April 1, 2020 - Do foreigners in Croatia feel more or less safe sitting out COVID-19 here than in their home country, and what are their experiences? A new series on TCN, with Barbara Glauning from Munich our fifth contributor.

Oxford University recently published some research on government responses to coronavirus which showed that Croatia currently has the strictest measures in the world. While inconvenient, this is a good thing in terms of reducing the spread of the virus, and I am certainly not alone in my admiration of the official Croatian handling of this crisis in recent weeks, both in terms of action and communication. 

But what do other expats here think? And how does it compare with the response in their home country? Would they rather sit this one out here or there? In the first of a new series on TCN, we will be featuring expats from all over the world to see what their views are on life in corona Croatia rather than back home. Having started with an excellent contribution from Romanian Mirela Rus, American/Irishman Jason Berry in Split and Gabriela Lopez Zubiria from Mexico, Steve Gaunt in an English pub in a field in the middle of nowhere near Vinkovci, how are things with Barbara Grauning from Munich in Istria? And is it better to be here or Germany right now?

If you would like to contribute to this series, full details are below. Now, over to Barbara. 

Yes, I feel much safer in my Istrian village Višnjan than in my home town Munich. Although the regulations in Bavaria are stronger than in the rest of Germany the feeling in a village is much safer than in a big town like Munich.

Firstly, how are you? Are you alone/with someone? Tell us a little about your situation and sanity levels.

Thank you, I am very well. I came here on March 14^th, the first day of closed borders. The border police were surprised to see me. But as I have had a house here for 20 years and could present all papers of my ownership, they let me pass. Of course I followed regulations of the home isolation orders for 14 days. I brought some food so it was easy for my to stay in my house. As I have a small garden, I can be as well outside, as far as the weather is fine. I am alone with my cat, she likes it the most of course! My wonderful neighbor is taking care of me, already for 20 years, so she gets me food from the shop, because she goes there every day to buy for her meals for her family.

My problem was that my Internet didn’t work after the long winter. Luckily I had installed last autumn online banking, but I never did online payments. But with the help of the bank clerk by phone I managed to make my first online payment. It is never too late to learn something new!

As I am dividing my life for many years between Munich and Višnjan anyway - winter in Munich, summer in Istria- March 15^th is my normal time to move. I have a job – actually two - that allow me to work from home. Here and there I have an equipped office, therefore it is no big deal to be here until September. How long the lockdown will take, I can accept it, as long as it is not time to go swimming. I hope that by June we will be able to drive at least to the seaside again.

When did you realise that corona was going to be a big issue? 

When I heard about the first cases in China and how fast the virus spread in Asia, I watched things carefully. Then the first infected people appeared not far away from Munich, in fact next door. We all, my friends and colleagues started to be very carefully towards each other. No meetings anymore, no hugs and already taking care of physical distancing. The moment when the news spoke for the first time about countries were closing the borders, I packed my stuff into my car, actually 5 days earlier as planned, and left Munich. It was a strange drive down to Croatia through Austria and Slovenia. No controls nowhere, all toll stations on CC payments. The first people I saw after 5 hours were the policemen at the Croatian border.

What is your impression of the way Croatia is dealing with the crisis? How safe do you feel?

In my eyes Croatia is dealing very well with the crisis. I can follow the daily report of the Health Ministry. My village is locked down. I even cannot drive to Porec -9 km away- for supermarket shopping without official permission by the village authorities. But so far there is no need to leave the village, the 2 shops offer all I need. The security system is very well organized and it is amazing, how people accept and follow the regulations. And the results of the numbers show that the officials do a great job with their restrictions.

Now compare that to your home country and how they are handling it. What is Croatia doing better/worse?

Of course I follow as well the German situation and how they handle it. I think that for German understanding they do a good job. The government still allows discussions about the measures and the federal system of the individual countries allow different customary actions concerning the isolation or lockdowns.

Better in Germany of course is the fast taken decision about the financial support for smaller entrepreneurs, freelancers, artists, cultural people etc. How much it will influence the German economy will be shown in the future. Concerning Croatia I think that as well the European Union should pay and support the country.

What about official communications from the authorities, compared to your home country?

As I don’t have TV here in my house, I read online news in Croatian and English on different sites. I read as well Austrian newspapers online, because they are very well covering Slovenia, Croatia and other Balkan countries. I am well informed and my Croatian vocabulary increased a lot!

A pity that countries of the EU and their media always look to Asia, US or UK, but pay less or no attention to the smaller member countries like Slovenia or Croatia. It would be important for Europe to read and see, how e.g. Croatia is dealing with the virus.

What's the one thing you wish you had taken with you into self-isolation?

A whole box of oranges by Crowd Farming from Spain. I have to find out if they can as well deliver to Croatia.

One thing you have learned about yourself, and one thing you have learned about others during this crisis. 

I am very well organized, even under the ‘pressure’ of isolation. I can be on my own very well. Of course I miss meeting with friends here, or going out for a coffee with them, but in times of social media there are possibilities to exchange ideas, meanings, feelings. I am in contact with other house owners around Višnjan to keep them updated. Normally they all had planned to spend Easter here. I write more, I speak more on the phone and all my friends as well are much more communicating. My advantage is that I am used to be a ‘one-woman-show’ even in Munich, therefore I am the wrong person to ask about difficulties others may have in times of the isolation and lockdown.

Thanks Barbara, stay safe and see you on the other side.  

You can find more foreigner corona stories in our dedicated section here.

TCN is starting a new feature series on foreign experiences of sitting out covid-19 here in croatia compared to their home country. If you would like to contribute, the questions are below. Please also include a para about yourself and where you are from, and a link to your website if you would like. Please also send 3-4 photos minimum to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Subject Corona Foreigner

If you would be interested to record a video version for our partners www.rplus.video please let us know in the email. Thanks and stay safe. 

