September 28, 2022 – The Croatian Women’s NetworkTM/Mreža Hrvatskih Žena is calling for nominations for its coveted Croatian Women of Influence Awards and Future Leaders Awards, which will be conferred at a gala event on International Women’s Day Wednesday, March 8th, 2023 in Zagreb, Republic of Croatia

Recognizing leadership, innovation, and community impact

“Since 2016, CWN/MHŽ has been recognizing and celebrating Croatian women the world over with the only award of its kind. We are thrilled to be returning to Zagreb following a two-year hiatus due to pandemic restrictions,” noted Caroline Spivak, founder of Croatian Women’s NetworkTM/Mreža Hrvatskih Žena. “It is a privilege to be able to shine a light on the most inspiring and influential Croatian women and to celebrate their achievements.”

The Croatian Women of Influence Award recognizes the leadership, innovation, and community impact of Croatian women. A companion Future Leaders award recognizes enterprising young women between the ages of 16 to 21 who demonstrate extraordinary talent and leadership. “Supporting the success of young and emerging leaders is an area where we have the most significant opportunity to champion future generations of successful Croatian women,” said Spivak.

Nominations can be submitted by visiting www.crotianwomensnetwork.org and will be accepted up until October 23, 2022.

Awards will be presented at a gala event celebrating International Women’s Day, following CWN/MHŽ’s signature conference: Advancing Women, Advancing Economies. Realize the Potential! on Wednesday, March 8, 2023, in Zagreb.

The Croatian Women’s NetworkTM/Mreža Hrvatskih Žena (www.CroatianWomensNetwork.org) is a global forum that celebrates, champions, and connects distinguished women of Croatian ancestry from around the world who work together to inspire and champion each other. The Croatian Women of Influence Awards and the Future Leader Awards honor their achievements.

 Media Contacts: 

Ivana Perkovac
Profile Communications Corp.
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+385 (92) 1660-630

Caroline Spivak
Founder, Croatian Women’s Network™/Mreža Hrvatskih Žena
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+1 (416) 371-9740

May 22, 2022 - The Central State Office for Croats outside the Republic of Croatia has announced a public call for the Croatian language scholarship for the 2022/2023 semesters. This year, for the first time, those interested will be able to choose the City of Zadar as their preference of location when studying the Croatian language.

With the aim of learning the Croatian language, learning about Croatian culture and preserving national identity, promoting unity and cooperation, and returning emigrated Croats and their descendants to the country, the Central State Office for Croats Abroad announced a public call for scholarships for Croatian language learning in Croatia for the academic year 2022/2023.

The first period of the Croatian language scholarship, called the winter semester, runs from the beginning of October 2022 to the end of January 2023. The second, the summer semester, runs from the beginning of March 2023 to the end of June 2023. The participants, when applying, can choose between studying for one or both semesters.

Who can apply?

Members of the Croatian people, their spouses as well as friends of the Croatian people and the Republic of Croatia who nurture the Croatian identity and promote the Croatian cultural community. They must be over 18, they must have completed at least high school and reside outside of the Republic of Croatia. They can also have resided in the Republic of Croatia for no longer than three years as of the date of the publication of this public invitation.

How and until when can one apply?

The application for this public invitation is to be submitted exclusively in electronic form via the e-application form available HERE. The deadline for submitting applications is June 19, 2022.

In which cities can you study the Croatian language scholarship?

The course is being organised by the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb, Split, Rijeka, Osijek, and the University of Zadar. The scholarship implies regular attendance at classes in the Republic of Croatia in the place where the course is held.

Among other things, the canidadte must indicate their choice of language learning semester in their application (winter, summer, or both), as well as their desired place for attending the course.

For more information about the Croatian language scholarship in Croatia, write me an email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the subject ''Croatian language scholarship''.

All other details are listed in the public invitation and the attached instructions. In case of the need for additional information, candidates can send an inquiry to the e-mail address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. no later than the expiration of the above deadline or in the same period call: +385 (0) 1 / 6444-683, working on the day from 10.00 - 15.00.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 16 April  2022 - Local artists have placed large Easter eggs, which are 2.5 metres high and 1.6 metre wide, in the centre of the Argentinian city of Mendoza, following the Croatian tradition of putting on display big Easter eggs in town squares, the Argentinian news agency Telam reported on Saturday.

Nora Vicario, the head of the city department for culture in this western Argentinian city, was quoted as saying that they had learnt about this beautiful custom from the local Croat community.

