April 11, 2021 - An overview of the big events in Croatia from April 5 to 11, 2021.
The first week after Easter saw Croatia bitter on the tragic death of a 2-year-old girl, followed by a shock of heavy snow fastly coming and fading in Croatia's capital. Dinamo fans were disappointed by the Europa League loss at Maksimir stadium, while Pula is finally starting a big project of connecting its underground tunnels with an important surface site. Citizens of Split saw two candidates coalition together to unify liberal and progressive election bodies.
Highlights of the week: New headmaster of Social Service in Nova Gradiška 
© Ivica Galovic / PIXSELL
Following the tragic death of a 2-year-old girl who was heavily beaten by her mother and neglected by her parents resulted in Marija Jugović taking the position as the new headmaster of Social Welfare Centre Nova Gradiška on Monday. Jugović replaced the former headmaster Branko Medunić, following the controversial decision of returning the girl from her foster family back to her biological parents, who previously neglected and abused her, which ended fatally.
As Večernji List reported, Medunić is still employed in the Centre, and Jugović said on Monday that the investigation by the ministry would show if there were any misconducts in handling the case.
„Medunić is a social worker, and he is currently doing the job according to his occupation“, said Jugović.
Pending the results, Jugović announced lay-offs in the Nova Gradiška Centre. The investigation was expected to be complete by Wednesday.
„It's determined that there were mistakes in the procedure, which was the mistake of the headmaster. We are still waiting for professional findings from Croatian Social Workers chamber and Croatian Psychology Chamber“, said Josip Aladrović, Minister of family and social policies, on Wednesday as a guest On National Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT).
He added that restrictions in the Centre were done immediately based on those findings, and other results are expected to be complete by the end of the week.
Highlights of the week: April snow in Zagreb brought shock and traffic
© Bruno Fantulin / PIXSELL
The heavy snow, which was announced but still surprised the citizens of Zagreb thanks to its intensity, caused chaos on Zagreb streets on Tuesday. Traffic was jammed and several accidents occurred. Still, the snow quickly melted away and meteorologists announced warmer weather by the end of the week.
Citizens of Zagreb were in disbelief of such heavy snowfall in early April, a day after it was a little under 20 degrees Celsius.
Highlights of the week: Ivica Puljak and Bojan Ivošević competing together in Split local elections
© Ivo Cagalj / PIXSELL
Mayoral candidate of Centre Party Ivica will compete in the upcoming local elections for Split Mayor with the independent candidate Bojan Ivošević who aims to be his vice-mayor. As Večernji List reported on Tuesday, the pair said this decision was easy for them as neither one had to betray their beliefs when agreeing to this collaboration.
„In this election, the civil, progressive Split we represent is waking up like never before. We united our teams, Split has a chance it didn't have in decades, and if we don't use it, we won't get another opportunity for four years, maybe even longer. We have to take this chance“, said Ivica Poljak.
Bojan Ivošević is confident they will win elections and „return freedom to the citizens of Split and end trading authority in Split“.
Highlights of the week: Construction of connecting Kaštel fort with underground tunnels ongoing in Pula
© Sasa Miljevic / PIXSELL
One of the most interesting tourist projects this year is taking place in Pula. Fort Kaštel is being connected with a network of underground tunnels that date back from the Austro-Hungarian times when Pula was the main military port. After the project was announced as early as 2019, the shaft where there will be a tourist elevator that will connect the fort with tunnels was finally been pierced last Friday.
Highlights of the week: Dinamo defeated by Villareal
© Goran Stanzl / PIXSELL
After the brilliant victory against Tottenham, Dinamo's luck and skill took a blow in the clash with Villareal on Thursday.
Despite Dinamo handling well against the first attempt of Villareal and few risky shots aimed at Zagreb's gate, it all went well until the very end of half-time when Moreno scored for the Spanish club, taking advantage of a penalty Dinamo received for Theophile's handball.
Dinamo didn't manage to level the result or turnover the game but reduced the loss to the lowest possible outcome. Whether Dinamo is able to come on top against Villareal will be known next Thursday when they visit Villareal in Spain.
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