Foreigners Self-Isolating in Croatia: Do You Feel Safer Than in Your Home Country?

Firstly, how are you? Are you alone/with someone? Tell us a little about your situation and sanity levels.

What do you think about the economic measures the government is taking, are they helping your business? (PLEASE IGNORE IF THIS DOES NOT AFFECT YOU)

When did you realise that corona was going to be a big issue? 

What is your impression of the way Croatia is dealing with the crisis? How safe do you feel?

Now compare that to your home country and how they are handling it. What is Croatia doing better/worse?

What about official communications from the authorities, compared to your home country?

What's the one thing you wish you had taken with you into self-isolation.

One thing you have learned about yourself, and one thing you have learned about others during this crisis. 

TCN has recently become a partner in Robert Tomic Zuber's new R+ video channel, initially telling stories about corona experiences. You can see the first TCN contribution from this morning, my video from Jelsa talking about the realities of running a news portal in the corona era below. If you would like to also submit a video interview, please find Robert's guidelines below 

VIDEO RECORDING GUIDE

The video footage should be recorded so that the cell phone is turned horizontally (landscape mode).

There are several rules for television and video news:- length is not a virtue- a picture speaks more than a thousand words

In short, this would mean that your story should not last more than 90 seconds and that everything you say in the report should be shown by video (for example, if you talk about empty streets, we should see those empty streets, etc.).

How to do it with your cell phone? First, use a selfie camera to record yourself telling your story for about a minute and a half. Ideally, it would be taken in the exterior, except in situations where you are reporting on things in the interior (quarantine, hospital, self-isolation, etc.). Also, when shooting, move freely, make sure everything is not static.

After you have recorded your report, you should capture footage that will tell your story with a picture, such as an earlier example with empty streets.

One of the basic rules of TV journalism is that the story is told in the same way as a journalist with his text. Therefore, we ask you for additional effort. Because we work in a very specific situation, sometimes you may not be able to capture footage for each sentence of the report. In this case, record the details on the streets: people walking, the main features of the city where you live, inscriptions on the windows related to the virus, etc.

The same rules apply if you are shooting a story from your apartment, self-isolation, quarantine. We also need you to capture footage that describes your story.

When shooting frames to cover your reports, it is important that you change the angle of the shot (in other words, shoot that empty street from several angles). Also, when shooting a detail, count at least five seconds before removing the camera to another detail.

The material should be about 5 minutes long (90 seconds of your report + frames to cover your story).

After recording everything, send us to Zagreb, preferably via WeTransfer to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

April 1, 2020 - Do foreigners in Croatia feel more or less safe sitting out COVID-19 here than in their home country, and what are their experiences? A new series on TCN, with Gabriela Lopez Zubiria from Mexico our fourth contributor.

Oxford University recently published some research on government responses to coronavirus which showed that Croatia currently has the strictest measures in the world. While inconvenient, this is a good thing in terms of reducing the spread of the virus, and I am certainly not alone in my admiration of the official Croatian handling of this crisis in recent weeks, both in terms of action and communication. 

But what do other expats here think? And how does it compare with the response in their home country? Would they rather sit this one out here or there? In the first of a new series on TCN, we will be featuring expats from all over the world to see what their views are on life in corona Croatia rather than back home. Having started with an excellent contribution from Romanian Mirela Rus and American/Irishman Jason Berry in Split, Steve Gaunt in an English pub in a field in the middle of nowhere near Vinkovci, how are things with Gabriela Lopez Zubiria from Mexico? And is it better to be here or Mexico right now?

If you would like to contribute to this series, full details are below. Now, over to Gaby. 

Firstly, how are you? Are you alone/with someone? Tell us a little about your situation and sanity levels.

I think the question of how I am depends on the day. However in general I feel good, I am alone in a small studio where I feel quite comfortable and being alone is something that I enjoy, but without a doubt I really miss being able to go running, to the beach, going out with friends and the simple fact of interacting with people, I also have emotions stuck with a work project that was going to start in April and well I keep hoping that it can be done as soon as possible. I'm doing yoga daily and things that keep me calm. It is frustrating sometimes but I try to think as I think many people think that everything will pass and in the meantime it is only sometimes difficult not being able to go outdoors and not knowing what’s going to happen next.

Mornings alone trying to keep the mind together self-isolating.

When did you realise that corona was going to be a big issue? 

In the hostel where I was, there was a girl who was going to go to Italy just a week before I went to volunteer in Montenegro, and that week (which was my last in Croatia) was when many Italian borders were closed and she did not make it to Italy, that's when I started to see that the situation was so serious as to close certain borders, I even thought twice about going to Montenegro. However, I went and, well, on my second day in Montenegro, the owner of the place where I was doing my volunteering, mentioned that he wanted to close the place since it was believed that there was a case of coronavirus in Montenegro, so I thought about where I preferred to stay in case the idea of quarantine became a reality and well, I returned to Croatia since I have certain projects and knew more people with whom I felt more secure.

What is your impression of the way Croatia is dealing with the crisis? How safe do you feel?

Honestly, I am very impressed how fast they acted and the measures they have taken since I think they were quite early compared to many other countries, Croatia has all my respect and I feel grateful to be able to be in this country., I feel really safe.

Now compare that to your home country and how they are handling it. What is Croatia doing better/worse?

This is a  complicated question since honestly in everything Croatia is doing things much better. In Mexico, the situation is quite bad since there is absolutely nothing, and although certain authorities took measures about people staying at home, they did it when they were in the 3rd phase which was already a health emergency alarm, and even then, large events continue to take place in certain small towns.  Even the fact that there are people who cannot afford to stop working since in Mexico there are people whose daily food depends on the money earned that same day. 

