations in the genre during the early 90s were so innovative they…

September 22, 2020 - For six consecutive weeks this summer, the Martinska venue alone welcomed over 10, 000 international visitors to its music festivals in Sibenik. Zero cases of Coronavirus occurred. Over recent years, three things have firmly placed Croatia on the international stage – Game Of Thrones, the World Cup and music festivals. Running for over a decade now, music festivals are the oldest of these. They have elevated places like Pula and Tisno to become among the most-Googled destinations in the country. So popular now are Croatia music festivals, that many say the summer season of music festivals…

Wednesday, 9 September 2020 – Angels in white from heroic Croatian hospital Dr. fra Mato Nikolić in Nova Bila offer free dentistry for all special needs children Few young people look forward to visiting the dentist. But, imagine how such a visit must be if the world is already a confusing and difficult place for you. These are the difficulties of dentistry for all special needs children. “Children with special needs suffer from a range of disorders,” Dr. Nikola Matković tells TCN over the phone from Croatian hospital Dr fra Mato Nikolić in Nova Bila, near Vitez, central Bosnia. “They…

August 19, 2020 – All weather, all terrain, all year round – meet HGSS The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service, amazing volunteers who will never let you down They're never far from the news. For the last two weeks, members of HGSS The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service have yet again been on the TV news every night. They're leading the search for a summertime visitor, a Polish hiker missing on Biokovo mountain. But, watch again this winter and, for sure, they'll be in the headlines once more. Whether, they're scaling mountain ranges in the unbearable heat of high summer, searching underwater…

October 30, 2019 -  Mass tourism is just one aspect of human life which affects the environment. A look at the health of Croatia's most important natural jewel, the Adriatic, through the eyes of an expert, Dr. Ana Bratos Cetinic.  While Croatia's tourism officials are busy talking numbers, numbers, numbers, there is an aspect of tourism which is quietly omitted from the discussion - the environmental cost. More tourists bring more pressure on the infrastructure, and when the infrastructure is not upgraded to meet the rising demand, there are obviously consequences.  But mass tourism is not the only pressure on…

June 19, 2019 - TCN meets Croatia's leading independent defence analyst, Igor Tabak, in a wide-ranging interview of Croatian defence-related issues.  1. The biggest defence story in recent times has been the ill-fated attempt to buy F-16 fighters from Croatia. Lots has been written about why the deal failed. What is your assessment, and should the Croatian government have seen the collapse of the deal coming? In my experience, when something looks almost too good to be true, it usually is. A serious warning sign should also have been the fact that such a deal has never been conducted before,…

March 15, 2019 - It started as a local community campaign for an elementary school and quickly became a national political party. Meet Marijana Puljak, leader of political party Pametno (Smart).  Although TCN is an apolitical website, covering Croatian politics is an important part of the job, and I find myself increasingly in contact with various politicians from different parties. Last summer, for example, Croatia's Prime Minister motioned me over for a chat and informed me he had no intention to sue me (not words you will hear from every politician in Croatia these days).  (TCN meets Pametno in Jelsa…

October 25, 2018 - A new pharmacogenetic test called RightMed from OneOme has come to Europe, offering the possibility of eradicating the high number of deaths from Adverse Drug Reactions (ADR), as well as saving billions of dollars in the prescribing of drugs which have no effect. Co-founded by Mayo Clinic, the leading hospital in the United States, a European partnership was announced in Zagreb last week, with Leading Hospitals of the World member, St Catherine Speciality Hospital in Croatia the chosen European partner for the introduction of the OneOne RightMed test in Europe. After the press conference at St…

Three years in the making, the world's first global local food atlas is almost ready to launch. Meet TasteAtlas and the Croatian man behind a project to make the best local food options available to travellers all over the globe in a way that TripAdvisor doesn't. TCN caught up with TasteAtlas owner Matija Babic on April 23, 2018, to find out more.

December 11, 2017 - Connecting entrepreneurs in a hostile business environment - meet Kristina Ercegovic and Business Cafe. 

"The law legalizes privatization because, despite the fact that you cannot own maritime property, but get the concession for a certain period of time, the basic question remains - what will be left if a resource is drained and the money is taken away."

The other day, we got an email from Brazil. Nothing strange there, were it not for its subject – The damages in Dubrovnik as a cultural heritage site during the Homeland War!? Of course, my attention was taken completely.

An interview between Total Dubrovnik's Miso Mihocevic and Ljubica Vuckovic. Ljubica and her CEO of the time were the first people in Croatia to manage to gain the rights to operate using foreign currency outside of Belgrade during a suspicious and centralised Yugoslavia.

TCN meets the Dubrovnik band Feredon and discusses their inspirations, ideas and the cogs that turn behind the band and its music.

I had the pleasure of sparking up a wonderful friendship with the talented Yuya Matsuo some time ago now, the Japanese photographer rose to recognition via social media, namely Instagram, at an incredible pace. We decided to catch up and discuss just what it is that makes Croatia stand out from the rest in his artistic eyes.

TCN meets MOST's Nikola Grmoja on March 23, 2017, to discuss a range of topics currently in the public interest. 

We are very grateful to leading Croatian wine producer Bruno Trapan for supporting our Total Croatia Wine project, and agreeing to an interview on August 20, 2016.

While his political party is keeping surprisingly quiet on the recent government turmoil, Rijeka mayor Vojko Obersnel talks about the effects or the crisis on local projects.

TCN's exclusive interview with the former president of Hajduk.

A new government means a new minister for Croatia's all-important tourism industry. In the first part of an extensive interview, TCN caught up with Minister Kliman on April 5, 2016, covering a wide range of tourism issues. The second part of the interview will be published shortly. 

Full transcript of my interview with Mate Rimac for N1 Television

The view of Croatian relations with the US from the Croatian Embassy in Washington. TCN is very grateful to His Excellency Croatian Ambassador Josip Paro for taking part in a joint email interview with Croatian diaspora leader in Washington Dr. Steven Zivko Pavletic on January 29, 2016. Dr. Pavletic's questions and answers will feature on TCN next week. 

Continuing our look at the bloggers of Croatia, today TCN meets one of the most established and still one of the best - Secret Dalmatia.