ZAGREB, 16 July 2022 - The Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina, the oldest political party representing ethnic Croats in Serbia, marked its 32nd anniversary at a ceremony in Subotica on Friday.

Addressing the event, the Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina president Tomislav Žigmanov spoke about the importance of being included in dialogue and talks on the formation of Serbia's new government.

"We want to be actors in policies that will steer Serbia into European integrations," said he.

Žigmanov, who won a seat in the Serbian parliament in the last elections in April, said that this would open new prospects for the Croat community in Serbia.

The Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina is the only parliamentary party representing the interests of ethnic Croats. o

The party has over a score of branches, most of them being in larger towns of Vojvodina.

Since its establishment the party has had three presidents: Bela Tonković and Petar Kuntić as Žigmanov's predecessors.

ZAGREB, 5 June 2022 - A mass and other religious services were held in Macelj on Sunday to commemorate the 77th anniversary of the killing of numerous defeated soldiers and civilians by the Communist regime in early June 1945 in that Croatian town near the border with Slovenia.

The War Veterans' Affairs Ministry State Secretary Darko Nekić said in Macelj today that investigations into what happened to victims of the Second World War and to those killed in the aftermath of that war were one of the major tasks of the ministry.

According to some estimates, in Macelj and nearby forests around 13,000 people were killed in early June 1945. With the 1,163 identified victims, including 21 priests, Macelj is so far the biggest site of Communist crimes in Croatia. A score of mass graves have been exhumed at Macelj so far.

Nekić said that the ministry and the Macelj 1945 association were intensively working on shedding the light on those crimes.

The official said that over the last 18 months, nine locations have been searched for remains of the victims, and at one of them, the remains of 84 people have been unearthed.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 19 May 2022 - Zagreb's Klovićevi Dvori Gallery on Wednesday marked its 40th anniversary with an exhibition of graphics entitled "Ukrainian Rhapsody" and the screening of a film about the gallery.

The exhibition, initiated by former culture minister Božo Biškupić, was opened by Culture and Media Minister Nina Obuljen Koržinek, who said that Klovićevi Dvori was one of the most important world galleries, having hosted more than 1,500 exhibitions.

The exhibition, featuring works by 14 Croatian artists, is a token of solidarity with the suffering of the Ukrainian people, Obuljen Koržinek said.

Ukrainian Ambassador Vasyl Kyrylych, who attended the event, thanked Croatia and its prime minister for their strong support to Ukraine.

Attending the opening of the exhibition were also Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, government ministers, members of parliament and other prominent public figures.

The exhibition "Ukrainian Rhapsody" lasts until 19 June.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 15 May 2022 - HDZ party leader and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Saturday, on the occasion of the 100th birth anniversary of Croatia's first president Franjo Tuđman, that few 20th century statesmen can measure up to Tuđman in terms of their historical importance for their own nation.

Tuđman's political legacy democracy, freedom and state

Speaking at a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of Tuđman's birth at Zagreb's "Vatroslav Lisinski" concert hall, Plenković said that a free and sovereign Croatia was Tuđman's life's work.

Tuđman's political legacy is what we live today - democracy, freedom and an own state, Plenković said, adding that Croatia's first president believed that people of different worldviews could give a valuable contribution to the accomplishment of Croatian national interests.

He advocated reconciliation of the Croatian people and the unity of Croatians living in Croatia and the expatriate community, and those are the beliefs he built the HDZ on, said Plenković.

"Because of all of that we can freely say that few 20th century statesmen can measure up to him in terms of their historical importance for their own nation," Plenković said.

Today's HDZ has been advocating for six years now Christian Democratic, people's, patriotic and universal humanist values, which are the values Croatians rallied around under Tuđman's leadership, he said.

"His legacy is the foundation of both the home and the foreign policy of today's Croatia, which has a strong pro-European orientation and feeling of belonging to Central and Mediterranean Europe," Plenković said.

Speaking of those who "in the past 20 years have worked on the so-called de-Tuđmanisation, trying to downplay Tuđman's accomplishments and political legacy," Plenković said that they had not succeeded and would not succeed.