If you have some symptoms they don’t test you because they don’t have the test so they send you home saying that you have the flu, and the hospitals are not prepared with anything because they don’t have the equipment, so without a doubt Croatia has done everything better. 

I am also very impressed by how the government seeks to help people who have difficult situations regarding their jobs and the economic situation.

This is a picture of the subway on Mexico City at 7.30 am. This was the people that needed to go to work when the schools were already online and people that could work from home. And there are stories about the situation of many people without water on their houses, without a home and the need to go to sell stuff to have money to eat.

What about official communications from the authorities, compared to your home country?

In Mexico, the big problem with the information that was given is that nobody has the same information. From the start, the president seems to be totally out of the subject since he did not mention anything relevant until the third phase of the health emergency where it was already advised not to leave home. 

The governors of each state said different things depending on the region in Mexico where you were, and those in charge of the epidemiology center did not have clear information either, so the information was quite confusing from the government. 

However private companies such as banks and schools were those that anticipated events two weeks before the official government statement and helped spread the message for people to stay home.

People are saying how in Mexico City there are no controls at all, but in other cities they were checking if people had fever.

What's the one thing you wish you had taken with you into self-isolation?

My best friend.

One thing you have learned about yourself, and one thing you have learned about others during this crisis. 

This is a good question ... one thing I have learned from me is accepting and letting go... and more now, because in many places there are so many things that stimulate you about starting a project with yourself, working out with an objective, and that is fine. However, I think that it can stimulate you too much to the point of forcing you to be well and maybe ignore what you really feel in that moment witch for me was anger, and I think that’s my most valuable learning - to accept the emotions that this situation naturally leaves, but after that acceptance came the real feeling of being able to enjoy and be creative with this new way of living this reality. 

I also remembered how fun it is to dance cumbias alone at home (: and one thing that I have learned from others is that we all need each other, as a psychologist it is clearer to me than ever that the human being is a social being, and well I think that if we can observe something in this situation, it is that we are all really vulnerable and in the end the only important thing is the moments where you laugh with all your heart among friends or family, how much it gives to us the way of expressing love with the touch, and those real moments are the only things that matter in this life.

Thanks Gaby, stay safe and see you on the other side.  

You can find more foreigner corona stories in our dedicated section here.

TCN is starting a new feature series on foreign experiences of sitting out covid-19 here in croatia compared to their home country. If you would like to contribute, the questions are below. Please also include a para about yourself and where you are from, and a link to your website if you would like. Please also send 3-4 photos minimum to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Subject Corona Foreigner

If you would be interested to record a video version for our partners www.rplus.video please let us know in the email. Thanks and stay safe. 

Foreigners Self-Isolating in Croatia: Do You Feel Safer Than in Your Home Country?

Firstly, how are you? Are you alone/with someone? Tell us a little about your situation and sanity levels.

What do you think about the economic measures the government is taking, are they helping your business? (PLEASE IGNORE IF THIS DOES NOT AFFECT YOU)

When did you realise that corona was going to be a big issue? 

What is your impression of the way Croatia is dealing with the crisis? How safe do you feel?

Now compare that to your home country and how they are handling it. What is Croatia doing better/worse?

What about official communications from the authorities, compared to your home country?

What's the one thing you wish you had taken with you into self-isolation.

One thing you have learned about yourself, and one thing you have learned about others during this crisis. 

TCN has recently become a partner in Robert Tomic Zuber's new R+ video channel, initially telling stories about corona experiences. You can see the first TCN contribution from this morning, my video from Jelsa talking about the realities of running a news portal in the corona era below. If you would like to also submit a video interview, please find Robert's guidelines below 

VIDEO RECORDING GUIDE

The video footage should be recorded so that the cell phone is turned horizontally (landscape mode).

There are several rules for television and video news:- length is not a virtue- a picture speaks more than a thousand words

In short, this would mean that your story should not last more than 90 seconds and that everything you say in the report should be shown by video (for example, if you talk about empty streets, we should see those empty streets, etc.).

How to do it with your cell phone?First, use a selfie camera to record yourself telling your story for about a minute and a half. Ideally, it would be taken in the exterior, except in situations where you are reporting on things in the interior (quarantine, hospital, self-isolation, etc.). Also, when shooting, move freely, make sure everything is not static.

After you have recorded your report, you should capture footage that will tell your story with a picture, such as an earlier example with empty streets.

One of the basic rules of TV journalism is that the story is told in the same way as a journalist with his text. Therefore, we ask you for additional effort. Because we work in a very specific situation, sometimes you may not be able to capture footage for each sentence of the report. In this case, record the details on the streets: people walking, the main features of the city where you live, inscriptions on the windows related to the virus, etc.

The same rules apply if you are shooting a story from your apartment, self-isolation, quarantine. We also need you to capture footage that describes your story.

When shooting frames to cover your reports, it is important that you change the angle of the shot (in other words, shoot that empty street from several angles). Also, when shooting a detail, count at least five seconds before removing the camera to another detail.

The material should be about 5 minutes long (90 seconds of your report + frames to cover your story).

After recording everything, send us to Zagreb, preferably via WeTransfer to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

March 31, 2020 - Do foreigners in Croatia feel more or less safe sitting out COVID-19 here than in their home country, and what are their experiences? A new series on TCN, starting with Steve Gaunt from Leeds in the UK, currently holed up in Vinkovci.  

Oxford University recently published some research on government responses to coronavirus which showed that Croatia currently has the strictest measures in the world. While inconvenient, this is a good thing in terms of reducing the spread of the virus, and I am certainly not alone in my admiration of the official Croatian handling of this crisis in recent weeks, both in terms of action and communication. 

