ZAGREB, 23 April 2022 - The Extinction Rebellion Zagreb initiative staged a Climate March in the centre of the capital on Saturday in response to the climate crisis, with the participants demanding the government turn to renewables.

The march was organised on the occasion of Earth Day.

The participants shouted they wanted climate justice, that it was the only hope, and that revolution was the only solution.

They carried banners which said "Systematic change - No to climate change", "For global peace, for climate justice, for social justice", "Green capitalism does not exist", and "Less work at work, more work on the environment, let's shorten the work week".

"We wish to encourage citizens to get involved in dealing with the climate crisis, given that at the last march we had demands which the government has not fulfilled," said Magdalena Škoda of Extinction Rebellion Zagreb.

Those demands were that Croatia declare a climate crisis and that the climate crisis be highlighted in schools, she said, adding that Croatian scientists have published an appeal which Croatian politicians probably have not read.

Green Action and Greenpeace activists also took part in the march.

Green Action president Luka Tomac told Hina the march showed how concerned citizens were about climate change and how willing they were to take action.

However, citizens can only do so much and it is up to the government to create ambitious climate and energy policies that would lead to a low-carbon society much sooner than the government plans, he said.

Those policies put sun and wind energy first instead of investing in fossil projects such as the continued use of coal, new LNG projects and a new block of the Krško Nuclear Power Plant, he added.

"We need a swift energy transition because it's the only way to achieve energy independence and avoid existing and future crises," said Tomac.

The director of Greenpeace's Croatian and Slovenian office, Zoran Tomić, told Hina two major fossil fuel-related crises had marked this year, the "unfortunate war in Ukraine" and the "galloping climate change."

"We need radical change, we must turn to renewable energy sources, notably sun energy, and not gas, oil and coal," he added.

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ZAGREB, 26 March 2022 - The Daffodil Day, traditionally observed in Croatia in March to raise awareness of breast cancer, was again marked by outdoor events in the main squares in Croatian cities on Saturday, after a two-year break due to the coronavirus pandemic when only online events were held on that occasion.

In Zagreb's "Trg bana Jelačića" and "Cvjetni" squares, citizens could get information about this malignant disease. 

Also, a mobile mammography van arrived in Zagreb's main square to offer free medical checks as part of the 26th edition of Daffodil Day.

On the occasion of this year's Daffodil Day, Health Minister Vili Beroš said that the mortality caused by breast cancer had declined by 25%, as a result of the national turnout of 60% to examinations within the National Breast Cancer Screening Programme.

Breast cancer most frequently diagnosed malignant disease among women

Breast cancer mortality has been falling in Croatia for the fifth consecutive year, the Croatian Public Health Institute (HZJZ) said recently ahead of Daffodil Day, noting that the disease was no longer the leading cause of mortality in women.

Breast cancer is now the third leading type of cancer causing death in the female population, after lung and colon cancer.

In terms of breast cancer mortality, Croatia ranks 15th in the EU, which is better than average.

In 2019, Croatia recorded 2,999 cases of breast cancer (143.2 cases per 100,000 population), and 722 women died of that disease in 2020 (34.7 deaths per 100,000 population).

Due to population ageing, it is forecast that more and more women will be diagnosed with breast cancer.

ZAGREB, 29 May 2021 - The Walk for Life association on Saturday organised the sixth annual pro life march in the centre of Zagreb, and according to estimates of the organisers, several thousand people took part in this year's march.

The motto of this year's march is "For the protection of every human life, without any discrimination."

Activist Luka Hudinčec said that the initiative was also for the protection of the elderly against possible euthanasia.

The organisers said they were advocating the protection of every human life, from conception to natural death.

The march was held from the western parts of the downtown to Zrinjevac park. The police stopped the tram traffic in that part of Zagreb during the walk of activists.

At the same time, several counter-marchers rallied outside the Croatian National Theatre (HNK) requesting a new law on abortion 

A walk for life also took place in the southern town of Imotski today. It was the first time for this rally to be held in this town in the Dalmatian hinterland.

Zagreb draws people from across the country and the wider region to march in the name of transgender rights.

The Republic of Croatia is known as a conservative country, and while there are people of all backgrounds, ethnicities and religious beliefs (or none whatsoever) living in Croatia, the dominant religion is Catholicism. Most people in Croatia identify as Catholic if asked, even if they don't actively practice the religion or attend church regularly, or at all.

Gay pride has become somewhat of a staple in some of Croatia's larger cities, including the capital of Zagreb, Split, and in the typically much less conservative Rijeka along the northern Adriatic coast. While gay pride parades generally pass by without many incidents, Croatia still has a long way to go before such parades are as accepted as they are in other European capitals such as London or Berlin.

What of those who are transgender, you might ask? As france24 writes on the 30th of March, 2019, Croatia hosted its very first transgender march yesterday, which attracted approximately 300 people from Croatia and the wider region to Zagreb to march in an attempt to draw attention to the discrimination they feel they face in what is a largely, but not entirely, conservative part of Europe.

Those marching were accompanied by special police as they marched through the streets of the capital on the warm, sunny spring day this weekend, blowing whistles and brandishing signs and banners attesting to their struggle within society. 

The organisers of the Zagreb march spoke about the concerning rise of ''right-wing groups'', even going as far as to refer to such groups as ''fascists'' who seek to focus their ''attacks on marginalised people'' which they claim include women, migrants and transgender individuals. They claimed that the march encompassed not only trans rights but desired to draw attention to ''all forms of oppression,'' according to a statement from the organisers.

Since its accession to the European Union back in 2013, Croatia has seen the gradual liberalisation of gay rights, and homosexual couples have been perfectly free to register themselves as life partners, just like unmarried heterosexual couples, since the year 2014. That law afforded them the same rights which were already enjoyed by homosexual couples who are legally married, which include matters involving property, tax, health and social insurance, and various other things.

In spite of Croatia's numerous steps forward, which have picked up their pace quite significantly since the country's accession to the political-economic bloc, issues still remain for people seen as as marginalised, which includes both gay and transgender people.

A trans activist from the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana stated that solidarity is key, and that the march was an emotional one as it saw all of the people from across the region, which like to fight with each other at the best of times, coming together in Zagreb in the name of such an important matter.

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Click here for the original article by france24