November 22, 2021 - Despite recent massive protests against the mandate to use COVID certificates, the use of these to enter restaurants, cafes, and other businesses is supported by more than half of the population in a recent survey.

As the numbers of positive COVID-19 cases and the number of daily deaths continue to rise in Croatia, two parallel realities are facing each other in the country. On one hand, the imposition of the use of COVID certificates to enter public institutions and soon private businesses has motivated thousands of Croats to get vaccinated in recent weeks. On the other hand, this has unleashed a mass movement of thousands of citizens who oppose the measure and demand that the government desists from the restrictions imposed.

Last night in the central Dnevnik of HTV, market research - HReiting was published, and one of the topics of the research was whether citizens support the introduction of COVID certificates for entering cafes and restaurants, reports HrTurizam.

When asked if you support the introduction of COVID certificates for entry to cafes and restaurants, hairdressers, gyms, following the example of other countries, a small majority of respondents support them. Namely, 55% of them support the introduction of COVID certificates for entering cafes and restaurants, while 40% of respondents do not. Others do not know or are not sure, ie. they do not want to answer.

The survey was conducted from November 15 to 17 on a sample of 1,400 respondents. The largest sample error is +/- 2.62% and the research reliability is 95%.

Croatia has registered 1,327 new coronavirus cases and 73 COVID-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus response team reported on Monday.

This is the largest number of deaths in a single day during the fourth wave of the pandemic, while the absolute record of 92 deaths was registered on 16 December 2020.

As of 21 November, 3,985,860 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered, with 52.38 percent of the total population, or 62.54 percent of the adult population, having been vaccinated. 2,125,514 persons have received at least one dose, while 1,896,361 have been fully vaccinated, which is 56.04 percent of the adult population.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and select your preferred language.

ZAGREB, 22 Nov 2021 - Following an increased demand for Pfizer/BioNtech's COVID-19 vaccine among the unvaccinated population in Croatia in recent weeks, the Slovenian government has decided to approve Croatia's request to lend it 40,950 doses of the vaccine.

The vaccine has not yet been delivered to Slovenia. so the operation will be carried out as a double donation. This means that Slovenia will first lend the vaccine to Croatia and then Croatia will return it to Slovenia by 31 December at the latest.

The contract for the double donation will be signed by the Health Ministry and the National Public Health Institute, which is also in charge of preparing the vaccine doses for transport, delivery, logistics and notifying the producer about the donation.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and select your preferred language.

ZAGREB, 22 Nov 2021 - Croatia has registered 1,327 new coronavirus cases and 73 COVID-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus response team reported on Monday.

This is the largest number of deaths in a single day during the fourth wave of the pandemic, while the absolute record of 92 deaths was registered on 16 December 2020.

Currently, there are 29,725 active COVID-19 cases in the country. Among them are 2,583 hospitalized people, including 324 patients placed on ventilators. 20,555 people are self-isolating.

Since 25 February 2020, when the first case was confirmed in Croatia, 571,707 people have been registered as having contracted the novel virus, of whom 10,376 have died and 531,606 have recovered, including 5,237 in the last 24 hours.

To date, 3,354,103 people have been tested, including 3,546 in the last 24 hours.

As of 21 November, 3,985,860 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered, with 52.38 percent of the total population, or 62.54 percent of the adult population, having been vaccinated. 2,125,514 persons have received at least one dose, while 1,896,361 have been fully vaccinated, which is 56.04 percent of the adult population.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and select your preferred language.

ZAGREB, 22 Nov 2021 - Croatia has donated 490,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to eight countries, including Bhutan, Vietnam, Rwanda and Kosovo, the Jutarnji List daily reported on Monday.

Croatia has ordered enough vaccines so it was able to donate 490,000 doses to lower-income countries in which vaccine is less available or too expensive. The donation was made through the WHO's Covax program.

By mid-November, Croatia has donated 420,000 doses of AstraZeneca to eight countries. Montenegro, Kosovo, and Bhutan received 10,000 doses each, Bosnia and Herzegovina received 170,000 doses, North Macedonia 30,000. Vietnam 60,000 doses, Rwanda 100,000 and Albania 30,000. Last month 70,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine were sent to Bosnia Herzegovina.

Contrary to popular belief, the donated vaccine is not stored in Croatia but the producer ships the doses originally intended for Croatia directly to other countries, Jutarnji List said.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and select your preferred language.

November the 22nd, 2021 - 2020 was a year unlike any other for the vast majority of people, if not everyone. A global pandemic had taken the entire world by storm and countries all scrambled to try to find solutions in a truly unprecedented global crisis. Croatian state support reached a massive 21.1 billion kuna during that extraordinarily challenging year.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, back on Wednesday, the Government accepted the report on Croatian state support for 2020, which shows that a total of 21.1 billion kuna aid/support was granted in that period, equal to 40 percent more than in 2019, while aid to support the economy during the coronavirus pandemic amounted to 1.64 billion kuna.

