News

December 10, 2021 - The Croatia women's handball team lost to Spain 23:27 (9:12) in the decisive match which would only lead them to the quarterfinals with a victory. Croatia will play against Austria on Sunday, though the match carries no weight.  When the PCR test results arrived an hour and 15 minutes before the game, the Croatia coach received the final confirmation that he had all the players available, except those who have been in isolation due to the coronavirus, including Mićijević, Dežić and Krsnik. Ana Debelić scored the first goal of the match in the third minute. Croatia took the…

ZAGREB, 10 Dec 2021 - There is a strong consensus that accession to the euro area will benefit the Croatian economy and households, Finance Minister Zdravko Marić told reporters in the northern Adriatic resort town of Rovinj on Friday after a conference on this subject organised by the Večernji List newspaper and Istria County.  That's why Croatia should do all that is necessary to reduce and minimise any negative risks, such as inflation, and take advantage of positive effects, which outnumber negative ones, for the benefit of its economy and citizens, Marić said. "Over the past few months we have…

ZAGREB, 10 Dec 2021 - On the occasion of Human Rights Day, NGOs warned of a low level of social and economic rights in Croatia and called for the improvement of public services and for reconstruction of earthquake-struck areas to be accelerated. "Healthcare, social welfare, housing and education have to be accessible to everyone. Public services need reliable support which inevitably includes long-term public investments and progressive taxation so as not to deepen the social inequality," the NGOs said in a press release. The associations particularly highlighted the absence of strategic documents for marginalised groups such as the homeless or refugees. Workers'…

ZAGREB, 10 Dec 2021 - The Croatian government on Friday formed the Human Rights Council, with Deputy PM Boris Milošević, who is in charge of social affairs and human rights, recalling that Croatia was observing Human Rights Day. Human Rights Day commemorates 10 December 1948 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the foundation of the international human rights system. The establishment of the Human Rights Council builds on the political tradition of the existence of a separate interdepartmental body that helps the government in its efforts to recognise and respond, as constructively and as efficiently as…

ZAGREB, 10 Dec 2021 - Asked about working hours for hotels and the hospitality sector on New Year's Eve, Interior Minister Davor Božinović said on Friday that the decision on closing at midnight was still in force, however, he did not entirely rule out the possibility of that decision being amended. "Decisions that are in force refer to working hours until midnight. It's only the 10th of December today... the response team is considering all the possibilities and we won't wait until the eleventh hour but at the moment I would not like to say anything that might be interpreted as…

ZAGREB, 10 Dec 2021 - Lawmakers on Friday supported the better regulation of  adult education and life-long learning, expressing hope that new act under which vouchers to finance adult education and training will be introduced, will encourage adult education and retraining. The 2030 target is to reach the EU average of 10.8% adult population covered by education, while Croatia's average is now 3.5% Science and Education Ministry's State Secretary, Tomislav Paljak told the parliament. The bill has been proposed so that every adult citizen in the country can have access to education and retraining that will provide them with a better position…

ZAGREB, 10 Dec 2021 - Finance Minister Zdravko Marić said on Friday that the bill on introducing the euro currency in Croatia was being prepared and the draft could be outlined in mid-January while its final adoption could be expected in April next year. In addition to that bill, it will be necessary to amend 46 laws and 70 by-laws prior to the euro changeover, Marić said at a conference on Croatia's accession to the euro area, organised in Rovinj by the Večernji List daily and Istria County authorities. The blueprint for the euro adoption envisages that on 1 January 2023 Croatia ought to be…

ZAGREB, 10 Dec 2021 - Croatia has registered 3,797 new coronavirus cases and 71 COVID-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus response team reported on Friday. The number of active cases stands at 26,824 and among them 2,329 infected persons are receiving hospital treatment, including 326 who are on ventilators. A total of 23,617 people are self-isolating. Since 25 February 2020, when the first case was confirmed in Croatia, 648,003 people have been registered as having contracted the SARS-CoV-2 virus, of whom 11,516 have died. A total of 609,663 people have recovered, including 4,585 in the last 24 hours. To date, 3,559,322 people have…

ZAGREB, 10 Dec 2021 - Camping is the leader of Croatian tourism this year with 90% of the nights generated in the record year 2019 as well as in terms of quality and possibilities, even during a pandemic, and market announcements indicate the results will be even better in 2022, a camping congress heard on Thursday. The 15th congress of the Croatian Camping Union in Tuhelj brought together over a 100 professionals and campsite representatives from across Croatia as well as their guests from the German, Dutch, and Italian auto clubs. Assistant Tourism Minister Robert Pende said HRK 2.2 billion was…

ZAGREB, 10 Dec 2021 - Members of the Croatian parliament on Thursday started a heated debate on a bill on the protection of the population against infectious diseases which envisages fines up to HRK 50,000 for responsible persons not complying with the COVID-19 certificate mandate in bodies governed by public law. COVID certificates are unconstitutional and unlawful and they are not an effective measure and it has been proved that only testing can protect the population, said Miro Bulj of the Opposition Bridge party. He said that the amendments to the law would usher in "unconstitutional lockdown and abuse with COVID certificates." Josip Borić of the…