The commemoration in a packed Vatroslav Lisinski hall was also addressed by former parliament speaker Vladimir Šeks, who said that those who doubted that the HDZ was continuing Tuđman's policy should look at the gathering to see for themselves what Tuđman meant and still means to the HDZ.

Attending the commemoration were members and leadership of the HDZ, the HDZ government ministers as well as former ministers and party officials -  Ljubo Ćesić Rojs, Martina Dalić, Tomislav Ćorić, Josip Aladrović, Milan Kujundžić, Lovro Kuščević, and former HDZ leader Tomislav Karamarko.

Also present were a delegation of the HDZ BiH party, led by Dragan Čović, the president of the Croatian National Council (HNV) in Serbia, Jasna Vojnić, Serbian MP Tomislav Žigmanov, Montenegrin minister Adrijan Vuksanović, and some members of the Tuđman family.

War Veterans Minister Tomo Medved recalled the successful military and police liberation operations of the 1991-95 Homeland War, the crown of which was Operation Storm, saying that Tuđman was a superior military strategist.

Jandroković: It is a perfidious lie that HDZ and Croatia were created by UDBA

Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković said that as the main champions of change and transformation, Tuđman and the HDZ had been constantly under attack by external and internal factors.

"Defamation has been going on the whole time. I heard the other day a perfidious lie, that the HDZ and Croatia were created by UDBA (former Yugoslav security service)," Jandroković said.

UDBA worked and killed for Communist Yugoslavia and Croatia was created by true patriots, defenders, and ordinary people for whom Croatia was above any ideology, said Jandroković.

For more, check out our dedicated politics section.

ZAGREB, 14 May 2022 - A delegation of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) led by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković laid a wreath and lit candles outside the house in Veliko Trgovišće, 40km north of Zagreb, where the first President of Croatia and founder of the HDZ, Franjo Tuđman, was born 100 years ago.

"I think that President Tuđman achieved all the goals he set out in his speech in the Croatian Parliament on 30 May 1990 after the first democratic election. It is up to us to improve them in new international circumstances and new economic circumstances in the face of global challenges. We should do all we can for the benefit of Croatian society and Croatian citizens," Plenković said, describing Tuđman as "a Croatian great and the biggest Croatian statesman in history."

Plenković said that Tuđman's political legacy is the obligation of all those who have won the trust of the Croatian people.  Thanking all Croatian defenders and citizens for supporting Tuđman in crucial times, he said that the situation in the 1990s was indeed difficult, given the military aggression by Serbia's Milošević regime, and required the courage and boldness of Croatian defenders as well as statesmanship and the wise leadership of the state.

The prime minister said that Croatia has been internationally recognised for 30 years now and has achieved all its strategic goals.

"It is a member of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. We have a democracy and developed institutions and are making continued progress on what was his goal and that is that we fight and work together to ensure a better life for every Croatian," Plenković said.

He also highlighted Croatia's care for the Croats abroad, saying that the great value of Tuđman's policy was to maintain ties between the Croats at home and abroad.

Presidential special adviser Mate Granić said that Tuđman had made historical moves that led to the creation of the modern Croatian state and pursued a policy that helped bring an end to the war in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina and achieve the peaceful reintegration of Serb-occupied territories in Croatia.

Asked if Tuđman would have been pleased with present-day Croatia, Granić said: "From a strategic point of view, absolutely yes. This government of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković runs a modern, sovereignist policy. This government was also among the first to recognise what would happen in Ukraine and supported Ukraine and the Ukrainian people in their defence against the brutal and unprovoked Russian aggression. This government cares for the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Unfortunately, after Tuđman's death, 15 years had to pass before a government came into power than put focus on the status of the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina."

The HDZ delegation included Minister for Veterans' Affairs Tomo Medved, Interior Minister Davor Božinović, Health Minister Vili Beroš, Transport Minister Oleg Butković, Defence Minister Mario Banožić, Economy Minister Davor Filipović, Culture Minister Nina Obuljen Koržinek and former HDZ Secretary-General Ivan Jarnjak.

