ZAGREB, 6 June 2022 - On Monday, 16.4 tonnes of humanitarian aid worth HRK 247,311 (€33,000) collected by Vukovar-Srijem County in cooperation with cities and municipalities in this eastern Croatian county was sent from Vinkovci to Ukraine.

At the initiative of County Prefect Damir Dekanić and with the support of the Embassy of Ukraine in Croatia, Vukovar-Srijem County organized the collection of aid for the friendly Transcarpathian region, mainly durable food, baby food, water, and cosmetics.

"We are a region that has experienced the horrors of war in the worst way and it would be sad if we did not recognize someone's suffering. We have accepted refugees from Ukraine since day one and we are ready to continue to do so, but we hope the war in Ukraine stops," said Vukovar-Srijem County Prefect Damir Dekanić.

According to Dekanić, the campaign, led by the county, was joined by 17 Vukovar-Srijem municipalities and the cities of Ilok and Otok. The county provided HRK 142,751, while cities and municipalities contributed HRK 104,560.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 6 June 2022 - Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds Nataša Tramišak presented the first grant agreements within the Croatia-Serbia cross border cooperation programme for 2022, with a total value of HRK 3 million.

"For the first time, we are implementing a programme to strengthen Croats abroad, in this case, cross-border cooperation between Croatia and Serbia and have secured HRK 3 million from the state budget for 20 various projects for that," Minister Tramišak said.

She added that 65 projects applied worth more than HRK 10 million.

Tramišak recalled that during the pre-accession period and especially since it joined the EU, Croatia has implemented various European territorial cooperation programmes with neighbouring countries.

"In the new period 2021 - 2027, we will have Croatia - Serbia cross-border programmes with more than €42 million available," she underscored. Tramišak said that the condition for cross-border cooperation requires at least one partner each from Croatia and Serbia.

Žigmanov: Three key steps by Croatia towards Croats in Vojvodina

President of the Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina and Member of Serbian Parliament, Tomislav Žigmanov underscored that in the past few years three key steps were made in relations between Croatia towards Croats in Vojvodina.

Žigmanov noted that about 80% of Croats in Serbia live in Vojvodina in fact, adding that the first step was political support for Croats followed by more interest by the media in Croatia regarding how Croats in Vojvodina live.

The second step was when material and financial resources were increased, Žigmanov said, adding that two-thirds of that was earmarked for cultural institutions.

The third key step was cross-border cooperation between Croatia and Serbia which will be a great help to Croats in Serbia, who are the poorest Croats in the world.

For more, check out our politics section.

June 6, 2022 - Croatia and France draw at Poljud in the 2nd round of the UEFA Nations League at Poljud on Monday. 

Croatia and France met for the 2nd round of the Nations League on Monday at Poljud Stadium in Split. Croatia opened this year's Nations League with a shock 0:3 defeat to Austria in Osijek. France also lost their opening match against Denmark 1:2. 

Both Croatia and France were weakened due to injuries. Croatia was without Ivan Perišič, Marko Livaja, Joško Gvardiol, and Petar Musa. For France, Mbappe, Benzema, Kante, and Coman did not properly train with the team last night. Croatia, however, has yet to beat France. 

As coach Zlatko Dalić said at the press conference last night, France even without their usual stars is still France - and even their B team is a force to be reckoned with. 

Tonight is also Croatia captain Luka Modrić's 150th appearance for the Croatia national team. He made his debut on March 1, 2006, in Croatia's 3:2 victory against Argentina. Luka has scored 21 goals in 149 games so far, participated in three World Cups and four European Championships, and has been the team captain since 2016.

Lineups

Croatia: Livaković, Juranović, Erlić, Vida, Barišić, Brozović, Kovačić, Modrić, Majer, Brekalo, Budimir

France: Maignan, Pavard, Saliba, Kimpembe, Digne, Guendouzi, Tchouaméni, Diaby, Rabiot, Nkunku, Ben Yedder

Match Report

Croatia maintained possession for the first five minutes of the match, with a few potential attacks in the penalty area. Croatia's first corner came in the 6th minute. Luka played short to Brekalo, who played back to Luka and then Majer for a shot off target. 

France picked up the pace in the next 5 minutes and had their first corner in the 10th minute. 

Juranović headed out a close encounter for France for their second corner of the match in the 12th minute. Kovačić played Budimir into the penalty spot the minute after which was cleared by the France defense. 

Croatia's defense was solid tonight in comparison to the debacle last weekend in Osijek. Calm, collected, and without any mishaps so far. 

Croatia's best chance of the match came in the 18th minute - Kovačić played a brilliant through ball to Budimir who shot near post forcing a tricky save for the France keeper. The ball went out for a corner. 

