ZAGREB, December 1, 2019 - Croatia and Germany will co-organise a NATO-EU cooperation conference in Split next June, Defence Ministers Damir Krstičević of Croatia and Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer of Germany agreed in Trogir on Sunday.

The conference of European defence ministers and NATO officials will be held on June 8-9, Krstičević told reporters.

"Germany is the most important partner in security and defence in Europe and strengthening our cooperation is my priority," he said.

The conference will be a sort of transition between Croatia's and Germany's EU presidencies, said Kramp-Karrenbauer.

Croatia offers a unique opportunity for us all to meet as well as prove our common views, she added.

Krstičević said today's meeting was yet another proof of the real friendship between Croatia and Germany. "The most concrete example of our defence cooperation is the joint participation in operations and missions, from Afghanistan to Kosovo. I'm glad that as of January next year we will again be together in Lithuania under Germany's leadership."

Kramp-Karrenbauer underlined Croatia's role in the region. We know that Croatia paid a high price for its freedom, which is why it has a special perspective and plays a special role in the stability in this region, she said.

She supported EU enlargement and said it was wrong to veto the beginning of accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania.

She said the joint role of Germany and Croatia in NATO was important. We consider NATO an important pillar of the security structure within which transatlantic partnership and friendship is extremely important, she added.

It is necessary to enhance and develop security and defence cooperation in Europe, which will be an important topic next year when Croatia and Germany chair the EU, Kramp-Karrenbauer said.

I am firmly convinced that it will be an excellent presidency of the Council of the EU, she said of Croatia's presidency in the first half of 2020.

After Croatia, she is visiting Kosovo and Afghanistan. Croatian troops are important mission partners to German troops, with valuable experience, and we can learn a lot from them, she said.

More news about Croatia and NATO can be found in the Politics section.

If you've ever visited, you know that most of life on Dalmatian islands revolves around the ferries and their schedule. This week, Lučki taught us that the same is true even for the island cats.

Last week the news of a lost cat found its way to the Croatian media. That probably happened because it was absolutely not your usual story of a lost cat: this one involved a cat name Lučki, known to everyone on the island of Vis, especially in the town of Vis itself.

Lučki is a street cat, apparently living the good life on the island, with an unusual hobby: from time to time, he boards the ferry to Split, gets a lift there, walks around the ferry port in Split for a bit and then comes back home to Vis by sea. It all goes without any problems or issues, or at least it did until this week when Lučki made a mistake: he got on the wrong ferry. Instead of his favourite (and well-known) Petar Hektorović ferry, he boarded the ferry that takes the gas cylinders to and from the island, but which goes to Kaštela Port, and not to Split.

The people of Vis realised what happened to their favourite cat, and on Wednesday social media (and the more traditional media in Croatia) was filled with stories of a lost cat, with a plea from Vis for the people of Kaštela to help them find their beloved Lučki. They knew where he probably disembarked the ferry, and the Kaštela Facebook page shared the story:

For a few days, there was no news, but the best of news made the rounds in the media today: Lučki has been found, he is alive and well, and he's on his way back to Vis! While there are no details currently available about what exactly happened, the same Facebook page posted a video showing Lučki being transported back to his island on a ferry in a transporter, nice and clean and perfectly white. And he also got a nice big meal on the ferry - I mean, if you become a celebrity, at least you can get a nice meal out of that, right?

There's talk of buying him a GPS collar on the Facebook post, so he can be found more easily next time if his adventures in nature takes him on similar trips in the future. Hopefully, he just decides that once was enough, and lives the rest of his long life in the safety of Vis harbour, with occasional (brief) excursions to Split.

December 1, 2019 - Adris Group has officially become the owner of Hotel Marjan in Split!

Vecernji List reports that the process has taken years because it involved a pre-bankruptcy settlement. Split, which in the meantime has become a tourist mecca with high growth rates of tourist arrivals and overnight stays, has needed a larger, high-class hotel, and the Adris Group has made it no secret that they have serious plans for the infamous eyesore. 