But what do other expats here think? And how does it compare with the response in their home country? Would they rather sit this one out here or there? In the first of a new series on TCN, we will be featuring expats from all over the world to see what their views are on life in corona Croatia rather than back home. Having started with an excellent contribution from Romanian Mirela Rus and American/Irishman Jason Berry in Split, we move to an English pub in a field in the middle of nowhere near Vinkovci in eastern Croatia to see how things are with Yorkshireman Steve Gaunt from Leeds.

If you would like to contribute to this series, full details are below. Now, over to the one and only Steve Gaunt. 

Firstly, how are you? Are you alone/with someone? Tell us a little about your situation and sanity levels.

Well, I have a large family, my wife and six children and all but one are with me. I am a very flexible person when it comes to change around me; I may not like it, but I can certainly deal with it. I have always dealt mentally with problems with humour, but there is little humour to find in the current situation.

The biggest problem is how it is affecting my children, especially those who should be at University in Zagreb. My daughter Emma doesn't know what the state of affairs is regarding her apartment in Zagreb after the earthquakes, and she and my son Daniel are finding it difficult to proceed with online studies as they have no access to their books, notes and other material. Luckily we all have access to computers so the younger children can still keep up with school work online. My wife Dragica works for the Red Cross and is allowed to move freely.

I admit I was confused and annoyed when restrictive measures came into force one after another, but I am much more at ease with them now than I thought I would be. We had a problem that my son Daniel was stranded in a village not too distant and couldn't come home.

You asked how we deal with "self-isolation" but the fact is we are not doing anything different other than what is forced upon us, like the schools being closed or businesses being shut down.

I can still travel to my land in a nearby village without hindrance and I can work on my land and enjoy a beer in my pub. I also have a pass which was very easy to procure and can travel a little further afield. I also got a pass for son Daniel so he can now return home should he wish, but he still hasn't. I see very few people about town but many in the countryside, walking, jogging, riding, biking and I feel they are absolutely right to do so; nobody should be isolated by walls, they should be in the fresh air and sun, isolated only by natural space. But the easy to follow basic rules should always be adhered to. 

On my land it is rare to see more than one or two people passing each day, nowadays dozens come by each day. People are sociable animals, and it is comforting to see people passing by and enjoying the fresh air and greeting each other (though at a safe distance!). In the town it is different, the few people who venture abroad scurry about with their masks on, trying to avoid each other. Depressing to witness.

What do you think about the economic measures the government is taking, are they helping your business?

As an army invalid and pensioner, this doesn't really apply to me, though it doesn't stop me from being concerned. Croatia has never had the best economy, though we seemed well blessed by having a stable currency. I worry about small businesses and their ability to ride out this period of inactivity, but Croatians know how to deal with serious problems as the Homeland War showed.

When did you realise that corona was going to be a big issue? 

I realised quite late. I am used to seeing news predicting or discovering potentially disastrous calamities. Swine Flu, Bird Flu, Global Warming caused freak weather and more. The media loves a good disaster, so I took it all with a pinch of salt. I wasn't even concerned with the spread patterns and actually became less concerned when it was revealed that the virus wasn't airborne. But the daily death toll in neighbouring Italy really put things in perspective for me.

My son Paul and I succumbed to a nasty case of flu in early February. It passed quickly for him but laid me low for three weeks. Comparing the symptoms then to the symptoms known today for the Covid virus, I see they were very similar. I wasn't concerned at the time but if this flu attack had have happened now, I admit I would be very frightened. I take it seriously. If I catch this virus, I know it will kill me.

What is your impression of the way Croatia is dealing with the crisis? How safe do you feel?

I feel safe enough, though I take care. Not to the ridiculous extent that some citizens have, like locking themselves in their homes, but enough to avoid any situation that could infect me or my family. Croatia is a country used to doing what it is told and the measures placed upon the populace through repressive are effective. Nobody seems to be complaining. The virus came to us locally recently and that caused anger more than pity, that the carrier could have been so careless. There is little more the authorities can do and hopefully folk with tolerate the annoyances of restriction, but the question is, for how long?

There is one stage of regulation I will not conform with, however, and that is being forced to wear a mask.

Now compare that to your home country and how they are handling it. What is Croatia doing better/worse?

Well that is an easy question, Croatia is doing very well, not just the authorities but the general population. I sometimes think Croatians welcome a crisis, just to show how they can deal with it and rise above it.

What about official communications from the authorities, compared to your home country?

I cannot speak for the UK as I have no information regarding offical communication. But here it is endless. It is this continuous barrage of news, information, warnings and instructions that worry me more than the thought that the virus could affect my family and friends. There is literally nothing else on the News. The Zagreb earthquakes crept in for a while on a national level, though friends and family in the UK had no idea of the disaster. 

What's the one thing you wish you had taken with you into self-isolation?

As I said earlier, our isolation is natural or forced on us by circumstance. I can't go for a beer in a bar or to a restaurant for a meal, but then I didn't do that very much before. I can still travel a little, buy fuel, metal detect, cut the grass, prune my apple trees. The TV works and I have my books and my web sites to manage. I am actually more active than normal. If I was in total lockdown, I cannot think of a single thing I would take with me, other than prescibed medicine.

One thing you have learned about yourself, and one thing you have learned about others during this crisis. 

That I am less selfish than I thought. I reserve comment on others.

Thanks Steve, stay safe and see you on the other side.  You can learn more about Steve and how he came to open a pub in the middle of nowhere here.I am sure he will be glad of the company when this is all over, but at the moment there is a typically welcoming message from Yorkshire on the board at the moment (see below).

You can find more foreigner corona stories in our dedicated section here.

TCN is starting a new feature series on foreign experiences of sitting out covid-19 here in croatia compared to their home country. If you would like to contribute, the questions are below. Please also include a para about yourself and where you are from, and a link to your website if you would like. Please also send 3-4 photos minimum to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Subject Corona Foreigner

If you would be interested to record a video version for our partners www.rplus.video please let us know in the email. Thanks and stay safe. 