France had another chance in the 23rd minute which was shot wide. 

A minute later a breakaway for Kovačić saw him fouled outside the box. The ref decided to play advantage for Croatia instead, and France won back possession. 

Lovro Majer was fouled in France's half which the ref did not call. France then pushed up the pitch and scored an offside goal in the 31st minute. 

Croatia was awarded a free kick in the 33rd minute but Vida was offside.  

Livakovic made a brilliant save after Vida let Diaby get a shot off in the 39th minute - and another save moments after that. France had another corner in the 40th minute and another two corners three minutes later. Croatia's defense had no problem clearing the play. 

One minute of stoppage time was added to the first half. The match was 0:0. 

The second half started without any substitutions. 

Lovro Majer sent a stunning pass through the France defense, which found Ante Budimir's head, but the ball went wide of the goal. 

But it was France to score first. Rabiot made it 0:1 in the 52nd minute. 

Croatia moved the ball nicely into France's half in the 57th minute and was dangerous in front of the France keeper but could not get a shot off.  

Juranović found Budimir at the top of the box and played it back to Brozovic who couldn't find his footing to shoot. 

France subbed off Ben Yedder for Griezmann, and Kamara for Tchouameni. For Croatia, Majer came off for Pasalic and Brekalo for Orsic. 

Budimir was fouled just outside the box in the 63rd minute which the ref allowed them to play on. 

Dalic subbed off Budimir for Kramaric in the 68th minute.

Luka had a great chance in the 70th minute. He cut back to his left foot to shoot on target, forcing the France keeper to make a diving save.  

Livakovic made a brilliant save in the 75th minute to ensure the match stayed 0:1.

Luka Modric was subbed off for Luka Sucic and Mateo Kovacic for Nikola Vlasic in the 78th minute. 

Croatia had another chance in the 80th minute which was ultimately called for a penalty thanks to VAR. Kramaric made it 1:1 in the 82nd minute!

Vlasic shot on target in the 86th minute forcing the ball out for a corner. A Croatia mishap in the defense almost cost them the match two minutes later, but Griezmann shot wide of an empty goal. 

The ref added 4 minutes of stoppage time to the match in which neither team was able to score - though Sucic had a great chance. The match ended 1:1. 

Croatia plays Denmark next in Copenhagen on Friday, June 10. 

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated sports section. 

June 6, 2022 - The Harald Kopitz trial (57), who is being charged by the prosecution with killing his three children in an apartment last September, will begin at the Zagreb County Court on Tuesday. The Austrian citizen faces up to 50 years in prison.

As reported by Total Croatia News, in September last year, Austrian citizen Harald Kopitz was arrested by Croatian police in Zagreb for the murder of his three children. 

Harald and his wife were divorced, and she left her children to spend the weekend with their father while she was on a business trip down in Dubrovnik. On the night of September 25, following a worrying Facebook status posted by Kopitz that was later reported by his contacts, Zagreb police entered Harald's apartment only to find the dead bodies of the children and their father in a critical condition after having attempted to take his own life.

Harald Kopitz, an Austrian citizen residing in Zagreb, was arrested by the police for the alleged murder of his three children, which was later confirmed. In the Facebook status he posted, Kopitz wrote something of a farewell letter, noting that his ex-wife thwarted their love and that his job situation was not improving. In addition, he stressed that he did not receive the necessary support and that he was ''at the end''. The worrying post caught the attention of his contacts, who reported it to the police. You can read the full story here.

As Index.hr reported on February 23rd, the State Attorney's Office (DORH) filed an indictment against Harald Kopitz for the murder of his three children.

"Following an investigation, the Zagreb County State's Attorney's Office filed an indictment before the Zagreb County Court on 23 February 2022 against a citizen of the Republic of Austria (1965) for three offenses against life and limb and three aggravated murders under Article 111, Items 1 and 2 in conjunction with Article 51 of the Criminal Code. 

The indictment charges the defendant with the following: That on September 24, 2021, at around 22:00 in Zagreb, in the apartment where he was staying with his three minor children (2013, 2013 and 2016), with a premeditated intention to deprive the children of their lives, Kopitz took advantage of the children's trust in him as a father and committed the aforementioned criminal offenses to the detriment of the children. In the indictment, the Zagreb County State's Attorney's Office requested that the defendant's pre-trial detention be extended until the end of the criminal proceedings due to the danger of recidivism and the particularly serious circumstances surrounding committing this criminal offense (Article 123, paragraph 1, items 3 and 4 of the criminal proceedings)", announced the DORH.

Let us remind you that Kopitz took the lives of his three children in the Zagreb neighbourhood of Mlinovi at the end of September 2021, and then tried to take his own life. He was sentenced to pre-trial detention.

