February 28, 2022 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković announced a package of support measures for Ukraine, including 124 million kuna in protective equipment and small arms, in addition to restricting the use of air space by Russian planes. Here is a summary of the measures taken in Croatia so far.

Four days after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukrainian territory, fighting continues across the country, including in the capital of Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pointed out that, so far, they have successfully resisted the Russian offensive and the daily results are positive. In addition to the fact that from the beginning, and on a daily basis, the sanctions against Russia and its companies have been increasing and asserting, several international media indicate that Russia would be facing a possible scenario of de-escalating their invasion. Yesterday, a Ukrainian delegation traveled to Belarus for the first approach to peace talks with Russia.

Croatia, like other countries of the European Union or NATO, had a definite position regarding the Russian invasion. On Thursday 24, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković met with the Ukrainian Ambassador to Croatia, Vasyl Kyrylych, and expressed not only his support and solidarity but also confirmed a possible series of sanctions against Russia. Plenković also condemned the Russian aggression and claimed Ukraine as an independent and sovereign nation.

The following day, the Government's position was supported almost unanimously in Parliament, which adopted a declaration on the situation in Ukraine, where in addition to showing its solidarity and position in favor of Ukraine, they also condemned Russia and supported future sanctions against the Russian Government and companies. Almost all Croatian parliamentary groups spoke out against the Russian invasion of Ukraine and they reaffirmed it on Saturday 26.

During the weekend, the Prime Minister held meetings with the main authorities of his government and discussed not only the package of sanctions against Russia but also support strategies for Ukraine. It should be noted that in Germany, Foreign Minister Olaf Scholz halted the approval for the agreement on the Nord Stream 2 gas line. Likewise, some European countries, such as the Czech Republic, Latvia, and Lithuania, have stopped issuing visas for Russian citizens.

To date, many Russian companies have been boycotted around the world, including select Russian banks that have already been disconnected from the SWIFT system, a move supported by the United States. In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered the freezing of the assets of several Russian banks and even the suspension of several Russian oligarchs in the country. The vast majority of European countries have restricted the entry of flights from Russia and suspended the operations of Russian airlines.

In Croatia, many of the actions have come as an initiative of the population. Thousands have withdrawn their money and closed their accounts in the Russian bank Sberbank, which has even caused its subsidiaries in Croatia and Slovenia to fail or likely to fail owing to a deterioration of their liquidity situation, according to multiple reports. Also, on Saturday, Total Croatia News reported that the first Croatian volunteers were on their way to join the Ukrainian army to confront Russia. Most are veterans with combat experience.

But in parallel, the Government confirmed from the beginning the dispatch of ten Croatian soldiers as part of NATO's Very High Readiness Joint Task Force. Likewise, Croatian government authorities confirmed the disposition and readiness to receive Ukrainian refugees. On Saturday, the Minister of the Interior Davor Bozinović confirmed the arrival of the first six refugees, who according to him did not need assistance upon arrival since they had private accommodation. On the same day, Davor Spevec of the Civil Protection Directorate said in Slavonski Brod that Croatia could receive up to 17,000 refugees from Ukraine.

Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević confirmed that the Croatian capital was ready to receive Ukrainian refugees and that more locations would be made available. Similarly, in Osijek, a center was set up to house up to 300 refugees. The opening of one more center on the border with Ukraine has already been announced.

Over the weekend, PM Plenković has met with the rest of his ministers, the Civil Directorate, and the Croatian Red Cross to carry out all the corresponding coordination on handling the situation. 

The Prime Minister took the opportunity yesterday to reaffirm his support for Ukraine, in addition to expressing that Ukraine is an independent and sovereign country. Likewise, the Russian airline Aeroflot suspended its operations in Croatia, something that the PM himself reinforced by announcing the prohibition of the use of airspace for Russian aircraft.

Today, on his Twitter account, Plenković announced a series of support measures for Ukraine. He had previously expressed that by supporting Ukraine, Croatia was standing on the right side of history. "Croatia is on the right side of history, on the right side of values, on the right side of international law, on the right side of humanity. It's very important that at this moment such a clear message prevails also in the Croatian public," he told the press.

Furthermore, he stressed that the current relationship with Russia, under the current circumstances, was not the best.

The Prime Minister first appealed to recent history in Croatia in a tweet:

''The Croatian people know very well what it means to fight for democracy and decide on their own destiny, and to defend their homeland from aggressors! Croatia can only be on the side of democratic, sovereign, and attacked #Ukraine, on the side of justice, peace and freedom!