“We are looking forward to the new challenge. Split is a strategic destination in the development plans of the Adris Group tourist section and in this way, we will approach the execution of the Marjan project,” Adris emphasized in a statement, from which it could be learned that they would soon have the status of a top-class hotel in Split; one that will match the quality of the newly opened Grand Hotel Park in Rovinj. Adria added that they are ready to make investments as soon as the legal process is formalized.

The decision of the Commercial Court in Split, which granted the Adris Group ownership of a hotel on the West Riva, became final. Recall, the hotel was owned by Zeljko Kerum, or his company Adriatic, which ended in bankruptcy four years ago due to unpaid workers' salaries. Adris was the company's largest creditor. This summer, the bidders auctioned HRK 324 million, which is three-quarters of the appraised value of the property. However, Adris was the only bidder, so their offer was accepted. 

But that's not all the breaking news about the Adris Group. The largest insurer in Croatia, Croatia osiguranje, which operates within the Adris Group, is investing HRK 100 million in a new core system, which it purchased from Sapiens. This will ensure additional sales growth and quick response of the company to market demands. They expect business efficiency to grow through the simplification and automation of part of the process. The contract includes the implementation and license services for Sapiens solutions.

“Such a significant investment in the digital future of Croatia osiguranje confirms our ambition to maintain and increase the company's competitive advantage,” said Davor Tomašković, the company's leader. It is already being implemented by the end of this year and will last until the second quarter of 2022.

To read more about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

December 1, 2019 - Gastroadvent opened in Split on Sunday, December 1, at cult pizzeria Galija. The first Gastroadvent candle was lit by portal journalists to the sounds of opera music. 

Split Gastroadvent is a unique manifestation that is a fusion of nutrition, gastronomy and tourism. For the past ten years, the event has promoted the Mediterranean diet and leaves a mark through its work and messages about Mediterranean foods.

Along with valuable hosts and patrons, the highest trace over the past ten years has been left by journalists who bring light to the city of Split every Sunday of Advent.

And this year, the central ingredient of Gastroadvent is just as valuable to the city of Split.

Namely,  rosemary is an integral part of the Mediterranean diet. It is originally from Europe and has been used since ancient times when students decorated their heads with rosemary wreaths, thinking that it has a beneficial effect on memory. Rosemary leaves and the essential oil obtained by distilling leaves are officially medicinal according to European regulations. Rosemary leaf contains natural phenolic compounds and is therefore considered medicine and a spice. By its antioxidant properties, it is the most potent food. It grows on rocky soil, withstands salt and high temperatures, and its habitat is carbonate rocks.

Rosemary could not exist without its home, stone. The same stone that Diocletian's Palace is made of, which was protected 40 years ago by UNESCO. This year's Gastroadvent wreath is made of stone and was crafted by the students of the Stonemasonry School in Pucisca, Brac, which boasts 120 years of existence. 

Cult Pizzeria Galija is an exclusive partner of this year's Gastroadvent and for the opening occasion, presented a unique selection of dishes using rosemary.

Thus, Galija created crispy tapioca, crescent rolls with cod, baba ganoush, bruschetta mondo, mussels au gratin, rosemary risotto, Mediterranean dumplings, rib-eye steak, lemon and rosemary tart, baked pears with walnuts and rosemary, pizza dough with goat cheese and forest fruit, and pizzas. 

Kabola winery from Istria and Matejusko from Peljesac had their wine on offer. 

Gastroadvent is held every Sunday of Advent at a different location in Split. Total Split will be reporting all December long. 

To read more about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

Since 2012, Croatia has received 1 billion Kuna (134.5 Million EUR) from foreign production companies which have filmed at our locations, said Krešimir Partl, State Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, at the MAKK 2019 International Authors/Creators’ Conference on Friday.