State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, Zdravko Zrinusic, stated at the recent Government session that "the movement of allocated Croatian state support in 2020 is marked by the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which in part affected the structure of granted aid." He pointed out that the continuous growth of granted aid continued and that it increased by 40 percent when compared to 2019.

The share of subsidies granted in GDP stood st 5.68 percent. Per employee, subsidies in 2020 amounted to 13,666.64 kuna, which is an increase of 3,977.93 kuna or 41.1 percent when compared to the pre-pandemic year of 2019.

Last year, the agriculture and fisheries sector received a massive 7.7 billion kuna in support payments, an increase of 15 percent when compared to the previous year, while aid in the industry and services sector amounted to 13.4 billion kuna or 60 percent more in total.

Croatian state support paid out to support the domestic economy during the coronavirus pandemic throughout 2020 was granted and paid out to various industries and companies for the first time ever, with job preservation measures included, and that all amounted to 1.64 billion kuna, representing a share of 7.8 percent in the total support granted.

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ZAGREB, 21 Nov, 2021 - In the last 24 hours, of 11,125 tests performed for coronavirus, 38% of them (4,262) have turned out to be positive, and 60 more COVID patients have died, raising the death toll to 10,303, Croatia's COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Sunday. 

There are now 33,708 active cases, and of them 2,568 are receiving hospital treatment. As many as 323 patients are on ventilators.

Since the first registered case of the infection with the novel virus in Croatia on 25 February 2020, over 3.35 million tests have been conducted showing that 570,380 people have contracted the virus. Of them, 526,369 have so far recovered, including 5,376 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

 62.5% of adult Croatians get vaccinated

More than 3.98 million vaccine doses have been administered under the vaccination rollout plan in Croatia where 52.32% of the total population or 62.47% of the adults have been given at least a shot.

As many as 56% of the adults have fully been vaccinated to date.

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ZAGREB, 21 Nov, 2021 - Ombudswoman Tena Šimonović Einwalter on Saturday evening condemned in the strongest terms the violence and assaults against TV crews that were covering the march organised by anti-vaccine certificate protesters in Zagreb earlier in the day.

Šimonović Einwalter said in a press release that she condemned attempts by demonstrators to prevent reporters from doing their job while they were covering the rally in Zagreb's main square.

She also urges the authorities, including the law enforcement authorities and the Office of the Chief State Prosecutor (DORH), to thoroughly investigate the incidents and violence so that perpetrators can be held to account. In this way, the society will receive an unequivocal message about zero tolerance to violence against anybody, particularly against persons who do their job in the interest of the public, Šimonović Einwalter said.

The freedom of expression and particularly the freedom of he press is guaranteed by the constitution, she recalls.

Freedom of assembly and the right to to peacefully assemble do not exclude other human rights and they also do not justify verbal, physical and other violence, she writes in the press release.

A reporter of the RTL commercial broadcaster, Goran Latković, was attacked by two unidentified persons from behind as he was covering the rally, and they slapped him across the face twice, while a third person hit him in the rib cage.

Also, Nova TV and HTV crews were verbally assaulted at the rally, while a group of protesters took Al Jazeera reporter Nikolina Zavišić's microphone as she was reporting live.

On Saturday evening a group of protesters moved from Zagreb's central square to the part of the city where the HRT public broadcaster is located, demanding to see the HRT director and have their rally covered live and calling for an end to "censorship" by the HRT.

Dissatisfied with the way the HRT covered their protest in the central city square at 3 p.m., the protesters shouted "We want elections", "Referendum and people's rule", "Thieves", "Treason", "God's law is above all laws", demanding to see the HRT director and have their rally covered live. "This is no vaccine, this is poison", someone in the crowd could be heard saying while some protesters said the world was ruled by "Bill Gates, Talmudists and Soros's followers".

The protesters were met by riot police, with a dozen police vehicles blocking access to the HRT building.

Violence against reporters condemned by office-holders, associations, political parties

The Croatian Journalists Association (HND) and the Croatian Journalists Union (SNH) on Saturday strongly condemned an attack on RTL reporter Goran Latković at the protest, demanding a prompt police investigation and calling on the government to unequivocally condemn the incident.

The attacks by protesters on media workers were also condemned by the government spokesman, the minister of culture and the Office of the President.

The Istrian Democratic Party (IDS) said on Saturday evening that the freedom to assembly did not include the right to violence and said that the attacks against reporters "resemble dark times" and called on all the political parties to stand up for the protection of the journalistic profession."