He followed his first tweet by announcing the supporting measures:

''We bring a package of measures to support Ukraine and send assistance in protective equipment and small arms worth 124 million kuna. We are raising the level of preparedness for the possible reception of refugees and ensuring gas supply and financial stability''.

Finally, he confirmed what had already been announced the day before about the use of Croatian airspace:

''We have also adopted a measure banning the use of airspace by Russian planes!''

 Most recently, the Prime Minister shared a new tweet expressing support for the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Strong support for @ZelenskyyUa! People of #Ukraine are dying to defend the principles on which the #EU has been built: peace, freedom, human rights and rule of law. I always advocated Ukraine’s future in the EU. Croatia is with Ukraine! #StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/F0VhVkOPqq

— Andrej Plenković (@AndrejPlenkovic) February 28, 2022

For more on the Ukraine crisis and Croatia, as well as breaking news, follow our news section.

February the 28th, 2022 - Some Croatian companies will end up feeling direct consequences as a result of the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine, and as the situation continues to escalate in that Eastern European county, it's difficult to predict how hard those consequences will be to deal with.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Petrokemija, Ad Plastik, Prvo plinarsko drustvo (PPD), Span, Jadran Galenski Laboratorij, Fortenova Group and Sberbank… are just some of the business entities that will be directly affected by Russia's attack on Ukraine, Vecernji list reported.

Last year (during eleven months), Croatian companies exported goods worth 1.36 billion kuna to Russia and 362 million kuna to Ukraine. The value of imports from Russia doubled in one year, to 3.3 billion kuna, probably due to the significantly higher prices of energy, gas and fuel.

Imports from Ukraine stood at around 280 million kuna. When it comes to gas, Croatia is entering a precarious group of countries that are heavily dependent on Russian gas imports, which are still flowing underground while Russian boots spend their time trampling all over everything on neighbouring Ukrainian soil.

Only about one percent of Croatia's merchandise exports go to Russia, so the eventual loss of part or all of the revenue will not result in any shocks or a recession, but it would certainly be a blow to Croatian companies that have struggled for years to be present on what is typically a very difficult market.

The blow to Croatia and Croatian companies will come indirectly, first through inflation and the spillover of the costs of the war on energy and food. The annual inflation rate in Croatia is already at almost six percent, and food and energy are its big generators. Croatia is dependent on imported gas (imports 70 to 75 percent), oil and electricity, but also food.

Russia and Ukraine hold a quarter of the world's entire wheat production, a fifth of the corn production and four-fifths of sunflower oil production. Ukraine is the world's largest producer of sunflowers and potatoes, the sixth largest producer of corn and barley, followed by rye and soybeans, which immediately raised prices on agricultural commodity exchanges.

In addition to higher prices, shortages are possible, which will work to dispel dreams and plans about inflation as a short-term phenomenon that will dissipate by summer and which could be responded to with a one-time package, no matter how expensive that package of measures might be. While waiting for technical instructions and details on sanctions against Russia, Croatian companies are currently putting out the fire, writes Vecernji list journalist Ljubica Gataric.

For more, check out our business section.

February the 28th, 2022 - Croatian geopolitics expert Professor Vlatko Cvrtila has discussed the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine following Russia's unjustified invasion of that Eastern European country. He also touched on potential Balkan consequences of the war.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Geopolitics expert Professor Vlatko Cvrtila spoke about the current and escalating situation in Ukraine on N1 television, where he went deeper and analysed the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He commented, among other things, on how the Russian-Ukrainian crisis could affect the Balkans.

"We're now in a version of the Cold War 2.0. We know how things were back during the Cold War. In addition to opposing ideologies and policies, each side sought to pursue its interests in some undefined territories in the world. These are the territories where the so-called proxy wars. The Western Balkans, that is, our region, is one of those areas, and as such it's another area in which Vladimir Putin would try to possibly sabotage those efforts of the West,'' Professot Vlatko Cvrtila said, and continued:

"The biggest concern is that it could potentially happen here in Croatia's region, given that there are countries and political structures that are very sympathetic to Putin and Russia, and here I mean primarily Serbia, but also Bosnia and Herzegovina, where Dodik has been seriously shaking things up for six months in that country in terms of announcing the exit of those institutions that were founded by the Dayton Agreement, and the Dayton Agreement was what stopped the war,'' he explained.

