ZAGREB, 8 July 2022 - A Bosnia and Herzegovina-Croatia cross-border conference was held on Friday in Osijek on how to enhance the regional cooperation of Croats from Bosnia and Herzegovina with Croatia.

This is a project aimed at improving regional cooperation and exchange of experiences in the implementation of cross-border projects, which the Development Agency in Žepče, central Bosnia, is implementing in partnership with the County Development Agency of Osijek-Baranja County and 11 local self-governments in Bosnia and Herzegovina areas predominantly populated by Croats.

The director of the Žepče Development Agency, Branka Janko, underscored that the agency has been operating since 2010, and so far they have implemented three cross-border projects, which are mainly related to the competitiveness of the economy and the development of rural areas.

Every new acquaintance with regional agencies in Croatia is useful to us, and our goal, considering that it is mostly about rural areas, is to raise them to a higher level of development using EU funds, which will be opened for Bosnia and Herzegovina, said Janko, adding that they are interested in economy, tourism and renewable energy sources.

Žepče Municipality realised long ago that municipal budgets were not sufficient for faster development, said Mayor Mato Zovko and added that tit was a success when, as a small municipality, they managed to implement the third cross-border cooperation project - Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. These projects range from €600,000 to 1 million and 75% is financed by the EU.

We have strengthened the Development Agency so much and can hardly wait for Bosnia and Herzegovina to receive EU candidate status. With our example, we have shown other municipalities what it's like to be ready for the future, said Zovko.

Osijek-Baranja Deputy County Prefect Josip Miletić, spoke about the exceptional importance of cross-border cooperation with Bosnia and Herzegovina, stating that the county had previously recognised the needs of Croats outside of Croatia directly with the means of the county.

With our example and logistics, we will help them to submit quality projects and receive these funds, and we will continue to provide support to Croats regardless of cross-border cooperation, said Miletić.

The director of the Osijek-Baranja County Development Agency, Denis Ćosić, announced that experts from Croatian agencies will go to BiH to train their employees, who will work on project proposals and their implementation.

Our goal is to create not only a knowledge base, but also to present project proposals that could be submitted through other tenders, through the Ministry of Regional Development and the Central State Office for Croats Abroad, he said.

ZAGREB, 8 July 2022 - In the past 24 hours, 1,349 new cases of the SARS-CoV-2 virus infection were recorded in Croatia, and five COVID patients have died, the national COVID response team reported on Friday.

The number of active cases on Friday was 8,220. Among them, there were 339 patients receiving hospital treatment, of whom 12 patients are on ventilators.

There are currently 4,347 people in self-isolation.

To date, a total of 4,965,512 tests have been conducted, including 3,942 in the last 24 hours.

To date, 1,156,932 cases of COVID have been diagnosed and 16,101 COVID patients have died, while 1,132,611 people have recovered, including 1,025 in the last 24 hours.

As of 7 July, 5,259,863 doses of vaccine were administered to 59.55% of the total population, or 70.83% of the adult population. A total of 68.79% of the adult population has been full vaccinated.

ZAGREB, 8 July 2022 - On the occasion of National Nikola Tesla Day - the day of science, technology and innovation, observed on 10 July, President Zoran Milanović received scientists from the Ruđer Bošković Institute on Friday, who presented the results of research on the impact of microplastics in aquatic ecosystems.

Researchers from the Ruđer Bošković Institute (RBI), the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the University of Graz and a PhD student from the Institute of Physics in Zagreb presented their innovative research, the President's Office said in a press release.

The results obtained by studying the interactions of microplastic particles with calcium carbonate indicate that the exposure of microplastics to dissolved organic matter present in aquatic ecosystems enhances the incorporation of such modified microplastics into calcium carbonate, which is the main inorganic component of shells, corals and other aquatic organisms.

The Ruđer Bošković Institute researchers underscored that the longer plastic is present in water systems, the more dangerous it becomes, and from the primary form of plastic such as bags or plastic bottles, it is degraded by actions in nature into secondary microplastics, smaller particles that enter organisms.

The research, they said, was done as part of the project "Can we clean the oceans and seas from microplastic by using calcium carbonate encapsulation."

It was funded by the European Institute for Innovation and Technology, EIT Klima - KIC Alumni Program "Participatory Grantmaking" and a project by the Croatian Science Foundation.

The findings of the research were published, as stated, in the prestigious scientific journal Environmental Chemistry Letters.

July 8, 2022 - The Sinj Tourist Board announced the 2022 Alka Days and Velika Gospa festivities this summer!