Representatives of the Croat community are included in the jury that will declare the best three Easter eggs staged in the centre of Mendoza for Easter holidays.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 26 March 2022 - The number of students from Chile attending university programmes in Croatia has doubled this year since the previous school year, and Croatia can expect even more Chilean undergraduates after the election of Gabriel Borić, who has Croat roots, as the president of that South American country.

This academic year, there are 45 Chilean students enrolled in the ongoing semester course of Croatian Language and Culture provided by Croaticum Centre in Zagreb.

Croaticum, established in 1962 as the Centre for Croatian as a Second and Foreign Language, is the oldest and largest institution engaged in teaching, research and description of Croatian as a second and foreign language. It is part of the Department of Croatian Language and Literature at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Zagreb.

In the last five years, 163 students from Chile have attended Croaticum programmes.

In Chile, a country with 19 million inhabitants, there are about 400,000 ethnic Croats, who make up 2.4% of the total population.

The newly-elected president Gabriel Boric is a descendant of Croatian emigrants, and his great grandfather arrived in Chile from the Croatian island of Ugljan off Zadar.

Lector for the Croatian language at the University of Magallanes in Punta Arenas, Kristina Barišić, has said that Boric's election has contributed to a growing interest of the Chilean general public in Croatia.

This was also an encouragement for Croatian expat communities, she told Hina.

Two undergraduates of that university, Makarena Mansilla Carrasco and Javiera Astorga Vodanić, are among the current students of the ongoing semester course of Croatian Language and Culture at Croaticum Centre in Zagreb.

Makarena has told the ITV Patagonia broadcaster that she was highly motivated to get better knowledge of the culture of Croatia.

This 26-year-old student of psychology has received a scholarship of the Croatian government and agency for mobility and EU programmes for the continuation of her education in Croatia.

Javiera, who enrolled in the Nutrition and Diet at the Health Sciences Department of the Punta Arenas university, says that the possibility of being awarded the scholarship for education in Croatia has given an additional impetus to her to learn the Croatian language.

Javiara, 23, who is currently staying in a student dorm in Zagreb, admits that the stories that Croatian is difficult to learn have additionally motivated her.

September 9, 2021 - On the 20th anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center, we remember the lives lost that fateful day, including that of Lieutenant Anthony Jovic, the son of Croatian immigrants, who died at age 39.

On a date like today, but 20 years ago, the world shook at the news of the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York City. The shocking images went around the world live and on all the news on the planet. The world surely changed that day, and twenty years later the memory is still present. Moreover, after the recent events in Afghanistan, with the official withdrawal of US troops in Kabul and the installation of the new Taliban government, it has been weeks of reflection for people all over the planet after 20 years that ended a failed war.

But today, beyond the events that occurred as a consequence, serves to pay tribute to the civilians who lost their lives that day, as well as the hundreds of firefighters who tried to save them. In addition to the nearly 25,000 injured, the attack carried out by the terrorist organization Al Qaeda claimed a total of 2,977 victims, including 343 firefighters. And among those firefighters was Anthony Jovic.

Anthony Jovic's name at Ground Zero (Photo: Richard Chemel)

Lieutenant Anthony Jovic, who considered himself an American Croat, was the son of Croatian immigrants and grew up in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York. He belonged to Battalion 47, Ladder 34, and was working in Engine 279. This article pays tribute without exception to all the victims, their families, and loved ones, as well as the New York Fire Department. But, in the following lines written by the Bravest Memorial Foundation, we remember Anthony in a special way, who that day had a day off, but did not return home on September 9, 2001, at age 39.

In those first weeks after Lt. Anthony Jovic disappeared with other members of Engine Co. 279 at the World Trade Center, his wife, Cynthia, concentrated on being strong for his two boys, Matthew, 10, and Peter, 9. So she had a little psychological trick she played on herself to keep going. "I'd say, 'He's working today. He's going to come home tonight,'" she recalled. "That night it would be, 'OK, he's working tonight, he's going to come home tomorrow.' Every day I'd tell myself the same thing."

It was because Cynthia Jovic can't imagine morning coffee without her husband of 16 years, a big kidder and hugger-and-kisser who never got through a day without several times telling her and the boys he loved them.

The son of a Croatian longshoreman who grew up in Hell's Kitchen, Jovic, 39, impressed all his friends as being smart enough to win the big one on "Jeopardy!".