More Interest in Croatia Locations

According to PoslovniDnevnik on November 30, 2019; Partl added that he expects even more interest in Croatia from foreign film producers, not only because of an array of attractive locations, but because of the advancement of the Croatian film industry.

"They come here because the locations suite them, and because of our incentive system for creative industries. We’ve raised incentives to 25 percent. When foreign producers film in Croatia, they employ our production services, and receive a 25 percent of the return on their local consumption," Partl noted.

He added that foreign producers are very interested in filming in our locations, which significantly contributes to the development of our local communities and tourism and has an interesting effect on some of our competing countries.

Plitvice Lakes | Pascal Habermann | Unsplash

Tourism Increased at Film Locations

"Specifically, because of the sequel to 'Mamma Mia', which was filmed in Vis, the Greek culture minister resigned because Greece had lost that opportunity. But we should also note that we have had an increase in tourists visiting locations where 'Robin Hood', 'Star Wars', 'Mamma Mia' were filmed", Partl revealed.

"Currently, there is so much filming in Croatia that there is not enough local set staff to cover production needs," Partl said, highlighting the benefits of incentives in other sectors of the creative industry, including video (computer) games, which were included for the first time in the law on audiovisual activities.

Croatia Video Game Sector

"The video game sector is also very important in the transition period, with about 18 per cent of audiovisual specialists working in the video game industry at the EU level. The video game industry has grown 50 per cent in Croatia annually and is currently generating income of around HRK 400 million a year (54 Million EUR)," Partl added.

He mentioned the video game "Scum" which was developed by Croatian gamers and was at one time the best-selling game in the world. He announced possible incentives for further stimulating this industry which are modeled after the film industry similar industries in the incentive system.

"Within the contemporary financial perspective and national development strategy, the Ministry of Culture is placing a great emphasis of the on the creative sector. The position of the Ministry of Culture is that culture is not an expense. Rather culture, especially the creative sector, is an extremely important factor which plays a significant role in the national GDP and small investments which can also create many jobs”, said Partl.

Creatives 7.5 Percent of EU Workforce

He also pointed out that nearly 11.2 percent of all EU businesses are in the cultural and creative industries, which accounts for between 4 and 6.9 percent of the EU's GDP and employing between 3.8 and 7.5 percent of the total workforce.

Partl cited additional his involvement in the Ministry of Culture, which has adopted new legislation related to the cultural and creative industries. He reiterated that the Electronic Media Act will soon be open to public debate and announced that the draft Act on Performing Art and Encouraging Art Creativity is in its final phase.

The 2019 MAKK (International Authors/Creators’ Conference) also hosted lectures on the impact of the Copyright and Related Rights Directive in the EU's digital single market for newspaper publishers and author’s rights for journalists and other "creatives".

For more information on the Croatian film industry, film productions and locations; follow our Made in Croatia page here or our Lifestyle page here.

Croatian teachers are still on strike. Their demands have so far either gone unheard or have been met with unsatisfactory ''solutions'' from the side of the Croatian Government. If you're interested in gaining a better understanding of exactly what Croatian teachers are seeking with their strike, click here for a short and simple explanation about the changes to the coefficients that the unions desire.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 1st of December, 2019, Friday, which some believed could potentially be the end of the strike, ended anticlimatically and without any concrete results despite lengthy talks between the unions representing Croatian teachers and the government who seem not to want to budge. As N1 has since learned unofficially, the education unions currently strike and government representatives aren't going to follow the norm and wait until Monday to continue their negotiations this time, and talks are apparently going to begin today, on a Sunday, at 15:00.

The views of the Croatian teachers and their unions and the Croatian Government and their offer on the table have not shifted at all as unions insist on a 6.11 percent increase in the coefficient, while the government remains committed to something quite different indeed, which involves instead raising the base wages of teachers, more on what this means is explained in more depth in the link provided above.

