News

ZAGREB, 1 January 2022 - The Cravat Regiment, a Croatian guard of honor, performed the traditional changing of guard ceremony on Saturday on the occasion of the New Year Day.   Dressed in replicas of the uniform worn by Croatian soldiers in the 17th century, the regiment's members held the ceremony in Zagreb's main square after the Grič cannon fired a shot at noon. The cravat regiment consists of 17 members including four cavalrymen who lined up in Zagreb's main square in uniforms worn by Croatian soldiers during the Thirty Years' War. Today's ceremony was held under the auspices of the Zagreb…

ZAGREB, 1 January 2022 - On Saturday, the very first day of 2022, dozens of local residents took part in the traditional New Year Day's swim in Pula, Opatija, Zadar, Šibenik, and a few more Adriatic cities. In Pula, some 40 swimmers joined in celebrating New Year's Day by participating in the first swim of the year in the Mornar bathing facility. During the event held at noon, they wished a happy new year to other residents of Pula. In Opatija, a dozen swimmers called Kukali braved winter conditions, including a sea temperature of just 12 degrees Celsius. In an effort to warm up,…

ZAGREB, 1 January 2021 - Entry into the U.S visa waiver program, French President Emmanuel Macron's visit, and the Rafale jets purchase deal, the fulfillment of the criteria for the Schengen Area, and diplomatic efforts to help solve the Bosnia and Herzegovina crisis are major features of Croatia's diplomacy in 2021. In the year which will be remembered for global travel restrictions due to the COVID pandemic, Croatia entered the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), which makes it possible for Croatians to travel to the United States for business or tourism purposes without visas, after obtaining approval via the online Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or…

ZAGREB, 1 January 2021 - Single-use plastic carrier bags that are between 15 and 50 microns thick are no longer in use in Croatia as of Saturday, 1 January. The Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development has called on Croatians to carry cloth and paper bags when going shopping. The exception to the ban that goes into force as of the first day of 2022, is very light plastic bags with particle sizes under 15 microns. They are used for bulk food. The use of all other plastic bags will be phased out. For more, check out our lifestyle section.

January 1, 2022 - Croatia's premier sunshine island of Hvar welcomes 2022 in traditional fashion, as the Polar Donkeys take to the Adriatic for the first swim of the year. People start a new year in different ways. Many with new resolutions, many more with hangovers.  But if you are looking for a novel way to blow away the cobwebs of the previous year, head to Bonj les Bains at 13:00 on New Year's Day where the annual New Year's Day swim, organised by Polarni Tovari (the Polar Donkeys) takes place.   Now in its 7th year, the Polar Donkeys swim…

ZAGREB, Jan 2021 - Croatia's environmental affairs in 2021 were marked by the declaration of Dinara as the 12th nature park and the awarding of the status of UNESCO designated site to the Mura-Drava-Danube Biosphere Reserve. On 5 February, the Croatian parliament unanimously adopted a law declaring Mount Dinara the 12th nature park in Croatia. The nature park encompasses Croatia's section of Mount Dinara as well as Mt Troglav and Mt Kamešnica, the upper course of the Cetina River and the Hrvatačko, Paško, and Vrličko karst fields. It extends over two counties - Split-Dalmatia and Šibenik-Knin -- measuring almost 63,000 hectares in area. Dinara…

ZAGREB, 1 Jan 2021 -  Croatia has registered 5,293 new coronavirus cases and 33 COVID-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus response team reported on Saturday. The number of active cases in the country currently stands at 29,895. Among them are 1,752 infected persons receiving hospital treatment, including 226 who are on ventilators, and 19,935 persons are self-isolating. A total of 3,771,640 tests for the SARS-CoV-2 virus have been conducted to date, including 14,224 in the last 24 hours when the positivity rate was 37.2%. Since 25 February 2020, when the first case of this infectious disease was confirmed in the country,…

ZAGREB, 1 Jan 2021 - France took the six-month rotating EU presidency from Slovenia on Saturday. The French chairmanship comes during a key period for French President Emmanuel Macron, who is expected to run for reelection in April. Recently, Macron unveiled Paris' priorities for the French EU presidency: sovereignty, the defense policy, the Western Balkans, economic growth. The EU presidential trio led by France includes also the Czech Republic that will preside over the EU in the second half of 2022, and Sweden in the first half of 2023. Slovenia's achievements A few days ago, just before the completion of Slovenia's chairmanship,…

ZAGREB, 1 Jan 2021 - The rebound from the corona crisis, the country's improved credit rating as well as a rise in inflation marked the economic trends in Croatia in 2021. After 2020, which will be remembered for efforts to curb the COVID-19 pandemic and for the devastating quakes that hit the capital city of Zagreb on 22 March and Sisak-Moslavina County on 28 and 29 December, the outgoing year has been marked by a high growth rate. In 2020, the economy contracted by 8% and it is set to have rebounded at a rate of 8.1% in 2021, according to the…

ZAGREB, 1 January 2022 2021 - Croatia entered 2021 at the peak of the COVID pandemic's second wave, and with high numbers of infections, hospital admissions, and deaths, while at the end of 2021 these numbers were several times higher. Thus, of the total of 12,500 COVID-related deaths since the outbreak, over 8,000 persons have died in the past year. According to data from the Croatian Institute of Public Health, in 2020 there were 4,478 COVID-related deaths, while in 2021 there were near twice as many, 8,407. About 80% of them were not vaccinated. According to official data on the koronavirus.hr…