Foreigners Self-Isolating in Croatia: Do You Feel Safer Than in Your Home Country?

Firstly, how are you? Are you alone/with someone? Tell us a little about your situation and sanity levels.

What do you think about the economic measures the government is taking, are they helping your business? (PLEASE IGNORE IF THIS DOES NOT AFFECT YOU)

When did you realise that corona was going to be a big issue? 

What is your impression of the way Croatia is dealing with the crisis? How safe do you feel?

Now compare that to your home country and how they are handling it. What is Croatia doing better/worse?

What about official communications from the authorities, compared to your home country?

What's the one thing you wish you had taken with you into self-isolation.

One thing you have learned about yourself, and one thing you have learned about others during this crisis. 

TCN has recently become a partner in Robert Tomic Zuber's new R+ video channel, initially telling stories about corona experiences. You can see the first TCN contribution from this morning, my video from Jelsa talking about the realities of running a news portal in the corona era below. If you would like to also submit a video interview, please find Robert's guidelines below 

VIDEO RECORDING GUIDE

The video footage should be recorded so that the cell phone is turned horizontally (landscape mode).

There are several rules for television and video news:- length is not a virtue- a picture speaks more than a thousand words

In short, this would mean that your story should not last more than 90 seconds and that everything you say in the report should be shown by video (for example, if you talk about empty streets, we should see those empty streets, etc.).

How to do it with your cell phone?First, use a selfie camera to record yourself telling your story for about a minute and a half. Ideally, it would be taken in the exterior, except in situations where you are reporting on things in the interior (quarantine, hospital, self-isolation, etc.). Also, when shooting, move freely, make sure everything is not static.

After you have recorded your report, you should capture footage that will tell your story with a picture, such as an earlier example with empty streets.

One of the basic rules of TV journalism is that the story is told in the same way as a journalist with his text. Therefore, we ask you for additional effort. Because we work in a very specific situation, sometimes you may not be able to capture footage for each sentence of the report. In this case, record the details on the streets: people walking, the main features of the city where you live, inscriptions on the windows related to the virus, etc.

The same rules apply if you are shooting a story from your apartment, self-isolation, quarantine. We also need you to capture footage that describes your story.

When shooting frames to cover your reports, it is important that you change the angle of the shot (in other words, shoot that empty street from several angles). Also, when shooting a detail, count at least five seconds before removing the camera to another detail.

The material should be about 5 minutes long (90 seconds of your report + frames to cover your story).

After recording everything, send us to Zagreb, preferably via WeTransfer to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

March 31, 2020 - Do foreigners in Croatia feel more or less safe sitting out COVID-19 here than in their home country, and what are their experiences? A new series on TCN, starting with entrepreneur Jason Berry from Ireland/USA, currently holed up in Split.  

Oxford University recently published some research on government responses to coronavirus which showed that Croatia currently has the strictest measures in the world. While inconvenient, this is a good thing in terms of reducing the spread of the virus, and I am certainly not alone in my admiration of the official Croatian handling of this crisis in recent weeks, both in terms of action and communication. 

But what do other expats here think? And how does it compare with the response in their home country? Would they rather sit this one out here or there? In the first of a new series on TCN, we will be featuring expats from all over the world to see what their views are on life in corona Croatia rather than back home. Having started with an excellent contribution from Romanian Mirela Rus in Split yesterday, we move across the Dalmatian capital to see how Jason Berry, an entrepreneur from Ireland/USA, is faring.

If you would like to contribute to this series, full details are below. Now, over to the one and only Jason Berry. 

Firstly, how are you? Are you alone/with someone? Tell us a little about your situation and sanity levels.

Thanks for asking. We're all healthy. All our friends are healthy. All our family are healthy so all good in that department. My wife and I decided (she decided) to divide and conquer. She has taken the two kids down to baba and dide's in the smallest most famous town on the Makarska Riviera, Drasnice. The kids have a huge house and yard to play in and lots of space empty of people. There are only 200 people in the village so its very well isolated and sparsely populated, all good for isolation. So by dividing, I am living the bachelor life of a single man in isolation: movies, video games, reading, and the kids have been busy conquering my poor wife, running her off her feet.

I am up in Split working from home and drive down the Magistrala coast road through three checkpoints to visit them each weekend.

I am a director of a securities trading firm with offices in Dublin and Croatia. I am mostly trading the financial markets, and not doing much directoring as most people are working from home.

Our Dublin office is completely shut down and all people are working remotely. Our Croatia office has a skeleton crew of only 4 in the office and everybody else is remote.

We have a front row seat to the craziness of the markets caused by Covid-19 over the past few weeks, which has given us a greater sense of urgency as to the seriousness of the virus' impact on the global economies. We were watching first hand as the markets collapsed, erasing the gains of the past decade in a matter of days. Terrifying volatility. Our business is inversely correlated with the normal business cycle. We are least busy when the markets are going up and incredibly busy when markets are going down. So in terms of work, we've been run off our feet. The US markets open around midnight on Sunday night, and on the last three Sundays I've worked more or less straight through from midnight on Sunday til midnight on Monday with a few naps. The whole firm is more or less doing the same thing. Strange times.

When did you realise that corona was going to be a big issue? 

We realized pretty early on as it started to leave China. Like I mentioned above, the markets were reacting to the seriousness of the situation even if most politicians and the public were not. So we made preparations for the business and for the family the first week of March and went into isolation shortly thereafter. We were fortunate to be able to see the market indicators about how serious this was going to be. But the last week of February we had booked to go skiing in Italy. All the guys were being all macho and saying, no big deal, all the women were saying cancel cancel. In the end, we cancelled as it became clear how serious the disease was spreading.

What is your impression of the way Croatia is dealing with the crisis? How safe do you feel?