The aforementioned government offer was overwhelmingly rejected by union members and enormous levels of dissatisfaction, both in a financial and in a moral sense, continue.

This coming Monday will mark the 36th day of the strike, and the appropriate ministry has also proposed a form of compensation of fifteen days of classes, but until there is an agreement between the unions and the government there is to be no such compensation at all.

The strike of Croatian teachers has been longest-running strike in the history of independent Croatia, having lasted for more than a month, and according to a survey by Nova TV, 67 percent of citizens support their struggle for their rights.

Make sure to follow our dedicated politics page for much more.

As Morski/Josip Jakovinovic writes on the 1st of December, 2019, the beautiful sound of traditional Dalmatian klapa music filled the air at the opening ceremony of the heavily awarded Advent in Zagreb, in the very heart of the Croatian capital city, more precisely at the popular Zrinjevac park.

Following the traditional, ceremonial opening of the beloved Advent in Zagreb, which took place on Saturday the 30th of November, the honour of putting on a guest musical performance at 22:00 was done by the FDK (the Festival of Dalmatian Klapa).

Thus, the Festival of Dalmatian Klapa's five award-winning vocal groups, VINCACE (m) - Novi Vinodolski, LUŠE (f) - Split, BOŠKET (m) - Zagreb, TERANKE (f) - Pula and STINE (m) - Zagreb, put on a great performance full of enjoyable music, officially opening the most wonderful time of the year and Advent in Zagreb at Zrinjevac.

With the aromas of fritule and mulled wine filling the crisp air, much loved award-winning Dalmatian klapa songs won the hearts of the residents of Zagreb as well as the audience who came from different parts of the country and beyond to the Croatian capital, which has become very well known for being a top European advent destination following numerous awards.

With the traditional Christmas songs performed by the Dalmatian klapa group, nobody in the crowd could go without being filled with a sense of festive cheer, loudly applauding this unusual klapa guest performance at Advent in Zagreb, far away from the coast and the roots of this type of singing.

Organised by the Tourist Board of the City of Zagreb and the Festival of Dalmatian Klapa from Omiš, the combination of klapa singing and the festive atmosphere of Advent in Zagreb has been going on since last year, when klapa songs were performed the opening of Advent in Zagreb on Tkalčićeva.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for much more. If it's just the Croatian capital you're interested in, give Total Zagreb a follow or check out Zagreb in a Page.

As the Croatian Government continues to pile the pressure on Croatian teachers as their long strike of over a month continues, the unions come up with meaningful and remarkably symbolic gestures to highlight not only their own plight, but the plight of other sectors operating within public services who are also struggling enormously.

Croatian teachers have been strike for longer than thirty days now, marking the longest strike ever in independent Croatia's relatively young history. Talks so far have been fruitless, and the offer from the Croatian Government was slammed and overwhelmingly rejected by the teachers and their representative unions.

As the strike continues and negotiations and talks between the unions representing Croatian teachers and representatives of the government go on, with more reportedly set to continue today at 15:00, some have come up with a deeply touching idea.

As Jutarnji list writes on the 30th of November, 2019, through a moving and symbolic gesture, the teachers from the Sisak Technical School decided to show that the strike was primarily aimed at the dignity of the profession more than anything else, and that the strike of Croatia's teachers had much more to do with basic morality and appreciation than finances.

An announcement came that Croatian teachers would not be paid during the time they spend striking, or that 315 kuna per day would be deducted from their salaries for each day they spend striking. Therefore, all of the teachers working at the aforementioned Sisak school decided that they would all allocate exactly that amount (315 kuna) per day and donate it to the local hospital, another public service facility suffering under tremendous pressure.

Trade union commissioner Damir Babic said that for each day of the strike from November the 16th to the 29th, all of the Sisak school's teachers allocated 315 kuna each. With this generously donated money that comes wrapped in deeply symbolic proverbial packaging, more equipment was purchased for the hospital's pediatric department.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle and politics pages for much more.