The Croatian Diaspora

Thomas Martin Rukavina, 68, known as Tom or Tommy, of Pike Township, died on Monday, January 7, 2019, at the University of Minnesota Medical Center in Minneapolis after a battle with leukemia. Just a few inches over five feet, Tom was short in stature but cast a big shadow in the political world in Minnesota (MN) for over 30 years. His good friend, State Senator David Tomassoni stated, "Tom had a passion for the little guy and was a giant in those fights." There was another journalist who said, "Tom was a common man with uncommon character" that made him…

ZAGREB, January 27, 2019 - The biggest political parties based in Sarajevo on Saturday strongly condemned conclusions adopted at a convention of the Bosnian Croat National Assembly (HNS) held in Mostar earlier in the day, which rejected the verdict of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in the case against Jandranko Prlić and other senior officials of the former Herceg-Bosna, which established the existence of a joint criminal enterprise designed to separate parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the rest of the country and annex them to Croatia. Earlier in the day, the HNS convention adopted a…

ZAGREB, January 24, 2019 - The leader of the Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina (DSHV), Tomislav Žigmanov, said that the messages and promises by the prime minister and president of Croatia during his visit to Zagreb this week were encouraging and stimulating for Croats in Serbia, Croatian-language media in the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina said on Thursday. Žigmanov said his delegation was encouraged by the readiness of the Croatian leadership to support, both politically and financially, their major projects. He said that they had discussed several projects of great importance for the Croatian minority in Serbia, including the…

ZAGREB, January 23, 2019 - The German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) on Wednesday released a migration report for 2016 and 2017, showing that 110,526 Croatian emigrants had immigrated into the country in those two years. A total of 57,476 Croatian nationals settled in Germany in 2016 and 53,050 in 2017. It was the first time since 2006 that the number of Croatian immigrants into Germany had decreased from the previous year. In 2006, 8,543 Croatian nationals took up residence in Germany and their number has been increasing since. Particular increases were recorded in 2013, when Croatia joined…

ZAGREB, January 22, 2019 - Croatian Deputy Parliament Speaker Željko Reiner, who is on a two-day official visit to Ireland, met with Irish political and Church leaders for talks on Croatian emigrants, the economy and the situation in Croatia's neighbourhood, read a press release issued by the Croatian Parliament's public relations office on Tuesday. Reiner held talks with Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, the First Vice President of the European Parliament, Mairead McGuinnes, and the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, according to the press release. The talks focused on excellent relations and good bilateral cooperation and cooperation within EU institutions. Reiner…

ZAGREB, January 20, 2019 - The 72nd traditional Burgenland Croat Ball was held in Vienna's Schoenbrunn Hotel on Saturday evening, featuring a programme of folk songs and dancing specific to the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia. This most important annual cultural event of the Croats of Burgenland attracted nearly 1,300 Croats from Burgenland and Vienna as well as their guests from elsewhere in Austria, Croatia and neighbouring countries. Among those attending was Gernot Bluemel, Austria's minister of culture, arts, media and EU affairs. "Austrian-Croatian bilateral relations are excellent, especially in the area of culture. Croatia is an important EU member…

German volleyball coach Michaela Barišić, whose parents are from Croatia, won 250,000 euro, or more than 1.8 million kuna, on the German version of the TV game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, reports 24sata.hr on January 19, 2019. Michaela decided she would not risk her prize, so she gave up on the 13th question out of the possible 15, and went home with the previously won 250,000 euro. If she answered the question worth 750,000 euro, she would get an opportunity to play for the maximum amount – an incredible two million euros. The question that made her…

ZAGREB, January 9, 2019 - The authorities of the Bosnian Serb entity on Wednesday organised commemorative events marking "the Republic Day", despite a 2015 ruling of the country's Constitutional Court that declared the entity's holiday to be contrary to the Constitution and discriminatory against the Croats and the Bosniaks. Today's parade and celebrations in the northwestern city of Banja Luka, the biggest city in the Republic of Srpska (RS), were ignored by foreign diplomats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the exception of Russia's Ambassador. In attendance were also Serbia's Prime Minister Ana Brnabić and Defence Minister Aleksandar Vuilin as well…

ZAGREB, December 27, 2018 - The government's proposal to leave out generational and language restrictions for members of the Croatian expatriate community applying for Croatian citizenship has been described as a major positive change by the Croatian diaspora representatives, yet despite that and the interest of expatriates, Croatia, which in recent years has lost as many as 350,000 people, lacks a serious returnee policy and does not know how to use the potential of its expatriate community, estimated to have around three million members worldwide. The bill of amendments to the Citizenship Act, adopted by the government in December, leaves…

ZAGREB, December 23, 2018 - The leader of the Croat minority in Serbia, Tomislav Žigmanov, has praised Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić as a reliable partner in addressing problems faced by the Croat community in the country, Croatian-language media in the northern province of Vojvodina said on Saturday. The community centre and a bridge in the Croat-majority village of Monostor are being reconstructed, a Croatian language instruction office has been opened at the University of Novi Sad, the network of Croatian-language schools has been expanded, and the process of granting the use of the house in Petrovaradin where Ban Josip Jelačić,…