December 11, 2022 - It's been just over thirty years, but with Croatia's entry into the Schengen area and adoption of the Euro both happening on January 1st, 2023, it's clear that this country has fulfilled almost all of its realistic international integration goals.

Let's not kid ourselves, G7 is not a realistic goal (and Croatia is already a member of the G20, through the somewhat complicated relationship of the EU with that international organisation). So, the only international organisation remaining where Croatia has applied for membership, but will not be a full member yet as of January 1st, 2023 is the OECD.

In early 2022 the 30th anniversary of Croatian United Nations membership was marked. During the years, almost all other international integrations the Croatians were hoping for happened, one at a time, with the biggest one happening in 2013, with the Croatian accession to the EU. 

Last week's news of the Croatian entry into the Schengen area, paired with the introduction of Euro in Croatia, both happening in weeks, marks the end of the aspirations for Croatia. As for the aforementioned OECD, the application was formally sent in January of 2022, and the official and unofficial sources estimate it will take 3-6 years to meet all of the requirements to join the 38-member Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Croatian Exterior Ministry is in charge of those negotiations, which are not supposed to be easy, and it was reported earlier that Croatia was able to meet 39 out of the 260 legal "requirements".

One of the Croatian Twitter members posted a helpful chart, showing Croatia's position within the international integration in Europe, pointing out how Croatia is currently in the "inner circle" of all of the European countries, distancing itself even further from Bulgaria and Romania.

Od 2023. smo u najužem krugu eurointegracija. Do sada smo bili uz bok s Rumunjskom i Bugarskom. pic.twitter.com/7lwCxkcaq3

— Marko Božac (@markobozac) December 10, 2022

Some sceptics have, of course, taken the opportunity to point out that now, with (almost) all of the Croatian external goals taken care of, maybe the government could dedicate itself to solving some of the internal goals in the near future.

April 12, 2022 – Ukrainian refugees are welcome in Vukovar, the city that has felt their pain. It’s now time to rely on past experience to serve as a guide in supporting those in need. The city's institutions, organisations, and residents are coming together to provide a warm welcome and offer a helping hand to those living in Vukovar.

As Jutarnji writes, the citizens of Vukovar and members of refugee families from Ukraine all gathered in Vukovar on Monday, 11^th of April to take part in the public forum “Living in Vukovar”, organised by Europe House Vukovar and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.

“Since the people of Vukovar have experience of war and living in other areas, we know that we all needed friendly words and little signs of appreciation in the beginning. We thus wanted to organise a meetup for people in the local community with the aim of exchanging information, making new contacts and so that refugees from Ukraine can integrate into the local community regardless of how long they will stay”, said the executive director of Europe House Vukovar, Dijana Antunović Lazić.

According to the project coordinator at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Branka Smoljan, it is extremely important to work on integration to make sure that refugees have the best chance of fitting into a new environment.

“This is the first such project, to be followed by similar projects in the north of Croatia, in Koprivnica, Čakovec, and Varaždin, where the largest number of Ukrainian refugees arrive,” Smoljan said.

According to the secretary of the Ukrainian community in Croatia, Marija Semenjuk Simeunović, about 200 Ukrainians have so far arrived in the Vukovar-Srijem County.

“We recently organized a workshop to which we invited many displaced persons, especially children, to connect with our members and to feel welcome in our city”, said Semenjuk Simeunović.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 22 March 2022 - An information centre for Ukrainian refugees who have fled from the Russian invasion of their country was opened in Osijek in the main square and it will provide information regarding accommodation in Osijek-Baranja County which is currently caring for about 350 refugees.

After Osijek Mayor Ivan Radić and County Prefect Ivan Anušić visited the centre on Tuesday, Anušić said that the integration of Ukrainian refugees in communities in Osijek-Baranja County was going well.

"Refugees can contact this Info Centre to solve their issues and needs, from obtaining documents to communicating with possible employers," Aničić explained.

The Osijek-Baranja County Prefect called on all employers in need of workers to contact the centre where they can be connected with Ukrainians who seek employment. Anyone willing to make their residential premises available to refugees can also contact the centre because the European Commission and Croatian government will cover the cost of their accommodation for the next three years, he added.

Mayor Radić recalled that the county and city authorities promptly prepared themselves for this situation and adopted an Action Plan.

City authorities have prepared a children's corner in the city's Cultural Centre which has already been filled and plans are being prepared for its extension he said and underscored that city authorities were doing everything in their power to help refugees feel welcome.

An attorney and interpreter are present at the Info Centre every day while volunteers assist with everyday tasks in cooperation with Osijek's Faculty of Law.

A Croatian language course has been announced for refugees to help them to be better integrated into the community. The first group consists of 30 adults with childcare services provided while they are attending classes.