March 5, 2021 - Two regions of Croatia today were menaced by a bomb threat. The Zagreb apartment block of former president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and a school in Sisak, to which an explosive was allegedly brought

As Index reports, today in the centre of Zagreb, in the building where former President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović lives, there was a dramatic intervention by special services. Shortly before noon, police received a report about a woman who locked herself in an apartment in Antun Bauer Street. She threatened to injure herself. She posted notes in her window on which it was written "there are bombs in the apartments".

Bomb threat in Zagreb Emica Elvedji PIXSELL

Police officers, firefighters, and an ambulance immediately went to the scene, as well as members of the Interior Ministry's anti-terrorist unit from Lučko. The tense situation lasted for about 45 minutes, after which special forces broke into the building and took the woman away.

Unofficial information says that the woman is a mentally unstable person. She was taken away by ambulance. As 24sata has learned, the former president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović was not in the building at the time of the drama, nor were members of her family.

Bomb threat in Zagreb Emica Elvedji PIXSELL

In the same street, more precisely, at the next entrance, lives the politician Vladimir Šeks, the former president of the Croatian Parliament, who was shocked by the news. He  also was not at home at the time of the event. A police investigation is currently underway.

Drama at a school in Sisasak, to which a young man claimed to have brought an explosive Slaven Branislav Babic PIXSELL

At around the same time in the city of Sisak, a young man entered the Sisak Vocational High School building and also issued a bomb threat. Croatian media have reported the young man is the son of a deceased war veteran. The young man is said to have been looking for the HDZ prefect of Sisak-Moslavina County, Ivo Žinić. County administration employees were moved to the building of the Sisak High School after the earthquake, where they were today - together with about 200 students and professors. All had to be evacuated immediately. Prefect Ivo Žinić was not in the school building at the time of the bomb threat.

Police went to the scene and surrounded the school. The young man who claimed to have an explosive was alone in the school premises for half an hour, after which time he turned himself in to police. Večernji list reports that the young man walked out of the school building, was immediately overpowered by the police and then placed in a police van to be taken away. A criminal investigation has begun.

While in the school building, the young man also sent his photo to the media, angrily commenting about how "the county is occupied." Meanwhile, police employed the help of two of his friends in order to try and calm him and negotiate with them.

Defense Minister Tomo Medved came to the scene, so too a professional negotiator from the anti-terrorist unit Lučko. Medved said the young man had not stated any demands or motives. The Vocational High School in Sisak director, Ivica Beloglavec, told local media the school would not reopen in the afternoon because of the incident.

As Večernji list unofficially finds out, the attacker is a resident of Sisak who was active in distributing humanitarian aid in the earthquake-affected areas. He is said to have displayed angry annoyance on social media, only to decide to act on it today. However, his full motives are still unknown.

Fortunately, none of the county administration and school staff were injured, nor were the students.  What made this young man from Sisak initiate this act will hopefully become known when the police investigation is over. The first statement of Sisak-Moslavina police in regards to the incident is pending.

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July 16, 2019 - Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic makes international headlines exactly a year after her exploits in Russia. A symbol of the change in Croatia from last year's euphoria. 

It wasn't supposed to be like this.

Something feels very wrong. 

A year ago, Croatia was throwing a party like no other, and even though the national team had eliminated my native England in the semi-final, I could not help get caught of in the euphoria of the moment. 

Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic became one of the most recognised faces on the planet and searches for 'Croatian president bikini' skyrocketed (you can find out why here) as she hugged the players in the pouring rain in Moscow as President Putin looked on from under his sole umbrella. 

And while her performance in Russia (like most things in this country) was met with a mixed reaction back home, President Kolinda was an international hit, however, and The Guardian named her the real star of the World Cup. 

And just when you thought nothing could eclipse those incredible scenes, the next day Croatia did it again. Some 550,000 fans packed the streets of Zagreb to welcome home their heroes. 

Quite incredible. 

The tiny nation which dared to dream had won tens of million hearts all over the globe. Tourism chiefs were salivating at the benefits which would come from this unexpected gift. A few days later, Croatian National Tourist Board director, Kristjan Stanicic, provided an upbeat assessment of the tourism dividend for the 2019 season.

It was great to be alive, and Croatia was definitely the place to be.

And then... nothing. 

Things started to change. The football heroes of Moscow did not last long, and Croatia lost to England in the Nations Cup just three months later. 

Despite Stanicic's upbeat assessment, media and social media reports of the 2019 season is that it is heading for disaster - Croatia certainly feels a lot emptier, and the Ministry of Tourism decided to take their award-winning, transparent tourism statistics software away from public scrutiny to delay the inevitable bad news. 

Corruption scandals dominated the domestic scene, with two ministers resigning in the last couple of weeks, with more potentially to follow. 

It just did not feel quite like the tiny country which dared to dream just a year later. 

But a year to the day since Kolinda was hailed as the real hero of the World Cup, she was making the headlines again in The Guardian - this time for very different reasons, as you can read in The Guardian piece - Croatian police use violence to push back migrants, president admits. 

It doesn't quite give off the same vibes as that crazy night in Russia, does it?

A bit like many things in Croatia this summer - something is not quite right. 

When is the next World Cup again?