ZAGREB, 3 May 2022 - On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, the Croatian Journalists' Association (HND) and Croatian Journalists' Union (SNH) in Zagreb on Tuesday paid tribute to reporters killed in Ukraine and to all reporters whose freedom is threatened.

Gathered in front of the memorial plaque commemorating reporters killed during the Second World War antifascist struggle and the 1991-1995 Homeland War, HND president Hrvoje Zovko, his deputies Branko Mijić and Goran Gazdek, SNH leader Maja Sever and their colleagues held photographs of reporters killed in the war in Ukraine.

Sever read excerpts from the Perugia Declaration for Ukraine saying that the Russian military aggression against Ukraine has once again underlined the essential role of independent and ethical journalism in informing people, assisting them in making life-or-death decisions, and holding the powerful to account.

"As a powerful antidote to disinformation and propaganda that characterise hybrid warfare, and as a pillar of democracy upon which other freedoms and rights depend, journalism in Ukraine is undergoing a terrible assault. The targeting, torturing, and killing of journalists is abhorrent and must be stopped. Those responsible must be held accountable and brought to justice under national and international law," Sever said.

The declaration says that vicious online attacks against news organisations and individual journalists must cease, condemning Russia’s attacks on press freedom and freedom of expression in Ukraine in the strongest possible terms. It expresses solidarity with all journalists and independent media covering Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

"The greater the threat to Ukrainian journalists’ lives, livelihoods, and ability to do their jobs, the greater will be our efforts to support them. Funding, protective gear, equipment, housing, training, office space in foreign cities, and psychosocial support – we will do everything we can to support our Ukrainian colleagues’ ability to continue reporting and serving the urgent needs of their audiences," the declaration says.

The document has been signed by the European Federation of Journalists and another 149 organisations, as well as by the HND and SNH.

April 22, 2022 - Croatia 1991 - Ukraine 2022: The Road to Freedom. Meet Vukovar 365, full of compassion. The city that is still recovering over 30 years later knows the pain. Its people have been through hell and back. They would not wish this upon anyone, yet it's happening. Ukrainian people have always been Vukovar's friends, their culture enriching the area that this minority has historically been a part of. Not that we should seek reasons to help, but the people of Vukovar have got plenty and they are always willing to step up.

Hrv reports on a conference that was held in Zagreb, titled "Croatia 1991 - Ukraine 2022: The Road to Freedom", citing Vukovar's hero war reporter Siniša Glavašević who said, "You have to rebuild. First, your past, your present, and then, if you have any strength left, invest it in the future".

As the title suggests, the topic of the conference was the similarities between the ongoing war in Ukraine with the war that Croatia fought in 1991 to gain its independence and freedom. Damir Luka Saftić, representative of the "Za Vukovar" association commented that the pearl of the Danube bled 31 years ago like the Azov Sea's Mariupol is today, saying that "the resemblance is appalling".

The participants of the conference included Vasilj Kirilič, Ambassador of Ukraine to Croatia, Željka Antunović, former Minister of Defense, Yevhen Stepanenko, Ukrainian journalist, Tomislav Marević of the Croatian Civil Protection Directorate, Robert Barić, military analyst, Jakov Sedlar, film director, and Vukovar veterans Damir Poljaković and Tomislav Orešković.

"Croatia has defended its independence and the message for Ukraine is that it can do so too because we are strong in spirit and I believe that we will defend our country. The city of Mariupol is a symbol of defense, as is the Croatian city of Vukovar", said Ambassador Kirilić.

"When you know that your whole family, wife, child, and parents are in the basement, your whole city is in that basement, everyone from your street, friends, your football club, factory, then your strength appears from somewhere and it was either us or them, there was nothing else," said Damir Poljaković, a Vukovar hero who defended the city in 1991 at Trpinjska cesta.

Following the conference, and with Orthodox Easter approaching, the city of Vukovar in partnership with the local Red Cross organised a humanitarian donation action for the Ukrainian refugees in the city. 

A total of 40 refugees from Ukraine are accommodated in Vukovar, writes hrv, which includes 16 families with 18 children. To provide assistance in difficult times, but also to celebrate the upcoming Easter holidays, the City of Vukovar and the Vukovar Red Cross Society provided special food packages for refugees from Ukraine in the Vukovar area, as well as candy packages for the youngest.

The packages were handed over to the Ukrainian people by the Deputy Mayor of Vukovar, Filip Sušac, who emphasized that the City of Vukovar, in cooperation with the Red Cross, is trying to make life easier for refugees. "The city of Vukovar has decided to help Ukrainians who are in the area of ​​our city through a series of measures. In cooperation with the City Museum, the City Library, and sports clubs, we have ensured that all Ukrainian refugees can use their services completely free of charge. The City of Vukovar has called on all fellow citizens to help the refugees as much as they can, and we appeal to the Government of the Republic of Croatia to make Hostel Zagreb available - explained Sušac.

