While most Split residents are asleep, members of the secret Split-based Green Guerilla direct action group covertly roam Marjan Forest Park with seedlings in hand, planting trees to help the city’s lungs breathe. They claim that everything they do is in collaboration with top forestry experts.

In addition to the Aleppo pine, they plant oak and cypress. However, they do not want to reveal how many trees they have planted so far and where, according to Ivana Perkovic/Dalmacija Danas on January 6, 2020.

The Split based group call themselves Green Guerrilla and their activities, although illegal, have met with widespread public approval. Nevertheless, some have wondered if these people might have better things they could be doing. Here's what they have to say:

To begin with: Split residents are interested in knowing; who are you and why did you organize?

We are a group of Marjan fans from Split who are tired of watching the destruction of life going on in the park. We have had enough of pillaging by the political elite, in which green spaces and trees in Marjan are being transformed into timber and are becoming prey to political calculation.

Some have wondered if you might have better things to do with your lives. Why did you begin planting right now?

For too long, those in charge have been saying that the afforestation process is set to begin. But they stand around with their hands in their pockets and prolong this process and pace it with campaigns for upcoming local elections. We’ve waited long enough, and it is a shame that the fate of Marjan is being decided by people who are calling the survival of vegetation into question. After a couple of years of delays, the forest has not been rehabilitated according to the agreed-upon method, and chopping down thousands of healthy trees cannot be called remediation. The real word that describes what has happened in Marjan is ‘criminal.’

Do you have experience in planting? What you say about statements by Damir Grubšić (JUPŠM/Public Institute for Marjan Forest Management) that you are doing more harm than good?

We are doing everything according to instructions from top forestry experts who wish to remain anonymous because they fear for their jobs. We would love to hear about what a shame it is to plant an oak, pine or cypress in the forest. If he is looking for pests in Marjan, he should first look at his current assistant and former director, Robert Koharević, and then at some other anomalies in the Public Institute. The real Marjan pests are those who illegally paved green areas and those who allowed them to are going unpunished while they remain in the city administration and Public Institute.

Are you afraid of being caught?

If one of us is caught, we will stand as one in solidarity and demand to be punished together. But we will also seek sanctions for those who have illegally harvested more than 20,000 Marjan trees, as determined by the State Forestry Inspectorate, and sanctions for those who have looked after Marjan in this manner.

Green Guerrilla | Facebook

Are you planning to plant trees in large areas or just a symbolic number? How many trees have you planted so far?

That will remain our secret.

Will you respond to Mirko Rušić's invitation to plant trees when he officially begins the afforestation project?

We will not, because we do not want to work with a person who is unskilled, uneducated and unqualified to perform forestry work and, above all, a person who participated in the illegal felling of more than 20,000 Marjan trees.

We will only respond to an invitation to plant trees from an authorized forester. That person must stand up for afforestation, put his name behind it, and be responsible for all forestry efforts spanning the entire Marjan Forest Park protected area, which has already been slated for afforestation by the spatial plan and management program. Well, Marjan has been without a major forestry planning document for a year now. Should we be expecting an invite from someone who we can thank for putting Marjan in this situation?

You say that you are doing this "in defiance of those who would build and not plant on Marjan." Do you think that they are really trying to destroy the forest so that apartments and hotels will pop up on Marjan?

It’s not a matter of that we think. Parts of Marjan Forest Park have already been irreversibly destroyed by the unplanned and illegal construction of hotels and apartments, and now there are plans to build new cafes. Recent changes to spatial plans have been announced and who knows what else is happening in Kašuni, Kaštelet and Prva voda.

It has been officially confirmed that 75 buildings have been illegally built in this protected area, part of which is being used for apartments. There won’t be any peace while there are construction sites in the park forest, illegal construction continues, and the commercialization of Marjan is put ahead of its protection in the minds of those responsible.

How would you respond if someone started to harvest the trees you planted?