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ZAGREB, 20 Nov, 2021 - Researcher Gordan Lauc, a former member of the government's Scientific Council, said on Saturday evening that he had not called for protests against vaccinations and COVID certificates in his social networks posts and that he did not feel responsible for the incidents during the protest.

Lauc told the the Nova TV broadcaster on Saturday evening that he actually said in his posts that "COVID certificates are wrong. I told the vociferous majority that their voice should be heard. That they should share my post, that they should write to media outlets to the government, that they should turn out at protest rallies in line with law."

He went on to say that it was not him who called on people to join the protest rally held in Zagreb on Saturday afternoon against vaccines and against COVID certificates and underscored that he did not feel responsible for the incidents which had occurred during the demonstrations organised by anti-vaxxers when protesters were trying to prevent reporters to cover the rally in Zagreb's main square.

Lauc said he was sure that 99.9% of demonstrators had expressed their dissatisfaction in a peaceful and legal manner.

He added that every form of violence, both verbal and physical, should be condemned.

"Things should be settled through institution, the system, the exchange of arguments and by making logical decisions."

He said that the decision on the COVID certificate mandate was wrong. The measure was designed in the European Union, when we believed that the vaccinated people could not spread the virus.

This creates a false feeling of security, Lauc added.

While claiming that the vaccination against coronavirus would not lessen the strain on hospitals, he admitted that he was fully vaccinated after he had recovered this infectious disease.

He explained that he had received two shots to make it easier for him to travel abroad and also due to the fact that he had underlying conditions.

"Vaccination will not halt the spread of the pandemic. Getting vaccinated will reduce the risks of vaccinated individuals. All of us will caught the virus," he said.

Lauc used to be a member of the government's scientific think tank, however, the government decided to dismiss him from that body, after he said that he was against the mandatory COVID certificates for entry into state and public institutions.

The Croatian Chamber of Physicians and some members of the said think tank already warned about controversial statements made by Lauc and the chamber welcomed the decision to relieve  Lauc of the membership of the government's scientific council.

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ZAGREB, 20 Nov 2021 - RTL television reporter Goran Latković was attacked during a protest against mandatory COVID-19 certificates in Zagreb on Saturday while covering the event.

At the protest, which draw several thousand people from all around the country, Latković was attacked from behind and he sustained two blows to the head, rib cage and elbow.

As he was attacked from behind, the reporter did not see his attackers.

He confirmed to Hina that he would report the incident to the police.

The RTL television reported about the incident involving its reporter.

ZAGREB, 20 Nov 2021 - Thousands rallied in downtown Zagreb on Saturday afternoon for what so far is the biggest protest against COVID-19 certificates, with those who addressed the rally saying that no contagion could threaten Croatia more than the corruption and crime that have infected its government.

The protest in the city's central Trg Bana Josipa Jelačića square started around 3 p.m. when two columns of marchers, who previously gathered in two other squares, Trg Francuske republike and Trg žrtava fašizma, came together in the central square. Police escorted them to the central square. 

The rally ended around 5.30 p.m. when the organisers called on the protesters to disperse peacefully.

However, some of the protesters headed towards the public broadcaster HRT's headquarters instead, where they sang patriotic songs and demanded to talk to the HRT leadership and be interviewed live.

No major incidents were reported during the protest in the central square, however, RTL television reporter Goran Latković was attacked and a group of protesters took an Al-Jazeera reporter's microphone.

As the protesters were shouting "No to certificates", "Crisis team, leave" and "Plenković, leave", speakers addressed the rally one by one, warning that COVID-19 certificates heralded open totalitarianism.

Protester Andrija Klarić, who addressed the rally first, said the protesters came from all parts of the country. "There are no divisions, no left or right, we are all one."

At his invitation, the protesters symbolically voted in two laws abolishing COVID-19 certificates and prohibiting the adoption of new laws on the certificates.

A man who greeted the protesters on behalf of students said that students had been with their people in 1971, 1991 and 2021, warning that the country was threatened by one of the worst kinds of totalitarianism ever and asking Prime Minister Andrej Plenković why he was hiding behind the coronavirus crisis management team.

"You were not given your freedom by Plenković or his crisis management team, nobody gave you your freedom and nobody can take it from you," he said.

The next speaker, who said that she was a doctor, called the testing for coronavirus war profiteering and opposed "fascism and segregation".

One of the speakers said that citizens were being denied freedoms and human rights and that that would only contribute to the spreading of COVID-19 among the most vulnerable groups.

"We are all different but we have the same goal - a free Croatia," he said, advocating the freedom of choice.

Some of the protesters waved Croatian flags and carried banners with messages such as "I believe scientist Gordan Lauc", "No to blind belief in authorities", "Live and let others live", "For freedom and freedom of choice".

They called for abolishing COVID-19 certificates, claiming that citizens who do not have the certificates are being unconstitutionally and unlawfully excluded from public life and prevented from going to work or school.