The HDZ delegation also laid a wreath at Tuđman's grave at Mirogoj Cemetery in Zagreb.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 13 May 2022 - The 77th anniversary of the Bleiburg tragedy and what in Croatia is known as the Way of the Cross marches is being commemorated this month, with the central commemoration, to be held under the auspices of the Croatian parliament, set for 14 May at Zagreb's Mirogoj cemetery and in Udbina.

As part of this year's commemorative events, a mass will be served at the parish church in Bleiburg, Austria, at 6 pm today, and Croatia's Ambassador to Austria will lay a wreath there. The memorial service in "Hl. Petrus und Paulus" church in Bleiburg will be said in Croatian.

The central commemoration, including the laying of wreaths and Catholic and Muslim prayers, will take place at Zagreb's central cemetery on Saturday, after which mass will be celebrated at the Shrine of Croatian Martyrs in Udbina, some 140 kilometres south of Zagreb.

On 25 May, a commemorative gathering is scheduled to take place in the State Archive. On 29 May, Catholic memorial services will be held for the victims of the Bleiburg tragedy at Radimlja, Stolac, southern Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Since 1995, with a few interruptions during the SDP government in Croatia, the commemorations in the Loibach field near Bleiburg, in the southern region of Carinthia, have been held in tribute to tens of thousands of Croatian civilians and soldiers of the defeated pro-Nazi Independent State of Croatia (NDH) who surrendered to allied forces there in May 1945, but were handed over by British troops to Yugoslav forces. Some were executed on the spot, while many perished during so-called death marches back to Yugoslavia in the second half of 1945.

In 2020, Austrian parliamentarian parties requested an expert opinion on whether such gatherings in the Loibach field could pass the test of constitutionality.

A task force consisting of historians, jurists and Catholic Church representatives as well as local officials in that Austrian province concluded that such gatherings should no longer be held in Bleiburg.

The commission was set up in 2020 in accordance with the decision of the parliamentary parties ÖVP, SPÖ, the Greens and Neos, and the decision of that think tank was prompted by discussion on the political dimension of the commemorations in recent years.

In 2019 the Catholic Diocese in Klagenfurt withheld permission for a mass to be said by someone of the bishop's rank. The Roman Catholic Church in Carinthia turned down the request by the Croatian Catholic Bishops' Conference to hold mass at Loibach, claiming the event was used for political purposes.

On 22 March 2019, the president of the Austrian Bishops' Conference, Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, said Austria and Croatia should jointly deal with the historical issue of Bleiburg.

"I think we need a culture of dealing with history," the Archbishop of Vienna said after a meeting of the country's Bishops' Conference.

The cardinal said it would be good to form a joint commission that would deal with Bleiburg's "complicated history." "I think we need something like that, otherwise we will stay at the level of conflict," he added.

He concluded that for now Austria saw only a "fascist gathering" occurring at Bleiburg, while Croatia's focus was on the painful history of ancestors, the Austrian news agency APA quoted him as saying on that occasion. "Bleiburg symbolises a very painful period in the history of the Croatian people, with many thousands dead," he said.

Croatia protests to Austria over removal of historical coat of arms

On 5 May this year, the Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs lodged a protest note with Austria over the removal of the historical Croatian coat of arms from the monument commemorating Croats killed at Bleiburg in May 1945.

The monument is located on the private property of an Austrian association, the Bleiburg Guard of Honour, and the reasons for the removal of the coat of arms given by the Völkermarkt municipal administration "are unacceptable to Croatia from both the historical and the social and political point of view," the Croatian ministry said in a statement.

As regards commemorations held at Bleiburg, the ministry said that they must be dedicated solely to the memory of those killed and held as part of Requiem Mass for the thousands of civilian victims.

The Bleiburg Guard of Honour has removed the disputed inscription to avoid any connection between the inscription and the coat of arms, the statement said.

The protest note says that "the coat of arms itself was for centuries a constituent part of the heraldry of the Habsburg Monarchy and as such often displayed on various historical buildings and in historical documents, hence it does not and cannot have unconstitutional connotations."