The couple met in Manhattan when he was working at a butcher shop on Ninth Avenue and she, also a Croatian immigrant and longshoreman's daughter, was working at a deli nearby. When a cousin suggested they all go to an Irish pub in New Hyde Park, Jovic drove to pick her up in Manhattan in the most formal manner, allowing plenty of time to chat first with her mother and father at the house. For her old-fashioned European parents, his wife said, "it was love at first sight." For the couple, too. They married 2 1/2 years later.

Anthony Jovic with wife Cynthia (Photo: Voices Center for Resilience)

Jovic joined the city fire department 12 years ago, about the time the family moved from Elmhurst to Massapequa Park. He was aiming high, and once he made lieutenant was already spending every free day he could find to prepare for the captain's exam, which he would have taken in October. When not working or studying, it was miniature golf, bowling, and lots of swimming with the family in the backyard pool. They were so close, she could finish his sentences for him.

"We were the happiest when we were together," she said. Cynthia Jovic was watching CNN on Sept. 11; she knew it was bad, because her husband was working with the company in Red Hook, Brooklyn, that day.

"When that [south] tower came down, his soul went right through me. I knew it then, he just went through me and I knew he was gone," she said. His burned and mangled shield turned up in the south tower in November, shortly before a memorial service was held, but no remains have been identified.

Lieutenant Anthony Jovic (Photo: Voices Center for Resilience)

The memory of that moment has become a source of warmth and comfort lately, now that it's no longer possible for her to pretend her husband is coming home tonight, or tomorrow morning, or the next day. Now, Cynthia Jovic knows, he's with her and the kids all the time. "He always told me, 'Every time they take an ID picture, I try to look nice, because you never know when they might be using it for a memorial.' I'll be honest with you, I think he looks wonderful in the picture that they have of him." (By Elizabeth Moore on Newsday, February 5, 2002)

Two years ago, on September 7, 2019, the New York Post reported that Anthony's eldest son, Matthew, had joined the Fire Department just as his father had, along with other 12 young New Yorkers who followed their parents' steps.

Anthony and his eldest son Matthew, who recently joined the New York Fire Department. (Photo: Voices Center for Resilience)

Our thoughts are with all those who, in one way or another, suffered and continue to suffer from the events that occurred twenty years ago.

For more about the Croatian Diaspora, visit our dedicated page here.

 ZAGREB, 21 July, 2021 - The Central State Office for Croats Abroad has shortlisted 168 candidates from 16 countries for scholarships to learn the Croatian language in the 2021/2022 academic year in the four biggest cities in Croatia.

A total of 340 applications were received with 255 being eligible.

Most of the applications received were from South American countries - Chile (45), Argentina (37), Bolivia (25), Peru (19) and one each from Ecuador, Italy, Lebanon, Cuba, Canada, Belgium and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The scholarship includes the tuition fee, subsidised meals and a monthly allowance of HRK 400 (€53) for accommodation in a student dormitory or a private apartment, which is paid to all students who successfully complete the semester.

Most of the candidates have said they want to study in Zagreb (125) and Split (30), and ten have applied for Rijeka and only two for Osijek.

The scholarships are available to persons of Croatian descent, their spouses, friends who nurture the Croatian identity and promote Croatia's culture. Applicants must be at least 18 years old, have a secondary school education and reside abroad or not have lived in Croatia for more than three years.

For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 13 July, 2021 - President Zoran Milanović on Tuesday said that outvoting Croats in elections for the collective presidency and parliament in Bosnia and Herzegovina will come to an end and that Bosniak politicians are to blame for the "misfortune in BiH".

The Bosniak member of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Presidency, Šefik Džaferović, said on Monday that Croatian pesident  was behaving like "a rude guest in someone else's house." Milanović is on a working visit to BiH and stopped in Vitez and Mostar, but not the capital of Sarajevo. Džaferović insisted that Milanović only came to BiH to cause problems and incidents.

"No, no. They are the cause of political instability, nervousness and misfortune in BiH. They are doing exactly what Haris Silajdžić warned about, 15 years ago when he said 'if you continue like that, you will make the Croats abhor this country that is their homeland'," Milanović told reporters in Livno.

Commenting on Džaferović's statement that he needn't come if he was going to behave like that, Milanović said that he was a guest in BiH to those people who welcomed him." "My hosts are the democratic authorities and the Franciscans," said Milanović.

During the three-day working visit to BiH, Milanović visited the towns mainly populated by Croats:  Vitez, Mostar, Ljubuški, Tomislavgrad and Livno. He visited the local Franciscan monasteries and said that the biggest gratitude for preserving the Croatian heritage went to the local friars.