I feel very safe compared to how they are handling it in the US. I feel China handled it better and Germany is testing tons. I wish Croatia was testing more. But there are relatively few tourists here in the winter so we are fortunate. There are a lot of workers that go to Italy and Austria, and a few who travel for skiing and such, but otherwise I feel pretty well isolated.

Croatia's daily communication from the Health Minister has been great. The Viber messages are great too.

Split people following the government's orders in the beginning were disgraceful. People were out playing bocci ball, hanging in cafes in big groups, drinking on the wall in the local neighborhood, pretty much ignoring the whole social distancing thing. But then after the earthquake and ban on travel, everybody got the message. The police should have been out enforcing the self-distancing stuff earlier.

The numbers are low in Croatia. Now I don't know if that is because Croatian health service is kicking ass and is well prepared or that we got lucky. People tell me that the health service is well organized. It helps a lot having a centralized health system. It's probably a little of both.  

Now compare that to your home country and how they are handling it. What is Croatia doing better/worse?

Compared to Ireland, Croatia is about the same, a little less strict, with similar results. The Irish will struggle because they travel so much and people travel to Ireland at all times of the year, but Jan and Feb is the slowest time.

Compared to the US, Croatia is heaven. The US is in for a serious dose. They have handled it almost as badly as you could, denial, denial, oh shit. Trump said it at the start of his presidency, US will be number 1. It's a funny joke but things are going to get really bad over there. The US doesn't have centralized medical systems or universal health insurance, and they have a leader who denied it was coming. All those things will add up to some serious problems in the next month, unfortunately.

What about official communications from the authorities, compared to your home country?

Health boss Vili seems to be no BS, all the facts, straight-shooting, and spot on. He even has an accent I can understand! Bonus. His daily briefings and Viber have been great. The police at checkpoints, however, have a mix of masks and no masks. People on the street seem to be wearing masks against all advisories so not all messages are getting through on how to handle precautions.

What's the one thing you wish you had taken with you into self-isolation.

Food. I laughed at all the hoarders going out and panic buying stuff. Now I can't find a store open past 5pm and Konzum's delivery service is all jammed up. But that just means I don't cook and order a ton of Wolt: sushi, poke bowls from Maka, Zora Bila, Mexican from To je Tako, and desserts from The Cookie Lab. I'm going to be enormous when the isolation ends.  

One thing you have learned about yourself, and one thing you have learned about others during this crisis. 

It is a crisis but it is not. If you do what you are supposed to, it is just like a series of rainy days. The risk is relatively low. I work. I come home. I watch too much TV, play too many video games, and don't read enough. So I don't panic or maybe I just have too much faith in the things I expect will continue working. I don't panic so I've got fairly low stress so far. I don't panic so I have no food in the house. But to be honest, so far so good. We're all healthy. I can do my job at home very easily. So we are quite fortunate and so far for me and my family its just been an inconveniece. I know that is not the scenario for everybody else.

The only big regret I have right now and probably the thing that has been worrying me the most is that I have two teenagers from Dom Maestral that I hang out with and I haven't been able to see them for like a month. We touch base on WhatsApp and I check in, but that is about all we can do until it ends. They are under lockdown and so am I. That is a real bummer.  

Thanks Jason, stay safe and see you on the other side.  You can learn more about Jason and his life in Split from this earlier feature story on foreign entrepreneurs in Croatia.

You can find more foreigner corona stories in our dedicated section here.

TCN is starting a new feature series on foreign experiences of sitting out covid-19 here in croatia compared to their home country. If you would like to contribute, the questions are below. Please also include a para about yourself and where you are from, and a link to your website if you would like. Please also send 3-4 photos minimum to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Subject Corona Foreigner

If you would be interested to record a video version for our partners www.rplus.video please let us know in the email. Thanks and stay safe. 

Foreigners Self-Isolating in Croatia: Do You Feel Safer Than in Your Home Country?

Firstly, how are you? Are you alone/with someone? Tell us a little about your situation and sanity levels.

What do you think about the economic measures the government is taking, are they helping your business? (PLEASE IGNORE IF THIS DOES NOT AFFECT YOU)

When did you realise that corona was going to be a big issue? 

What is your impression of the way Croatia is dealing with the crisis? How safe do you feel?

Now compare that to your home country and how they are handling it. What is Croatia doing better/worse?

What about official communications from the authorities, compared to your home country?

What's the one thing you wish you had taken with you into self-isolation.

One thing you have learned about yourself, and one thing you have learned about others during this crisis. 

TCN has recently become a partner in Robert Tomic Zuber's new R+ video channel, initially telling stories about corona experiences. You can see the first TCN contribution from this morning, my video from Jelsa talking about the realities of running a news portal in the corona era below. If you would like to also submit a video interview, please find Robert's guidelines below 

VIDEO RECORDING GUIDE

The video footage should be recorded so that the cell phone is turned horizontally (landscape mode).

There are several rules for television and video news:- length is not a virtue- a picture speaks more than a thousand words

In short, this would mean that your story should not last more than 90 seconds and that everything you say in the report should be shown by video (for example, if you talk about empty streets, we should see those empty streets, etc.).

How to do it with your cell phone?First, use a selfie camera to record yourself telling your story for about a minute and a half. Ideally, it would be taken in the exterior, except in situations where you are reporting on things in the interior (quarantine, hospital, self-isolation, etc.). Also, when shooting, move freely, make sure everything is not static.

After you have recorded your report, you should capture footage that will tell your story with a picture, such as an earlier example with empty streets.

One of the basic rules of TV journalism is that the story is told in the same way as a journalist with his text. Therefore, we ask you for additional effort. Because we work in a very specific situation, sometimes you may not be able to capture footage for each sentence of the report. In this case, record the details on the streets: people walking, the main features of the city where you live, inscriptions on the windows related to the virus, etc.