The ministry also noted that "declaring the historical Croatian coat of arms a fascist symbol has done undue harm to the reputation of Croatia and the Croats living and working in Austria, and has created the impression that Croatia today uses unconstitutional symbols. Croatia strongly rejects such an interpretation."

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 9 April 2022 - The Croatian Defence Force (HOS) 9th Battalion on Saturday marked its 31st anniversary at a church and the Lora arena in the coastal city of Split, commemorating its 46 members killed in the 1991-95 Homeland War.

Addressing a packed Lora arena, the president of the "HOS 9th Battalion" association, and the battalion's wartime commander, Marko Skejo, said, among other things, that members of the battalion had given a major contribution to Croatia's independence, ending his speech by shouting "For the homeland ready", to which the audience did the same.

One of the battalion's wartime commanders, Mile Ćuk, said its members had fought in all parts of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, with around 2,500 soldiers having passed through the unit, of whom more than 300 were wounded and 46 killed.

"Our fighters proudly and honourably wore on their uniforms insignia with the inscription 'For the homeland ready', the holy salute which today some want to ban. We Catholics celebrate Easter and Christmas, Homeland War Victory Day, Homeland Thanksgiving Day and War Veterans Day, which is the day of those who are for the homeland ready," Ćuk said.

HOS was the armed wing of the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) fighting in Croatia's 1991-95 war of independence and "For the homeland ready" was the salute used by Croatia's pro-Nazi Ustasha regime in WWII.

Attending today's commemoration were also War Veterans Minister Tomo Medved's envoy Matko Raos, Split-Dalmatia County deputy head Stipe Čogelja, representatives of neighbouring cities and members of parliament Ante Prkačin and Zlatko Hasanbegović.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 31 March 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Thursday remembered the first victim of the 1991-1995 Homeland War - police officer Josip Jović who was killed by Serb insurgents near the Plitvice Lakes 31 years ago.

"This is an opportunity for us to once again remember and thank all Croatian defenders, soldiers, police officers and all those who gave their lives for freedom," Plenković said.

In a separate message on this occasion, Defence Minister Mario Banožić said: "We are proud of Josip Jović and all defenders, Croatian police officers and Croatian soldiers, who showed how to fight for the freedom of Croatia and all its people, regardless of the gravity of challenges and despite sacrifices."

Croatia on Thursday commemorated the 31th anniversary of Operation Plitvice and the death of Josip Jović, the first Croatian police officer to be killed by Serb insurgents at the start of the 1991-1995 Homeland War.

The operation was mounted after rebel Serbs set up a police station in Plitvice and the Croatian state leadership decided to restore constitutional order there.

Jović, 22, was killed and nine other police officers were wounded in that police operation after the Serb rebels occupied Plitvice Lakes National Park and blocked the D1 state road that connects the country's north and south. Jović was a member of the Lučko Anti-Terrorist Unit.

The operation was launched on the morning of 31 March 1991, Easter Sunday, and is also known as Bloody Easter.

According to police reports after the operation, 29 Serb extremists were arrested and 18 were charged with armed rebellion, including Goran Hadžić, a member of the main committee of the Serb Democratic Party, and Borivoje Savić, secretary of the executive committee of the party's Vukovar branch. Although the Croatian police regained control of the local police station, they had to withdraw later and the area remained under rebel control until August 1995 when Operation Storm crushed the Serb insurgency.

Jović has been posthumously promoted to the rank of major and decorated with high state medals.

Politics: For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 22 March 2022 - Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević said on Tuesday, on the second anniversary of the 2020 earthquake, that the city administration was very unhappy with the reconstruction of private buildings, of which the state was in charge, calling on the state to say what more the city can do to help it in the process.

"It is a duty for the city to help in the process but we must also say that our patience, as well as the patience of Zagreb residents, is wearing thin. Let them say what else we can do to help, and we will help," Tomašević said at a regular press conference.

On the second anniversary of the 22 March 2020 earthquake in Zagreb, with no private buildings or houses having been reconstructed, the mayor said that he was "extremely unhappy".