Milanović said that the biggest problem is the outvoting of Croats and imposing Željko Komšić as the Croat member of the tripartite presidency who was voted in with Bosniak votes as well as attempts to achieve the same thing in the upper house - the House of People's in the country's parliament.

"The seats designated for Croats in the House of Peoples are being taken by people who aren't Croats or are lying that they are and they are elected by another ethnic group. That is the same template as in the presidency. The same story. And that has to come to an end," he underscored.

Asked why then he attended an SDP BiH election rally in 2010 and supported Komšić, Milanović said he was "tricked." That isn't a change in policy but rather a policy of maturing and realising someone's false nature. I haven't changed, but they are despicable," said Milanović.

For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

July 2, 2021 - Dedication to researching and developing the field of social sciences sees the Ivo Pilar Social Research Institute expanding scientific cooperation once again after Željko Holjevac's visit to Sarajevo, in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Ivo Pilar Social Research Institute, active as always, continues to expand its cooperation on scientifically explain social issues (symbolically noted as 2021 marks 30 years of the Institute).

As reported on their official website, Institute headmaster dr. Željko Holjevac visited Sarajevo, the capital city of the neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina, from June 21-23.

The main story of that visit was a signed bilateral cooperation agreement between the Ivo Pilar Social Research Institute and the Sarajevo Catholic Faculty. The agreement was signed by Holjevac and Faculty dean dr. Darko Tomašević.

Additionally, Holjevac was at the reception with Vrhbosanski's vice bishop Vinko Puljić.

„They talked about possible shared projects that would be adjusted to the tradition, culture and developing needs of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina“, informed Ivo pilar social research Institute.

Croatian Cultural Society Napredak (progress) also met with Holjevac. Napredak soon celebrates 120 years of work and was founded at the start of the 20th century when the famous Croatian social scientist Pilar was active in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Napredak plans various manifestations for their big anniversary, and dr. Holjevac discussed the possible cooperation in organizing an international scientific symposium regarding the identity of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Ivo Pilar Institute working in full speed

This sort of cooperation in regards to researching the Croatian diaspora in the neighboring country where the Croatian historical role and present is significant is nothing new for the Ivo Pilar Social research Institute.

As TCN reported earlier in May, the Institute, along with scientific partners, organized a conference “Identity of Boka Kotorska Croatians“, and the three-day event gathered crucial scientific institutes in Croatia to the town of Tivat in the Bay of Croatian Saints in Montenegro.

Scientists from the Institute were also active this year as they participated at European Conference For Social Work Research (ECSWR), International Society for Ethnology and Folklore (SIEF) Conference, and also by presenting a book on Croatian Mountain Rescue Service in Gospić, or by presenting book Cultural Identity of Vukovar – Contribution to Investigating Heritage and Successors“ – to list some of the activities TCN reported on throughout 2021.

As 2021 marks the 30th year anniversary of the Ivo Pilar Institute, apart from the aforementioned actions (to which we can include nurturing relations with scientific colleagues in Slovakia or opening a new research office on Vis Island), several more goals were envisioned by the end of the year: to publish the first edition of critical translation for the book „South Slavic (Yugoslav) Question“ by Ivo Pilar from 1918, and to make and publish Pilar's Kaleidoskop of Croatian society.

With the active academic dynamic demonstrated by the Institute, there is no doubt there is enough quality and capacity to achieve these goals. It is only a matter of time in such a busy and productive schedule.

Learn more about Croatian Diaspora on our TC page.

For more about science in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

June the 14th, 2021 - This article was co-written by Steve Rukavina and Anna Maria Sicenica, NFCACF Board Members.

On Saturday, June the 26th at 11:00am Eastern time, the NFCA will be co-hosting with the Croatian Fraternal Union, a global webinar salute to the founding of the Republic of Croatia's democracy. The NFCA’s webinar will celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Independence Day and the honoring of another “Statehood Day” (1990 milestone) and Croatia’s successful and historic road to democracy and its independence achieved especially in the 1990-1991 time frame.

Please let us invite you to a virtual celebration to mark thirty plus years of Croatian Independence (Croatian: Dan Državnosti), filled with traditional Croatian music and notable speakers. This event, as stated, will be held on June the 26th via a webinar to benefit the Special Olympics organization in Croatia!