The same rules apply if you are shooting a story from your apartment, self-isolation, quarantine. We also need you to capture footage that describes your story.

When shooting frames to cover your reports, it is important that you change the angle of the shot (in other words, shoot that empty street from several angles). Also, when shooting a detail, count at least five seconds before removing the camera to another detail.

The material should be about 5 minutes long (90 seconds of your report + frames to cover your story).

After recording everything, send us to Zagreb, preferably via WeTransfer to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

March 31, 2020 - Do foreigners in Croatia feel more or less safe sitting out COVID-19 here than in their home country, and what are their experiences? A new series on TCN, starting with entrepreneur Mirela Rus from Romania, currently holed up in Split.  

Oxford University recently published some research on government responses to coranavirus which showed that Croatia currently has the strictest measures in the world. While inconvenient, this is a good thing in terms of reducing the spread of the virus, and I am certainly not alone in my admiration of the official Croatian handling of this crisis in recent weeks, both in terms of action and communication. 

But what do other expats here think? And how does it compare with the response in their home country? Would they rather sit this one out here or there? In the first of a new series on TCN, we will be featuring expats from all over the world to see what their views are on life in corona Croatia rather than back home. We start with our favourite Romanian in Croatia, entrepreneur Mirela Rus in Split, who was happy to share her thoughts. 

If you would like to contribute to this series, full details are below. Now, over to the one and only Mirela Rus. 

Firstly, how are you? Are you alone/with someone? Tell us a little about your situation and sanity levels.

Luckily, I am with my partner, Ionut (and our three cats), and we are actually used to spending 99% of our time together, we both worked pretty much from the house in the past 10-12 years. So the part about having to stay inside is not the hard one for us. The bonus is that we can sit on our terrace and calm down by looking at the sea in front of us (in the distance, but still, it is a sea view and that is one of the things I am so thankful for right now).

What drives us crazy though (and we are on a rollercoaster of emotions every day, like most, I suppose) is the uncertainty. Is our family going to be OK at the end of this? Are we gonna be OK?

We have two shops in Split, where we sell our own handmade nautical jewellery – a business totally dependent on tourism. We are closed now, and we do not know if we will be able to reopen in June, in August or at all this year. And if we are able to re-open, will Split still have tourists coming? And if we do have tourists coming, will they have enough money to spend on souvenirs anymore, after they themselves being in a crisis? So, basically, will our business survive this? And, if not, how will we be able to support ourselves here, where we have no family to rely on.

(Last day of freedom in sunny Split)

What do you think about the economic measures the government is taking, are they helping your business?

As a foreigner with not many local ties, finding out how to apply and what the conditions are for the measures that are already starting to be implemented, was the hardest part.

Thank you, actually, for putting me in contact with your TCN colleague Iva Tatic, who helped us apply for the 3250kn per employee (NB, if any other foreigner needs Iva's help, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Subject Iva). We did not get a reply on that yet, and I was also disappointed to see that it does not apply for employees hired after 29.02. I think the date was arbitrary, it should have been the date before they announced the closing of all non-essential businesses. We currently have two employees (besides me and my partner) and we hired them on March 1^st, when we reopened our shops (since our business is 100% seasonal) and we could not bring ourselves to fire them, once we had to close the shops. I think it is unfair that we cannot get this aid for them. Since we are willing to keep them on payroll three more months after these 3 months aid is done, I think we should be entitled to receive it.

Like everyone else, I also think the currently announced measures are far from actually helping too much. I would give 10 points to the administration for having the application process for tax deferral online and fast-tracked (we were approved in a day or so). But these taxes will still have to be paid, while we are not sure we will still have a business when this is over. I am hoping the new package Plenkovic announced for this week will be more in the line of what entrepreneurs are asking for. I was happy to see they have mobilized and are asking to have a voice in this. I do believe the economy minister should have already been replaced though.

When did you realise that corona was going to be a big issue? 

Pretty early on, since I am used to following world news. I actually just looked at my Facebook post from January. I first got worried on January 14^th, when the BBC announced the first case outside China.

Then really worried and frustrated on January 26^th, when a bus full of tourists from Wuhan (!!!) was allowed into Croatia like it was business as usual.

But the first REAL sign that this was not just some casual flu was, for me, on January 29^th, when British Airways suspended all flights with China. That was something unprecedented which my former-journalist-mind perceived as confirmation of bad things to come.

What is your impression of the way Croatia is dealing with the crisis? How safe do you feel?

Well, it all started pretty poorly. No Wuhan tourists bus should have been allowed in the country, but those were early days and I guess nobody wanted to believe this would turn out to be the pandemic scientists were warning us about for years. So – compared to what other countries were doing at the time – I cannot really blame Croatian authorities for not doing more.

But coming back to the present time, I feel safer here than I would feel anywhere else. I am VERY impressed on how authorities are now handling the crisis (and I would happily contribute to having a statue erected for Vili Beros and Alemka Markotic when this is over).

Now compare that to your home country and how they are handling it. What is Croatia doing better/worse?

There is really no comparison possible. I am so sad and mad with the way Romania is dealing with this crisis. The Bucharest government invoked pretty early on the emergency situation and that should have allowed it to take strong measures to restrict movement. But they didn’t, not really. The word to best describe the situation in Romania is chaos.

Medical staff are now resigning in droves in the last couple of days, after getting tired of shouting they do not have adequate equipment or even procedures on how to deal with patients, and rightfully fearing for their and their families’ safety. Medical staff accounts for 20% of the total confirmed cases right now.

