December 13, 2022 - Croatia is in the semi-final of the World Cup. The Croatia Argentina match is scheduled for 8 p.m. tonight and all of Croatia is preparing, including Zagreb's main square.

As Index writes, the Christmas decorations are being hurriedly removed from Ban Jelačić square in Zagreb. The reason for that is the semi-final match of the World Cup in which Croatia is playing Argentina. The match should be streamed at Zagreb's main square tonight. At the beginning of next week, another event is expected to be organised at the same place - the welcome home reception for the Croatian national football team.

When Croatia came in second in the 2018 World Cup, a massive spontaneous party was thrown at the Ban Jelačić square, with more than half a million participants. The celebrations were not limited to Zagreb, with many smaller parties arranged all over Croatia as well. This year, too, most cities in Croatia are organising watch parties at their main squares for the Croatia Argentina semi-final match.

As for Zagreb, Index wrote yesterday that the City of Zagreb started intensively arranging to host a watch party of today's match with Argentina on the big screen at Ban Josip Jelačić Square.
So far, the matches would be streamed at the nearby European Square, but it is expected that this year's semi-final match will attract many more people to the streets of Croatia's capital.

It is also expected that a mass reception party like the one after winning silver at the 2018 World Championship could be repeated, with the difference that this one should take place a few days before Christmas as well, giving it a special festive atmosphere.

The said reception of the national football team will either happen on Monday if Croatia goes through to the final, or on Sunday if Croatia ends up playing the third place match.

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

ZAGREB, 26 Jan 2022 - The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said on Tuesday it had opened accession discussions with Croatia, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Romania, and Bulgaria.

"There is no deadline for completion of the accession processes. The outcome and timeline depend on each candidate country’s capacity to adapt and adjust to align with the Organisation’s standards and best practices," the OECD said.

The process will include an in-depth evaluation by more than 20 technical committees of the candidates' alignment with OECD standards, policies, and practices.

"Croatia is ready to start OECD membership negotiations. Besides the Schengen Area and eurozone, our priority is OECD membership whereby we will strengthen our economy and Croatia's international standing and influence," Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Twitter.

The OECD's main values are individual liberty, democracy, the rule of law, the protection of human rights, and open, trading, competitive, sustainable and transparent market economies. The OECD also promotes sustainable and inclusive economic growth and climate change.

OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann pointed out that "candidate countries will be able to use the accession process to promote further reforms for the benefit of their people, while also strengthening the OECD as a like-minded community committed to a rules-based international order."

The technical reviews will focus on open trade and investment, public governance, anti-corruption efforts, and the effective protection of the environment and climate.

Once all the technical committees have completed their reviews, a final decision will be taken by unanimity of all OECD member countries.

For more, check out our dedicated politics section.

ZAGREB, December 7, 2019 - University of Zagreb rector Damir Boras on Friday received the 2019 Juan Vucetich Award for outstanding contribution to the promotion of relations and strengthening of the friendship between Argentina and Croatia.

Boras was presented with the award by Argentinean Ambassador Maximiliano Gregorio-Cernadas, who recalled the rich history of relations between the two countries.

The cooperation between the two states and peoples, which share a similar mentality, is better and better thanks to systematic advocacy by institutions as well as individuals like Boras, he said.

The award is named after Argentinean Croat anthropologist and policeman Juan Vucetich (1858-1925), the pioneer of fingerprint identification, known as dactyloscopy.

Gregorio-Cernadas said the award was being presented on the 350th anniversary of the University of Zagreb and the 27th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Argentina and Croatia.

The Juan Vucetich Award was established by the Argentinean Embassy in 2017 and its first laureate was Croatian politician Davor Ivo Stier, who was born and raised in Argentina.

More news about relations between Croatia and Argentina can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, March 15, 2018 - President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on Wednesday rejected Simon Wiesenthal Centre director Efraim Zuroff's "misinterpretation," of her speech in Buenos Aires and said that his repeated attempts to impose a collective stigma on Croatia, its people and its emigration deserved condemnation.

ZAGREB, March 15, 2018 - President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović rejected "malicious interpretations" of her statement that after World War II many Croats found a space in Argentina where they could freely express their demands for the freedom of the Croatian people and homeland, her office said in a press release.

ZAGREB, March 14, 2018 - Commenting on President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović's statement that "after World War II, many Croats found a space of freedom in Argentina where they could testify to their patriotism and express their justified demands for the freedom of the Croatian people and their homeland," former Foreign Minister Vesna Pusić of the GLAS party said on Wednesday that it was "unheard of for the president to speak against the constitution of her own country."

ZAGREB, March 14, 2018 - Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on Tuesday visited the Juan Vucetich Police Academy in La Plata, where, together with the security minister of Buenos Aires province, Christian Ritondo, she unveiled a plaque commemorating Ivan Vučetić, inventor of modern fingerprint identification, her office said.

ZAGREB, March 13, 2018 - Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović was made an honorary citizen of Buenos Aires during her visit to Argentina on Monday.

ZAGREB, March 12, 2018 - Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović met on Monday in Argentina with her Argentinean counterpart Mauricio Macri, and the two heads of state discussed the Croatian emigrant community in that country, avoiding double taxation, the economy and culture.

ZAGREB, March 12, 2018 - Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on Sunday arrived in Buenos Aires where she launched her Latin America tour by meeting with representatives of the Croat community in Argentina, the Office of the Croatian President said in a press release.