Marija Semenjuk Simeunović, Secretary of the Ukrainian Community of the Republic of Croatia, emphasized that all persons who came from war-torn Ukraine feel welcome in Croatia and thanked everyone for their support.

"Displaced persons who came from Ukraine to our city, county, but also the Republic of Croatia, in general, feel welcome. We have all shown compassion and solidarity in some way, especially since we went through the horrors of war 30 years ago. Through their programs, our Ukrainian associations from the entire Republic of Croatia want to include and integrate the Ukrainian people into our society", said Semenjuk Simeunović.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 16 April 2022 - The Archbishop of Zagreb, Cardinal Josip Bozanić, on Saturday wished a happy Easter to all believers and people of good will, saying that all people in the depth of their hearts want peace.

"We feel this desire especially in these times, strongly marked by the war suffering and victims in Ukraine. We are witness to the spread of suffering in order to create, bring and support unrest and fear," he said.

"In this frightening war noise, everyone is saying that they advocate peace and want to establish peace. But how?" the cardinal said, calling for prayer.

"While we sympathise with the victims of the war, in which the Ukrainian people and Ukrainian citizens are forced to defend their lives and the lives of their dear ones, freedom and the democratic right to self-determination, we are praying for all who can and want to really help in establishing a just peace," Bozanić said in his message, among other things.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 16 April 2022 - Since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, 14,340 refugees from that eastern European country have arrived in Croatia, the Croatian Civil Protection Directorate said on Saturday.

Of them, 7,044 (49.1%) are women, and 5,242 are children (36.6%), while the remaining 2,045 (14.3%) are men.

Most of them, 12,625, are being accommodated individually, and 1,691 are in collective accommodation facilities, while currently 24 refugees are in reception centres.

The Croatian Civil Protection Directorate has made 38 facilities available for refugees where they can be provided with accommodation.

April 12, 2022 – Ukrainian refugees are welcome in Vukovar, the city that has felt their pain. It’s now time to rely on past experience to serve as a guide in supporting those in need. The city's institutions, organisations, and residents are coming together to provide a warm welcome and offer a helping hand to those living in Vukovar.

As Jutarnji writes, the citizens of Vukovar and members of refugee families from Ukraine all gathered in Vukovar on Monday, 11^th of April to take part in the public forum “Living in Vukovar”, organised by Europe House Vukovar and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.

“Since the people of Vukovar have experience of war and living in other areas, we know that we all needed friendly words and little signs of appreciation in the beginning. We thus wanted to organise a meetup for people in the local community with the aim of exchanging information, making new contacts and so that refugees from Ukraine can integrate into the local community regardless of how long they will stay”, said the executive director of Europe House Vukovar, Dijana Antunović Lazić.

According to the project coordinator at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Branka Smoljan, it is extremely important to work on integration to make sure that refugees have the best chance of fitting into a new environment.

“This is the first such project, to be followed by similar projects in the north of Croatia, in Koprivnica, Čakovec, and Varaždin, where the largest number of Ukrainian refugees arrive,” Smoljan said.

According to the secretary of the Ukrainian community in Croatia, Marija Semenjuk Simeunović, about 200 Ukrainians have so far arrived in the Vukovar-Srijem County.

“We recently organized a workshop to which we invited many displaced persons, especially children, to connect with our members and to feel welcome in our city”, said Semenjuk Simeunović.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 12 April 2022 - Olga Pascenco, the European Investment Bank's Global Relationship Manager in Croatia, said on Tuesday that this European Union bank would finance and support projects for the construction of storage facilities for energy generated from the renewables.

Addressing a news conference at which the EIB presented its results in Croatia in 2021, Pascenco said that there was great potential for the construction of renewable energy storage facilities.

The EIB is ready to offer financial, technical and advisory support to the private sector in such projects, she said.

The EIB representative spoke about the importance of developing rail and maritime connectivity and about transport connections between islands and the mainland.

Concerning the rail sector, she pushed for improving train services between Zagreb and Rijeka, having in mind the great potential of the seaport of Rijeka.

The EU's lending arm will place emphasis on direct financing of local communities, that is cities, in a set of essential projects such as affordable housing, improvement of energy efficiency and the post-quake reconstruction, she added.

The bank's assistance to Ukraine

The EIB Board of Directors has recently approved a EUR 668 million loan as immediate financial support for Ukraine.

"This initial support package for the war-torn country benefits from the EU guarantee under the External Lending Mandate and complements other initiatives announced by EU institutions," the EIB says on its website.

