ZAGREB, 9 Sept 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Thursday sent a letter of condolence to North Macedonia's Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and to the families of the victims who lost their lives in a fire that broke out in a COVID hospital in the western city of Tetovo on Wednesday evening.

We are very saddened by the news about the violent fire in the COVID-19 hospital in Tetovo in which many people lost their lives, Plenković wrote on his Twitter account.

"We are in our thoughts with North Macedonia and the families of victims," Plenković added.

At least 14 people died and many more were injured in that hospital fire in North Macedonia, health officials said.

The fire erupted after an explosion at about 2100 hrs Wednesday. Dozens of firefighters battled the blaze for an hour before they managed to bring it under control.

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ZAGREB, 22 June, 2021 - North Macedonia and Albania have met all the criteria to open EU accession negotiations as soon as possible and Kosovo deserves visa liberalisation, Croatia's Foreign and European Affairs Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said on Tuesday in Luxembourg.

"Albania and North Macedonia have met all the criteria and we believe that accession negotiations should be opened with them as soon as possible," said Grlić Radman upo arriving in Luxembourg for a General Affairs Council meeting.

The General Affairs Council is composed of foreign or European affairs ministers of the member states. They convened today to discuss preparations for an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday on migration, enlargement and the stabilisation and association process.  Furthermore, the Portuguese presidency will inform the EU ministers about the work of the Conference on the Future of Europe.

One of the more important topics to be debated within Article 7 is the rule of law in Hungary and Poland.

Accession intergovernmental conferences with Serbia and Montenegro will be held on the margins of today's meeting, but without opening or closing any policy chapters. So-called political intergovernmental conferences are a new approach in the accession process.

Agreement still has not been reached to open negotiations with North Macedonia due to objections by Bulgaria and no progress is expected before elections in Bulgaria scheduled for next month.

There are no blockades regarding Albania, however some countries do not wish to separate the issue of opening negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia.

Grlić Radman that Croatia supports the motion for liberalising the visa regime for Kosovo as soon as possible.

Croatia would like talks on candidate status for Bosnia and Herzegovina to be launched as soon as possible too, said Grlić Radman and once again underscored the need for the election law in that country to be changed so that it ensures the equality of all three constitutent peoples.

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April the 1st, 2021 - The Macedonian Interior Ministry (MUP) has handed the Croatian company Dubina, which is an enterprise which deals with underwater operations and is headquartered in the Dalmatian city of Split, an award.

As Novac writes, last week in Skopje, the Croatian company Dubina and its director Gordan Zupa received an award from the Ministry of the Interior of Macedonia for its special contribution and mutual cooperation.

The plaque was awarded to the Split-based enterprise on the occasion of the celebration of forty years of the special police of Macedonia, and the handing over of the award itself took place in the base of "special forces" in that nearby country. The award ceremony was attended by the Prime Minister of Macedonia, Zoran Zaev, and Oliver Spasovski, the Macedonian Minister of the Interior.

The Croatian company Dubina and its main man Gordan Zupa received this special recognition for their long-term cooperation with the special police of Macedonia, as namely, this company has been participating in the training of special units in the field of underwater activities for many years now.

''Receiving this medal is an exceptional honor for me, as well as for the entire company, and I'd like to thank all the members of the Special Police of Macedonia for their successful long-term cooperation. I'm looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead of us and future joint activities,'' said the director of the Croatian company Dubina, Gordan Zupa, when receiving this special recognition.

Dubina, founded by Zupa exactly twenty years ago, has evolved from a company created ''in the garage'' to a widely recognised leader in the field of underwater work. To date, they have participated in the construction of several nautical marinas throughout the Adriatic region, are specialists in underwater ship maintenance and are authorised to officially inspect ships for most international registries.

Over recent years, experts from this company have been engaged in almost all demanding underwater operations across the Adriatic, and can boast of many successfully completed tasks abroad - from those done in Macedonia's Lake Ohrid to the beautiful bays of Malta.

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