July has arrived and the lively Sinj summer is in the air. The umbrella event of Alka Days and the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (Velika Gospa) this year again comes with many events with which the ever-hospitable people of Sinj will delight their guests. In addition to the unmissable 307th Alka festivities and Velika Gospa, locals and tourists will enjoy concerts, exhibitions, sports and humanitarian activities, theater performances, book presentations, and various other events. The entire city becomes an open stage with something for everyone's taste.

Let's highlight just a few!

The favorite City Music, without which no celebration is complete, is celebrating 160 years of existence this year. In addition to the concert, an accompanying exhibition will also be opened. Various notes will fly into the Sinj night - several classical concerts by young musicians from Sinj, virtuoso jazz performances at the Kamičak fortress, which is also the backdrop of the Kamičak Ethno Festival, the traditional rock festival SARS, the metal music festival Nebesa metalFest, and the indispensable and always popular klapa singing.

Ivan Alebic

Don't miss the great Sinj village fair and stock up on original traditional products, and at the folklore evening, remember the old times and good customs, and definitely immerse yourself in the historical 1715 Battle of Sinj spectacle, this year with even more striking sound and light effects.

You can see the program below: 

To read more about sports in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 8 July 2022 - The Sabor adopted the Law on Cultural Councils and Financing Public Needs in Culture on Friday by a majority vote.

The law regulates the financing of public needs in culture, the allocation of premises for cultural and artistic activities, the establishment and role of cultural councils and the work of the national council for culture, as well as the issue of decision-making on financial resources.

The law is aimed at improving, simplifying and organising the system more efficiently and enabling multi-annual financing.

Ahead of the vote, Miroslav Škoro (For a Just Croatia) reiterated that the law will not help the "disastrous" state of culture in Croatia. He claimed that law gives "pharaonic powers" to the minister, and enables mayors and county prefects to allocate premises through direct agreement, creating an "army of culture addicts."

The Sabor also adopted three laws on the implementation of EU regulations, on the fight against the spread of terrorist content on the Internet, on the jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement of decisions in matrimonial disputes and in matters related to parental responsibility, and on international child abduction.

An amendment to the law on the implementation of the regulation on genetically modified food and animal fodder and the traceability and labelling of genetically modified organisms was also adopted.

Two laws in the agriculture sector were also adopted, on plant health and food hygiene and microbiological criteria for food.

ZAGREB, 8 July 2022- In June 2022, industrial producer prices jumped 24% on the year, going up for the 16th consecutive month, which was the highest increase since 2011, according to the Croatian Bureau of Statistics.

In March 2021, producer prices were up 3.5% year on year, last December the increase was 16%, followed by 17.1% in January, 17.2% in February, 19.5% in March, 21.9% in April and 23.7% in May.

The increase in producer prices was in large part due to energy prices. With the exclusion of energy, industrial producer prices in June 2022 were 0.7% higher on the month and 9.6% on the year.

On the foreign market, industrial producer prices in June 2022 were 1.4% higher on the month and 15.8% on the year, while on the domestic market, they were up 0.8% on the month and 30.8% on the year.

On the domestic market, energy prices jumped 90% year on year in June 2022, followed by intermediate products (+11.5%), non-durable consumer products (+10.2%), durable consumer products (+9.9%) and capital products (+4.8%).

Month on month, the prices of non-durable consumer products were up 1.4%, followed by durable consumer products (+1.1%), energy and capital products (+0.5% each), and intermediate products (+0.4%).

ZAGREB, 8 July 2022 - Croatia has officially started negotiations on joining the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said on Friday.

"I wish to announce that at the meeting with Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Deputy Secretary-General Ulrik Vestergaard Knudsen, we officially started the negotiations," said Grlić Radman, who participated in the meeting between Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Knudsen in Government House.

"This is a historic moment for us today... after joining the Schengen Area, after joining the euro area, this will really be the 'icing on the cake," he said addressing the media.

Knudsen agreed with him that this is a historic moment and said that Croatia is doing this in order to create a better life for its citizens.

At the final meeting of the Council of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development at the ministerial level held on 10 June OECD member states adopted the Accession Plan for Croatia.

ZAGREB, 8 July 2022 - Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob is on a brief vacation in Croatia, recharging his batteries, which he confirmed by posting several photos from Istria and writing that the sea does miracles.

Slovenian media said on Friday Golob was collecting his energy on the coast and sharing his feelings with his followers on Instagram, where he posted a photo of a sea sunset somewhere in Croatia.

When called by journalists, Golob said he was on the Brijuni archipelago off Istria and that he was on a brief vacation.

"What a miracle a few days by the sea do," Golob wrote on Instagram.

His cabinet confirmed the prime minister was in Croatia with his family on a brief vacation and that he was soon returning to Slovenia.