As reported today by Slobodna Dalmacija, the Harald Kopitz trial will be held tomorrow at Zagreb County Court. Kopitz has been charged with three counts of aggravated murder and faces up to 50 years in prison.

The media wrote that Kopitz lived and worked in Zagreb, where he had his own companies, and that he worked for several large companies as a financial consultant and negotiator. The mother of the murdered children was working in a hotel in Dubrovnik, and the children were with their father over the weekend.

An expert examination conducted at the Hospital for Persons Deprived of Liberty established that Kopitz could be held accountable at the time of the crime, and the trial will be closed to the public.

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ZAGREB, 6 June 2022 - Finance Minister Zdravko Marić said on Monday that everything will be done so that the introduction of the euro as legal tender does not trigger a price hike.

"We will do absolutely everything, regardless of inflationary pressure and our efforts to relieve it, to prevent euro introduction from becoming an additional trigger (of price hikes) for individual market stakeholders," Marić said, adding that this was why the dual display of prices would start on 5 September.

Addressing the conference "Croatia in a New Economic Environment", organized by the 24sata daily, Marić recalled that the law on the introduction of the euro foresees 12 institutions that are responsible for the implementation of the law, including the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (HANFA), State Inspectorate, Croatian National Bank and the Finance Ministry.

These institutions will monitor the situation closely, and civil society organizations will join in the process as well so that any unfair conduct is reduced to a minimum, said Marić.

Marić recalled the recent European Commission Convergence Report, which said that Croatia was the only candidate country that had fulfilled all the accession criteria and was prepared to introduce the euro on 1 January 2023.

If Croatia joins the euro area on that date it will have spent the least time in the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II) of all member states, added Marić.

He said the final decision on Croatia's accession to the euro area will be adopted by the Council of Finance Ministers in Brussels on 12 July.

"If everything goes as we expect... and Croatia's entry to the euro area is formally announced for 1 January next year, the rate of conversion will be defined," he said but could not say whether the exchange rate would be the same as when Croatia entered the ERM II.

He underscored, however, that in the majority of cases it stayed the same, and if there were to be any change that will not be significant.

In July 2020, when Croatia joined the ERMII, the exchange rate was €1 = 7.53450.

Marić added that joining the Schengen area of passport-free movement was also very important for Croatia.

Croatia meets all the criteria to join the Schengen area, however, its admission depends on a number of other factors, including the political will of the member states, he said.

"Croatia has proven that it knows how to protect EU borders," he said, expressing the belief that the country would achieve the goal of Schengen area membership as well.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 6 June 2022 - This is no time to sit on two chairs and Serbia must take a side, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Monday in a comment on the cancellation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's visit to Belgrade.

Plenković said that the visit "has nothing to do with Croatia" and is a matter concerning relations between Moscow and Belgrade but stressed that "in the current circumstances Serbia should be very careful about who it sides with."

"If it has the ambition to continue its journey to the EU, one has to know how it stands. This is no time to sit on two chairs," Plenković said at a news conference at which he presented the latest government decision aimed at alleviating the impact of growing energy prices.

Lavrov's visit to Serbia was canceled after neighboring countries Bulgaria, North Macedonia, and Montenegro closed their airspace to his aircraft.

The Russian minister is expected to hold an online news conference instead, the RIA Novosti news agency said.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 6 June 2022 - In the last 24 hours 30 new coronavirus cases, out of 587 tests, and five related deaths have been registered in Croatia, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Monday.

There are 1,626 active cases, including 186 hospitalized patients, six of whom are on ventilators, while 749 persons are self-isolating.

To date Croatia has registered 1,138,076 coronavirus cases, the death toll stands at 16,003, and 70.80% of the adult population has been vaccinated.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated section and select your preferred language if it isn't English.

ZAGREB, 6 June 2022 - The international festival of animated film - Animafest Zagreb, which this year marks its 50th anniversary, opened at the Zagreb Museum of Contemporary Art on Sunday. 

The festival features a rich program, with a number of world premieres, with more than 350 guests from abroad, as well as a presentation of a bilingual monograph dedicated to the 50 years of Animafest and exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

The festival will be held at Zagreb's Studentski Centar, Kino SC, Teatar &TD, Tuškanac Cinema, and many other venues. A selection of cartoons will also be shown in Rijeka and Split.

Opening the event, Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević said that Animafest was not only a world festival but one of the biggest cultural events in the country.

In his address, Tomašević also recalled his favorite cartoon, Professor Balthazar, a Croatian animated television series for children, created by animator Zlatko Grgić. The series, revolving around benevolent genius Professor Balthazar, was produced at the Zagreb Film studio between 1967 and 1978.

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