Register Now for the 30th Anniversary of Croatia's Independence Celebration Webinar

We will also commemorate this momentous day with keynote speeches by Kolinda Grabar Kitarović, the former President of the Republic of Croatia, and Peter Galbraith, the first  U.S. Ambassador to Croatia. We are honored to feature co-headliners like these two very prominent diplomats and principals whose leadership to assist Croatia's developing democracy was so instrumental at critical junctures over the past thirty years.

Independence Day festivities will include a live singing performance from Dubrovnik. Petar Sambrailo (left) and Marijo Anđelić (right), are well-known 1^st and 2^nd tenors in the Croatian Klapa world. Both have performed with the group Klapa Kaše, who have won many awards at Klapa festivals throughout Croatia.   

Finally, athletes from the Croatian Showshoeing Special Olympic Team (which qualified for the Russian Special Olympics World Winter Games in 2022) will talk to us about their sport and their achievements. Founded back in 1992, the Special Olympics in Croatia has forty affiliated chapters all over the country and brings 16 sports to over 1,300 Croatians. The organization's mission is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities to develop physical fitness and to find joy in the participation of sports. Croatia's Special Olympics organization has been led by Executive Director, Franjo Horvat and associate Sladjana Tatic for over twenty years.

The NFCA has four primary sponsorship tiers from $100 Bronze to $250 Silver from the $500 Gold to the $1,000 for the Platinum level. Of course, donations of any amount are welcome and encouraged! 100% of the sponsorship proceeds and earmarked funds raised during this event will go to Croatia's Special Olympics organization. The NFCA is very proud to be a major sponsor and partner of this truly incredible organization. For inquiries about donations, please contact Steve Rukavina at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

We hope you will join us for a wonderful seventy-five-minute event full of Croatian music, culture, and history on June 26th from the comforts of your home whether you're in Croatia, anywhere globally or here in the USA!  

May 12, 2021 - Earlier in May, Boka Kotorska, in the town of Tivat in Montenegro, was the host of the scientific conference "Identity of Boka Kotorska Croatians" which will introduce changes in Croatian education.

Croatia has a big diaspora, no secrets there, but its worldwide spread makes you miss the region.

In Boka Kotorska, in Montenegro, Croatia's first neighbor on the southern border after Dubrovnik, not only is there a huge population of Croatians, but they also have a significant cultural impact on the area. So significant it even calls for social science to step in.

As Ivo Pilar Social Research Institute reported on its website, May 6 to 9 saw the conference “Identity of Boka Kotorska Croatians“. The three-day conference gathered crucial scientific institutes in Croatia to the town of Tivat in the Bay of Croatian Saints. Headed with Ivo Pilar Social Research Institute, Croatian Catholic University, Croatian Studies Faculty, Institute of Croatian Language and Linguistics as well as Institute for Historical Sciences in Zadar attended the conference while Croatian ministries of European, and Foreign Affairs, Science and Education, Culture, and Media, as well as Croatian Central State Office for Croatians Outside of the Republic of Croatia, founded the event.

„The scientific conference went well as well as signing conclusions with recommendations that that knowledge on Bokelj Croatians we learned on this conference enter the Croatian national curriculum in important subjects. These conclusions are the crown of our efforts to launch this conference in public, not just in an academical way, but to massively popularize to ensure long-term benefits for Bokelj Croatians as for every educated citizen of Croatia and Montenegro“, said Dr. Željko Holjevac, head of the Ivo Pilar Social Research Institute.

Conference conclusions suggest additions to the curriculum documents on key definitions of Croatian National Identity to make space for Croatians outside Croatia, including Boka Kotorska Croatians. Identity features and creativity of Bokelj Croatians in Croatian education, and the book „Boka Kotorska - the Bay of the Saints and Croatian Culture“, by Vanda Babić to be the mandatory literature for tourist guides in Montenegro.
Final meetings at the conference, as well as sailing with a „Katica“ ship through Boka Kotorska Bay, Saw the participation of Boris Bastijančić, the advisor and representative of the Montenegro president and representer of Croatian parliament and MP, Zdravka Bušić, and others.

„I'm glad to be at this scientific conference, and I want to thank everyone's effort for something like this to happen in Boka Kotorska. I would especially like to thank students that took part in this and gave their part as young people who love the truth of Boka, the place of saints. This is a message that we too need to do something to mark this time with love, hope, and faith“, said the Kotorska bishop, mons. Ivan Štironja.

Some Croatians live outside of Croatia, but maybe you would want to live in Croatia. Learn more about living in Croatia on our TC page. 

For more about the Croatian Diaspora, follow TCN's dedicated page.