As we speak there are 2245 confirmed coronavirus infected persons, and the situation gets worse by the minute. A whole town in Moldova region was just quarantined, after an outbreak at the local hospital. Corruption and incompetence are a daily occurrence in my home country, but now this combination is literally lethal. Combined with the fact that over 200 thousand Romanians have returned home from Italy, Spain or UK from the beginning of this month and many of them did not respect the isolation, I fear Romania is going to follow Italy’s scenario.

(The realisation of what lay ahead)

What about official communications from the authorities, compared to your home country?

It almost sounds crazy, but I feel so much better informed in a country whose language I still do not speak (TCN has a lot to do with that, as well as Slobodna Dalmacija which I refresh 20 times a day and read with Google Translate).

If someone writes a crisis communication manual after this is over, they will have to give Croatia as the prime example on how this has to be done. As a former journalist and political communications manager, myself, I am beyond impressed. We get all information in a clear manner, twice a day (once a day now), directly from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. The fact that they set up a 113 special coronavirus hotline and a website which now is also partly translated in English, the fact that minister Beros and also Mrs. Markotic do live Q&A sessions on Facebook and the fact the government is sending official info on Viber, that shows they totally understood the need for clear communication and used all tools available in this digital era.

Unfortunately, Romania is at the other end of the spectrum on this, with indecisive action and poor and confusing communication. I will give you just one example, because it affects me personally. My mother is 81 and she lives alone (us three daughters are living all abroad, me in Croatia and my other two sisters in Italy and, respectively, in UK). A week or so ago, the government announced that people over 65 can leave their houses only from 11 am to 1 pm. But a few days later, they added that they can also go out in the evenings if they have dogs they need to walk. And, in case they need to go to the doctor or something else urgent, they can go out at any time during the day. Basically, they pretty much can go out just between 11-13, and also anytime. I would laugh, if it was not actually tragic, since we have a hard time convincing mum to just stay home.

And that is just a small, small example. A week or so ago, they issued an order forbidding local authorities to communicate the local number of cases. They basically decided to stop giving information about the number of cases in each county. The lack of transparency breeds paranoia and lack of trust in authorities, at a time when this is needed more than ever. I am watching from afar, hoping each day they will sober up and start doing the right things, the right way.

What's the one thing you wish you had taken with you into self-isolation.

My mum.

One thing you have learned about yourself, and one thing you have learned about others during this crisis. 

I have learnt that cooking is my crisis/isolation coping mechanism. I usually like to cook when I have time, but since we are at home with basically no work to do, it is the main thing that refills my sanity level back up. We will come out of this with empty pockets, but a few kilos more (although I would have preferred it the other way around).

I cannot say I necessarily learnt new things about others, but I do feel more connected with friends and family, than ever before. The pause we are getting now, forced by the situation, makes us all, I guess, re-evaluate priorities and look at our lives in a new perspective. I cannot imagine our lives being again exactly the same as they were a month ago.

You can learn more about Mirela Rus and her wonderful Breatktime nautical jewellery business in our feature on her in the Foreign Entrepreneurs in Croatia section.

Thanks Mirela, stay safe and see you on the other side.  

TCN is starting a new feature series on foreign experiences of sitting out covid-19 here in croatia compared to their home country. If you would like to contribute, the questions are below. Please also include a para about yourself and where you are from, and a link to your website if you would like. Please also send 3-4 photos minumum to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Subject Corona Foreigner

If you would be interested to record a video version for our partners www.rplus.video please let us know in the email. Thanks and stay safe. 

Foreigners Self-Isolating in Croatia: Do You Feel Safer Than in Your Home Country?

Firstly, how are you? Are you alone/with someone? Tell us a little about your situation and sanity levels.

What do you think about the economic measures the government is taking, are they helping your business? (PLEASE IGNORE IF THIS DOES NOT AFFECT YOU)

When did you realise that corona was going to be a big issue? 

What is your impression of the way Croatia is dealing with the crisis? How safe do you feel?

Now compare that to your home country and how they are handling it. What is Croatia doing better/worse?

What about official communications from the authorities, compared to your home country?

What's the one thing you wish you had taken with you into self-isolation.

One thing you have learned about yourself, and one thing you have learned about others during this crisis. 

TCN has recently become a partner in Robert Tomic Zuber's new R+ video channel, initially telling stories about corona experiences. You can see the first TCN contribution from this morning, my video from Jelsa talking about the realities of running a news portal in the corona era below. If you would like to also submit a video interview, please find Robert's guidelines below 

VIDEO RECORDING GUIDE

The video footage should be recorded so that the cell phone is turned horizontally (landscape mode).

There are several rules for television and video news:- length is not a virtue- a picture speaks more than a thousand words

In short, this would mean that your story should not last more than 90 seconds and that everything you say in the report should be shown by video (for example, if you talk about empty streets, we should see those empty streets, etc.).

How to do it with your cell phone?First, use a selfie camera to record yourself telling your story for about a minute and a half. Ideally, it would be taken in the exterior, except in situations where you are reporting on things in the interior (quarantine, hospital, self-isolation, etc.). Also, when shooting, move freely, make sure everything is not static.

After you have recorded your report, you should capture footage that will tell your story with a picture, such as an earlier example with empty streets.

One of the basic rules of TV journalism is that the story is told in the same way as a journalist with his text. Therefore, we ask you for additional effort. Because we work in a very specific situation, sometimes you may not be able to capture footage for each sentence of the report. In this case, record the details on the streets: people walking, the main features of the city where you live, inscriptions on the windows related to the virus, etc.

The same rules apply if you are shooting a story from your apartment, self-isolation, quarantine. We also need you to capture footage that describes your story.

When shooting frames to cover your reports, it is important that you change the angle of the shot (in other words, shoot that empty street from several angles). Also, when shooting a detail, count at least five seconds before removing the camera to another detail.

The material should be about 5 minutes long (90 seconds of your report + frames to cover your story).

After recording everything, send us to Zagreb, preferably via WeTransfer to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.