April 6, 2023 - The Sisak branch of the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service (HGSS) has announced that it will apply for the project to build an international training center for search dogs, hoping that the city will become a center where teams from Central and Southeast Europe will come for training.

As Index writes, Sisak HGSS members will apply to the international partnership for financing the project from European funds, said the head of the Novska station and head of the Sisak branch, Branislav Grubić.

The local branch office is also preparing documentation for the reconstruction and extension of its headquarters in the city of Sisak, damaged in the earthquake, which the City of Sisak is helping with 19,000 euros.

Benefits for local businesses as well as tourism

"The knowledge and experience that our people gained in disasters here, in Albania and Turkey, are very valuable and a good basis for a project like this," Grubić believes.

It is expected that with the construction of the training center in Sisak, teams from the wider region and a large part of Central and Southeastern Europe will come to Sisak, which will be useful for local businesses, as well as tourism.

Mayor: We have to make sure that all our emergency services are well equipped

On Wednesday, the project was supported by the mayor Kristina Ikić Baniček with the deputy and head of the city staff of Civil Protection, Marko Krička.

"We have to make sure that all our emergency services are well equipped because when an accident happens, it's too late to think about what they need or lack," said the mayor, recalling the natural disasters they've dealt with in recent years, from floods and earthquakes to storm.

"I am glad that the HGSS branch in Sisak is among the best in Croatia, primarily because of the phenomenal people who are part of their team," said Ikić Baniček.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated News section.

March 4, 2023 - Sisak is the first city in Croatia to launch a long-term project to monitor the development of children from kindergarten to adolescence called Sisak Fit, the city administration reported on Friday.

As 24Sata writes, thirty anthropological assessments per child, carried out by an expert team of kinesiologists, doctors, educators, and teachers, will enable recognition of the child's physical tendencies for sports, health indicators, orientation values, and monitoring of their physical development. The excellent response from parents is quite encouraging, with 58 percent having readily accepted participation in the project.

As announced by the Sisak city administration, the first assessments began in Sisak kindergartens. These data will enable kinesiologists and parents to easily direct children to sports for which they have physical predispositions.

In addition, children who are found to have minor health problems, such as obesity, flat feet, or wrong posture, will be provided training through special programs to correct these conditions so that they do not cause more severe problems in the long term. The data collected in these assessments will also provide orientation values of the anthropological characteristics of the youngest Sisak residents and their physical constitution.

The Sisak Fit project is a continuation of the City of Sisak's investments in sports, as part of which the city was declared the European City of Sports in 2019. In the same year, it received the new Zibel Ice Hall; before that, the Caprag swimming pools were renovated, and in 2021 the City Sports Hall Zeleni Brijeg was built, which enables the work of clubs in indoor and ice sports.

Kindergarten and school children in Sisak have a skating school, a swimming school at the city pool, and an athletics school; the international Healthy Meal Standard for the highest quality nutritional meal for children has been introduced in the schools. In addition, kinesiologists are employed in kindergartens to guide children's physical development as professionally as possible.

The total support for sports in the city budget amounts to 2.7 million euros. The City of Sisak allocates more than 600,000 euros of support to clubs annually through the Association of Sports Associations.

This year, 33 thousand euros will be allocated from the city budget for the Sisak Fit project. It is implemented by the city's Association of Sports Associations in partnership with the Faculty of Kinesiology in Zagreb, kindergartens and elementary schools in Sisak, the Association of Kinesiologists and the Sisak Sports and Recreation Center, and in cooperation with the Croatian Association of Sports Psychologists.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated News section.

ZAGREB, 18 July 2022 - The first group of 42 students from Petrinja Secondary School and the Sisak School of Economics, and three travelling companions left on Monday for a summer camp in Hungary.

The secondary school students will spend eight days on their summer holiday in Hungary.

This is a result of good cooperation between Sisak-Moslavina County and the Hungarian government, which made it possible for about a hundred secondary school students to attend a summer camp in two groups, on 18-25 July and on 25-31 July.