In addition, the Board agreed that the EIB should pursue further initiatives under the emergency Solidarity Package for Ukraine, worth four billion euros. It includes help to countries in Ukraine's neighbourhood and within the EU that are welcoming refugees from Ukraine or are affected by the war in other ways.

ZAGREB, 9 April 2022 - Croatia will increase its assistance to the friendly Ukrainian people and as part of the Global Citizen Impact initiative commit an additional €100 million to Ukrainian refugees, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Saturday.

"As the brutal Russian aggression against Ukraine continues, we wish to express support and solidarity with the Ukrainian people," Plenković said in a Twitter post.

"Croatia pledges to commit an additional €100 million to Ukrainian refugees" to be taken in by Croatia, he said.

"In this difficult time for the Ukrainian people, we will continue with our support, solidarity and assistance, standing with Ukraine and Ukrainians," he said.

Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, four million people have fled the country, according to UNHCR.

According to the latest data, there are more than 12,600 Ukrainian refugees in Croatia.  

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 9 April 2022 - Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said in Krakow on Saturday that the city had responded in a good and organised way to the arrival of refugees from Ukraine fleeing the Russian invasion, who have increased the city's population by some 20%.

"Krakow has been faced with refugees not since yesterday but since 2015. At the time, Europe took in around one million migrants, including illegal migrants. Today there are 2.5 million refugees in Poland alone, and they have been promptly integrated," Grlić Radman told reporters after meeting with the mayor of Krakow, who, he said, "was also interested in our experience with refugees during the Homeland War."

Speaking of the refugees from Ukraine, he said they left their country fleeing the Russian aggression and that they had been given a friendly welcome.

The refugees have been enabled to continue with education and have been provided with adequate accommodation, Grlić Radman said.

Krakow Mayor Jacek Majchrowski said the refugee crisis was putting huge pressure on the city administration, with the refugees now accounting for close to one quarter of the city's population.

Majchrowski explained how their reception and integration had been organised but stressed that the problem was that "women, children and the elderly have come here while men, who could work in Poland, have returned to Ukraine."

Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, four million people have fled the country while the total number of those displaced exceeds ten million, according to UNHCR.

More than 2.52 million Ukrainian refugees have arrived in Poland, according to Polish border services.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 5 April 2022 - There are 12,403 Ukrainian refugees in Croatia, Civil Protection director Damir Trut said on Tuesday, while Red Cross Croatia president Robert Markt said HRK 3 million had been raised as well as various goods collected.

They were visiting the reception centre for displaced Ukrainians in Gospić, one of three in Croatia.

Markt said that of the 131 Red Cross organisations in Croatia, 25 had asked for funds for the refugee crisis and that HRK 511,000 had been paid into their accounts.

In Lika-Senj County, 517 Ukrainians have been temporarily accommodated in hotels and motels. Trut said a call had been advertised in the county for their accommodation in privately-owned houses and flats, with utility bills to be paid by the government.

Psychosocial assistance has been provided to 2,657 Ukrainians. Twenty-two Ukrainian children from first to seventh grade have been enrolled in Gospić's Ivan Turić Elementary School.

(€1 = HRK 7.5)

ZAGREB, 29 March 2022 - The European Union should in particular focus on southeastern Europe and monitor the impact of the Ukraine war on the situation in the region as well as the potential growth of Russian influence, Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković said on Tuesday.

"We need to follow the potential effect of a spillover of the Ukraine conflict to neighbouring areas as well as to southeastern Europe," Jandroković said in his address on the second day of the conference of EU parliament speakers in Brdo Pri Kranju, Slovenia.

"I emphasise that the European Union should in particular focus on southeastern Europe," he added.

Jandroković said the main challenges to stability in the region were issues stemming from the past conflicts and Russia might use "vulnerabilities to expand its influence."

That's why it is necessary to support the European membership prospects, sovereignty and integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina based on the equality of all three of its constituent peoples and their legitimate representation in the country's political institutions, he added.

Jandroković said that the EU should focus on southeastern Europe because otherwise other countries would spread their influence and pose "a potential threat to the EU and our values."

"Russia is already showing an inclination towards these parts of Europe," he noted.

Jandroković said that Croatia "strongly condemns" the Russian military aggression against Ukraine, which began on 24 February, and that the Croatian Parliament had adopted a resolution by consensus condemning the invasion.

On the sidelines of the conference, Jandroković met on Monday with his counterparts Igor Zorčić from Slovenia, Jüri Ratas from Estonia and Markéta Pekarová Adamová from the Czech Republic, while on Tuesday he is due to meet with Spain's Meritxell Batet Lamaña.