Vlatko Cvrtila also commented on whether one of the consequences of the Russian invasion of neighbouring Ukraine would be the formation of a European army.

"I'm not optimistic that it will be something that will form rapidly, but to the question of whether or not there'll be some strategic changes... there certainly will,'' Professor Vlatko Cvrtila concluded.

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

ZAGREB, 27 Feb 2022 - By supporting the attacked Ukraine, Croatia is "on the right side of history" and "on the right side of values," Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Sunday.

"Croatia is on the right side of history, on the right side of values, on the right side of international law, on the right side of humanity. It's very important that at this moment such a clear message prevails also in the Croatian public," he told the press.

Plenković said that he, the cabinet and his HDZ party had a "consistent line" on this issue, adding "not everyone has been... so clear."

"We see that we were right the whole time, while some others were wrong. It's very important that this be viewed in the political context... Things should be viewed a little more clearly, with a little more perspective and experience. Not everyone sees that."

Plenković was likely referring to President Zoran Milanović's calling him "an Ukrainian agent."

He said that at the moment Croatian-Russian relations, "to put it mildly," were not good.

As for the impact of the sanctions against Russia on energy supply, Plenković said Croatia's gas supply was not in jeopardy as it does not depend on import from Russia like other EU member states because it built an LNG terminal in the northern Adriatic.

He reiterated that Russia carried out a "cold, brutal invasion" of Ukraine which has "huge repercussions on the foundations of the international order."

"Like other countries, we have to make decisions so as to oppose such behaviour which is not only totally unprovoked, but violates every foundation of the security order in Europe as well as the world."

Plenković said the government would set up a task force for the reception of Ukrainian refugees.

He added that between 35 and 60 Croatian nationals are currently in Ukraine.

For more on the Ukraine crisis and Croatia, as well as breaking news, follow our news section.

ZAGREB, 27 Feb 2022 - Civil Protection director Damir Trut said on Sunday that 63 Ukrainian refugees had arrived in Croatia and that a third reception point would be opened today on the Hungarian border after the two organised in Osijek and Zagreb.

About 2,000 beds have been prepared, which is enough for now, he said while visiting the Zagreb reception point at Plitvice Motel.

At the reception points, members of the Red Cross register the refugees and give them refugee cards before sending them to the accommodation destinations, Trut said.

"Of the 63 who have entered Croatia, most are being accommodated (at) their friends, their families or their properties," he added.

Trut said Croatia had sufficient accommodation facilities for refugees. "As the need increases, we'll open more. We are a tourist country, we have hotels, campsites, homes, resorts."

For more on the Ukraine crisis and Croatia, as well as breaking news, follow our news section.

ZAGREB, 27 Feb 2022 - National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine president Anatoliy Zahorodniy on Sunday thanked Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU) president Velimi Neidhardt for the solidarity and support expressed over Russia's aggression against Ukraine, HAZU said.

"We are touched by your letter of support which condemns Russia's aggression against Ukraine," Zahorodniy said, adding that the Ukrainian academy "is deeply grateful for the support and solidarity."

He said it was very important to them to know that the war against Ukraine started by Russia was eliciting an adequate response from the scientific community, and that the civilised world must stop the aggressor.

"Your support reinforces our faith in victory. We are proud of the Ukrainian people. We are proud of our armed forces and of our defenders... And we will win," Zahorodniy said.

For more on the Ukraine crisis and Croatia, as well as breaking news, follow our news section.

ZAGREB, 27 Feb 2022 - A reception centre for Ukrainian refugees has been set up in a sports hall in Osijek which can provide temporary accommodation for 300 persons, local Civil Protection services said.

The centre is intended for refugees arriving in the five Slavonia counties, Osijek-Baranja County deputy prefect Mato Lukić said on Sunday, adding that beds were set up in the sports hall and that meals will be provided today if necessary.

He said talks were under way with hotels and motels in the Osijek area for the provision of more permanent accommodation.

Lukić said one Ukrainian family arrived at the reception centre this morning to apply for refugee status, after which it found private accommodation in Vukovar-Srijem County.

Osijek Deputy Mayor Dragan Vulin said that, if necessary, buses would go to the Hungarian and Serbian borders to bring Ukrainian refugees to the reception centre in Osijek.

The director of the Osijek city branch of the Red Cross, Martina Hećimović, said search teams were ready for the registration of refugees as were psychosocial assistance teams.