The students will be accommodated in a hotel with a swimming pool, near Lake Velence, and Hungarian hosts will provide them with a variety of cultural activities and entertainment. The programme includes a trip to Pécs, where they will visit the Croatian House and go sightseeing, a trip to Tihany, where they will visit the Benedictine monastery and the Visitors' Centre, and a trip to Székesfehérvár, where they will visit the Bory Castle, the St. Stephen Museum, and other sights.

The second group of students, who are to visit Hungary on 25-31 July, includes students from Sisak Technical School, Sisak Gymnasium, Sisak Industrial and Crafts School, Viktorovac Secondary School, Sisak Vocational School, Ivan Trnski Secondary School in Hrvatska Kostajnica and Topusko Secondary School.

Sisak-Moslavina County Prefect Ivan Celjak was pleased that secondary school students had the opportunity to go on a free summer holiday, just like primary school students who are currently on holiday in Split.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 26 April 2022 - The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency TIKA has donated 250 humanitarian Ramadan packages for Sisak Islamic citizens.

TIKA vice-president Rahman Nurdun presented the packages on Tuesday to the president of Sisak's Merhamet charity, Šaban Kadrić. Nurdun commended TIKA's office in Zagreb and its leader Sedef Bulut for its prompt response in the wake of the 2020 earthquake and the wish to help residents of Sisak and Sisak-Moslavina County as much as possible.

"Turkey is one of the first countries to have provided assistance when Sisak and its environs were struck by the devastating earthquake, sending 200 housing containers and a large number of humanitarian packages to this area," Kadrić said, expressing gratitude to Nurdun.

"The diversity of our city enriches every aspect of our lives," Sisak Deputy Mayor Marko Krička said, noting the positive and long-lasting business cooperation and friendship between Sisak and TIKA.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 27 March 2022 - This year's Walk for Life will be held in ten cities across Croatia on Sundays in May and June, a news conference heard in Osijek on Sunday.

Representatives of the civic group "Walk for Life, Family and Croatia" told reporters that marches would be held in Vinkovci, Varaždin and Slavonski Brod on 7 May, in Zagreb on 14 May, in Split and Imotski on 21 May, in Zadar and Ploče on 28 May, and in Osijek and Sisak on 11 June.

Lidija Blagojević of the civic group said that the Walk for Life was a peaceful walk for every human life from conception to natural death, for the protection of unborn children and their mothers, and for the protection of every family.

The national coordinator of the Walk for Life, Željka Markić, said this year's campaign was taking place in the context of a horrible war in Ukraine, noting that many volunteers of the Walk for Life initiative were involved in collecting aid and providing accommodation for Ukrainian refugees.

"The killing of people we have been witnessing every day makes us particularly sensitive to the need to build the culture of life and fight for every human life, from its beginning to its end", Markić said.

For more, check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 26 March 2022 - The decision made by the City of Sisak and Mayor Kristina Ikić Baniček (SDP) to ban Caritas Croatia to conduct a humanitarian action in local schools prompted MP Marijana Petir to report the whole case to the Public Ombudswoman as an example of "discrimination based on faith and education".

The report filed by this independent lawmaker on Friday reads that the ban issued by the city authorities violate "the religious rights and freedoms " of the Catholic Church, which are guaranteed by the Croatian Constitution and the international treaties between Croatia and the Holy See.

Recently, the Caritas charity has reported that Catholic Religious Education teachers said that they they had been summoned by the headmasters of schools in the City of Sisak to be informed that they would no longer be allowed to conduct humanitarian actions in schools and that only volunteers of the city's Red Cross branch could carry out charitable campaigns in the schools concerned. Until this ban, both Caritas and Red Cross volunteers were engaged in humanitarian drives aimed at collecting aid for victims of the 2020 devastating earthquake and for Ukrainian victims of the Russian invasion.

Petir writes in her letter to the Public Ombudswoman that the RE subject is a part of the school system and that apart from the theoretical knowledge which should be acquired, the role of this subject is also to encourage students to do concrete acts of charity for others.

She recalls that between 75-95% of school-age children attend RE classes in the City of Sisak and that their religious rights are enshrined in the Constitution.

The ombudswoman is requested to take swift steps in line with the law to protect believers and their rights.

After the news about the ban was broken on 17 March, Hina asked the city authorities for the comment but no response was sent.