He recalled that the city had set aside HRK 160 million for reconstruction this year.

That is a 20% share with which, under the law, the city is obliged to co-finance the reconstruction of private houses and residential buildings, and the money has still not been touched because the city is waiting for the completion of processes of which the state is in charge, Tomašević said.

Asked where the problem was and who was responsible for the reconstruction of private buildings not having started yet, the mayor said that under the law, it was clear that the reconstruction of private buildings was in the remit of the state - the construction ministry and the reconstruction fund.

In a message to the state authorities, Tomašević said that if the legislative framework was still not good, it should be changed again.

"If the law is not good, change it again. If the reconstruction programme is not good, let it be changed," he said.

If the problem in the reconstruction process is the lack of construction companies, one should publish international tenders, he said.

Asked if there was a forecast as to how many private houses and buildings in Zagreb should be reconstructed by the end of the year, the mayor said that the HRK 160 million contribution from the city had been agreed with the Construction Ministry.

"We set aside the 160 million... because we expected that it was our contribution to some HRK 800 million for the reconstruction of private buildings, which should have been launched and the funds spent by the end of the year," he said.

The city has already invested HRK 250 million into the reconstruction of public buildings, and that money will be reimbursed from the EU Solidarity Fund. Temporary accommodation has been secured for people who after the earthquake were accommodated in housing containers and the Arena Hostel, and the city has reassigned its employees to the ministry and the fund to help step up the procedures, Tomašević said, citing what the city has done so far to facilitate the reconstruction process.

He added that the city had also allocated HRK 41.8 million in aid for citizens whose properties were damaged in the earthquake.

ZAGREB, 22 March 2022 - Croatia on Tuesday marked the second anniversary of the devastating 5.5-strong earthquake that hit the capital city of Zagreb and northwestern parts of the country at 0624 hours on 22 March 2020 and killed a 15-year-old girl, while 27 people were injured.

The natural disaster caused extensive damage estimated at HRK 86.4 billion (€11.5 billion).

Croatia was granted €683.7 million for earthquake relief according to the provisions of the European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF).

As many as 25,0000 properties were destroyed or severely damaged, including buildings housing hospital and schools in the city centre as well as Government House and Parliament Hall.

Although some headway has been made in the post-quake reconstruction, residents in the quake-affected areas and the general public are eagerly waiting for the reconstruction to be in full swing.

The Reconstruction Fund explains that that public procurement procedures and designing had taken more than than initially planned.

This spring, the reconstruction and retrofitting of over 120 blocks of flats and family homes are scheduled to start.

Also the repairs that do not include seismic retrofitting are to be done to roughly 500 residential buildings this year.

Furthermore the authorities have recently started disbursing the compensation to the owners who have already rebuilt their quake-damaged properties on their own initiative.

Majority of school buildings reconstructed

So far, most of the school buildings affected by the tremor have already been reconstructed.

The Medical School has been awarded HRK 377 million for the rebuilding and upgrade of its five buildings.

Also, the Croatian Parliament's building has been awarded HRK 87.6 million for its post-quake reconstruction.

€266m contracts inked for Zagreb health institutions' post-quake reconstruction

A total of 43 contracts, worth 1.98 billion kuna, have been signed so far for the post-quake reconstruction of health institutions in Zagreb and its surroundings, since the 22 March 2020  earthquake, according to the data provided recently by the Health Ministry.

€466m for renovation of historical and cultural landmarks, places of worship

The ministry of culture and media has reported that the contracts have been concluded on the reconstruction of 149 projects concerning listed building housing museums, churches and other important institutions, and HRK 3.5 billion has been put at the disposal by the Solidarity Fund for this purpose.

Year-long extension of deadline for using EU quake relief

Croatia will be able to use the relief granted from the EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF) for earthquake reconstruction in Zagreb until June 2023, which has been adjusted to the period for the use of the allocation for the 6.4-strong earthquake that hit the area of Banovina in Sisak Moslavina County on 29 December 2020 and progressive damage caused.

(€1 = HRK 7.5)