She said many citizens were contacting the Red Cross to express their willingness to accommodate refugees.

For more on the Ukraine crisis and Croatia, as well as breaking news, follow our news section.

ZAGREB, 26 Feb 2022 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Saturday extended solidarity with and support to the people of Ukraine, saying that it is an independent and sovereign state.

"Solidarity with and support to the Ukrainian people. Ukraine is an independent and sovereign state. Croatia is with you!" he said on Twitter, tagging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime minister Denys Shmyhal.

Earlier today Plenković met with members of the government, Civil Protection and the Red Cross in order to raise the level of preparedness regarding the reception of refugees from Ukraine.

For more on the Ukraine crisis and Croatia, as well as breaking news, follow our news section.

February 26, 2022 - Today Interior Minister Davor Božinović announced the beginning of the arrival of Ukrainian refugees in Croatia, following the Russian invasion of their country. The mayor of Zagreb, Tomislav Tomašević shared on his social networks that they will provide all the necessary assistance for them.

Being the third day since the Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory began, neighboring countries begin to receive Ukrainian refugees at their borders. This is the case of Poland, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary, but also that of nearby countries such as Germany and the Czech Republic, all of whom, in addition to expressing their solidarity and condemning the Russian invasion, have confirmed their support in receiving and attending to the refugees. Although Ukraine does not belong to the European Union or the Schengen area, some of these countries maintain border agreements with Ukraine, and others have indicated that they will not require visas or permits to facilitate their entry.

The Croatian Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic stated today that several Ukrainian nationals have already arrived in Croatia and that the groundwork to make them comfortable and provide for their needs is now underway.

The news comes just after Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic took to Twitter to tweet that he has spoken with the government and with the Red Cross and that things were now fully underway to accept fleeing Ukrainian refugees.

The mayor of the Croatian capital of Zagreb, Tomislav Tomašević, has been the most recent authority to speak out on the arrival of Ukrainian refugees, and through a post on Facebook, he has expressed his solidarity, and also guaranteed his support and assistance for them.

''The City of Zagreb is ready to provide all possible assistance to refugees from Ukraine. We will make more locations available for the eventual reception of refugees, depending on their needs. This is the least we can do in solidarity with the citizens of Ukraine and the human tragedy they are going through'', reads the post shared by Tomašević.

The mayor of Zagreb finished his post by condemning the Russian invasion in Ukraine: ''I strongly condemn the aggression against Ukraine, because of which many lives will be destroyed - the violence must stop so that the innocent do not continue to suffer''.

For more on the Ukraine crisis and Croatia, as well as breaking news, follow our news section.

February the 27th, 2022 - Ukrainian refugees have begun to arrive in other countries following Russia's illegal and unjustified invasion of their country. Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic has stated that several Ukrainian nationals have already arrived in Croatia and that the groundwork to make them comfortable and provide for their needs is now underway.

The news comes just after Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic took to Twitter to tweet that he has spoken with the government and with the Red Cross and that things were now fully underway to accept fleeing Ukrainian refugees.

''I convened a meeting with members of @VladaRH, Civil Protection and @crvenikriz_hr in order to raise the level of preparedness regarding the reception of refugees from Ukraine due to Russian aggression. We stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people'' read Plenkovic's tweet.

As N1 Hrvatska writes, Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic has stated that things are moving forward and that those who usually deal with the question of refguees are all involved.

"Everyone who deals with refugee issues was there. We've decided to structure the coordination [of the acceptance of Ukrainian refugees in Croatia] through one government body that will engage with as much intensity as the situation requires of our institutions. We've reviewed the current situation on these issues,'' said Davor Bozinovic, before adding:

"A special council has been convened in Brussels, I will go there and we will consider these issues at the European Union (EU) level, given that the potential is such that more or less all EU member states are likely to be involved in dealing with the increased influx of displaced persons from Ukraine, and all countries have prepared for their reception.

A dozen people from Ukraine entered Croatia who came through private channels, through friendly contacts, and they have been properly accommodated in private accommodation,'' the minister said.

He said Croatia has accommodation facilities to accommodate an influx of Ukrainian refugees as the conflict there escalates even further.

"The point of today's meeting is to simply coordinate the matter," he added.

"We can manage, we're ready, if needed - and I must say that I would not like to rush into it - but yes, we can accommodate people from today onwards," concluded Davor Bozinovic.

For more on the Ukraine crisis and Croatia, as well as breaking news, follow our news section.