ZAGREB, 10 March 2022 - A 3.2 magnitude earthquake was registered near Petrinja at 1410 hours on Thursday, Croatia's Seismological Survey said.

The tremor was felt in the wider Petrinja area as well as the nearby city of Sisak.

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ZAGREB, 1 March 2022 - Zagreb Archbishop Josip Bozanić said in Sisak on Tuesday that one should not stop praying for peace in Ukraine and the whole world.

Speaking at a session of the Zagreb ecclesiastical province at the offices of the Sisak Diocese, Bozanić said the Church was ready to help and take in refugees from Ukraine who were forced to flee their country.

We will provide assistance through the Caritas charity, which is an important segment of the Church, he said.

"It is not difficult for us to understand the situation in Ukraine, that is why we are ready to do everything we can."

"We are joining in Pope Francis' call to pray together and fast for peace in the province and the entire world. Ash Wednesday will be observed in that spirit and many bishops have decided to do so throughout Lent. We must not stop praying for peace. We want what is going on in Ukraine to end as soon as possible even though we cannot predict future developments, but we will do all we can in the spiritual, material and human sense," Cardinal Bozanić said.

ZAGREB, 31 January 2022 - Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković presented farmers in Sisak-Moslavina County on Monday with four new contracts for aid from the Rural Development Programme for local projects.

Vučković said that projects worth HRK 1.18 billion had been agreed so far for this county and that most of this amount had been paid out. She said that this had helped farmers maintain and develop their production during the times of the coronavirus pandemic and earthquakes.

An additional HRK 1.2 billion in aid has been paid out from other programmes since 2014, which makes it a total of HRK 2.4 billion, the minister stressed.

Vučković said that new measures for Sisak-Moslavina County were also in the pipeline, including a further HRK6.5 million "to encourage new demographic trends", and additional aid to help farmers cope with increased costs due to the rise in energy and mineral fertilizer prices.

Sisak-Moslavina County Prefect Ivan Celjak said he was confident the ministry would continue to be a partner to the farmers in repairing the earthquake damage, increasing production and marketing their products.

For more, check out our politics section.

January 27, 2022 - Croatian photographer Miroslav Arbutina Arbe documented the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in a series of photographs currently displayed in Rijeka

It’s been a little over a year since one of the greatest tragedies Croatia has seen in recent times: the disastrous earthquake that hit Sisak-Moslavina County in December 2020.
Often referred to as the Petrinja earthquake after the town which suffered the worst blow, it ravaged other towns and villages in the area as well, affecting the lives of many.

Shortly after the earthquake, Croatian photographer Miroslav Arbutina Arbe was hired by the Ministry of Culture to document the damage inflicted on cultural heritage sites, specifically in the town of Sisak. The result is a series of 82 black and white photographs that have since been displayed in a moving exhibition commemorating the disastrous event.

While the primary purpose was damage assessment and the photos are thus documentary above all, as a skilled photographer Arbutina aptly captured moments that would have likely gone unnoticed by an average observer. A music school diploma on a wall ripped in half by tremor, handwritten notes tacked above the kitchen sink, a marital bed buried in rubble, and perhaps the most poignant, a calendar forever stuck on the fateful December 29th.

Devoid of colour, framed and displayed in a gallery setting, the photos are loaded with emotion and take on an artistic property. It’s an eerie sensation, recognising an aesthetic quality in images of devastation and loss, but this only seems to reinforce their emotional impact.

This is also reflected in the very title of the exhibition, ‘Between Two Periods of Waiting’, referring to the horrifying uncertainty that people affected by the earthquake have had to live with. As the author himself stated: ‘Those who haven’t experienced such a catastrophe probably believe that losing one’s home is the worst part of it, but it isn’t. To me, the worst was expecting the next earthquake to hit, that period of uncertainty between two quakes.’

The exhibition was conceived by the author and organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, the City of Sisak and the Sisak City Museum.

The photographs were displayed in Zagreb and Sisak in late 2021, and are currently on display at the Rijeka City Museum (the 'Kockica' building). The exhibition is part of this year’s Museum Night programme in Rijeka, and will remain on display until January 29th. Entrance to the exhibition is free of charge.