Trees cannot harm anyone, so destroying them would mean that they want war with well-meaning Split residents. If they want war with residents, they will have one, and a bigger tree will replace every tree that is removed. We will also make sure that the news of this behavior is spread beyond Croatia’s borders. This is at a critical time when the whole world is working on afforestation due to climate change, which has occurred due to the destruction of forests.

WHO IS PLANTING TWO TREES THIS EARLY

After the Aleppo pine, it was time to plant an indigenous oak and there was also a spot for a cypress. In view of yesterday's news story RTL Danas, we would like to address the statements of Mirko Rušić, President of the Marjan Commission, Deputy Coordinator of the Crisis Staff, and President of the Governing Board of JUPŠ Marjan:

Green Guerrilla documents several potential sites prior to planting, and then, in communication with forestry experts, selects planting sites for species proposed by the foresters themselves. Green Guerrilla, unlike the Marjan Commission and the Crisis Staff who have been left without professionals, has foresters who are happy to tell us what, where, how and when.

Increased patrols by the JUPŠ Marjan rangers are welcome. Perhaps they will now notice the illegal construction, pyromaniacs and other problems in Marjan, which have passed under their radar so far. The trees will continue to sprout either by our own hands or naturally, and no one can claim that any new tree is not part of a plan or program because we’ll remind them of the management program and afforestation plan.

It is a shameful for the team, held responsible by the State Forestry Inspectorate for devastating this forest, to deliberately delay the afforestation process as an election campaign nears. Greetings from the Green Guerrilla. While you p*** we will continue to plant. If you love Marjan get rid of the f****** construction sites in Marjan Forest Park rather than condemning and trying to find us.

Check out our Lifestyle page for more information on efforts (legal and illegal) to protect the environment in Croatia. Updates on Green Guerrilla's activites can be found here.

ZAGREB, January 7, 2020 - Citizens are spending less and less time visiting MPs' personal websites, and only seven out of 151 MPs had around a thousand hits in 2019, including Sonja Čikotić of MOST, data on the website of the Croatian Parliament show.

Among the above-mentioned group are five HDZ MPs: Branko Bačić, Tomislav Sokol, Marijan Kustić, Stevo Culej and Josip Đakić. They are joined by Ivan Pernar (SIP).

In comparison to previous years, a thousand hits is a rather modest number.

For example, in the first half of 2018, when the favourites were Goran Aleksić (SNAGA), independent Marko Vučetić and Culej, their sites had nearly 4,500, 4,000 and 3,000 hits respectively.

Miljan Brkić's (HDZ) website had nearly 10,700 hits in the first half of 2016, while Miro Bulj's (MOST) had 7,600. Goran Marić's (HDZ) website had the most hits in 2015 and 2014.

The website of each MP contains merely his or her photo, biography and a list of committees the MP is a member of.

Parliament says that MPs' websites popularity is decreasing "in favour of the increasing number of visits for deputy clubs, visits to MPs' websites according to party affiliation and according to national minorities representation."

As in previous years, parties with the most hits are the HDZ (3,916), MOST (2,035), the SDP (1,785) and Bandić Milan 365 (1,757).

In comparison with the previous period, citizens are increasingly looking up MPs' expenses (1,882).

They are also interested in calls for tenders (6,727), and the employment section, which had more than 3,300 hits even though there have been no vacancies since 2017.

The Parliament's website had the highest number of visitors in a single day (more than 4,320) on 16 January 2019, when PM Andrej Plenković submitted a report on the European Council meetings.

Slightly fewer visitors accessed the site on 14 February when 16 opposition MPs requested an interpellation on the work of the Government regarding the purchase of fighter jets.

The highest number of visitors (78.4%) are from Croatia, followed by those from the US and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Parliament's website had 3,136,041 hits in 2019.

More politics news can be found in the dedicated section.

Yes, you read the title correctly: there was a serval cat roaming around the Zagreb area of Croatia for over a month, but today the Croatian media have reported that it has been caught and returned to its owner.

It's been almost a month since the Croatian public has first heard the story of the serval. A wild cat, native to the savannah of Africa was first spotted in Croatia in late November by a fisherman, who saw the cat in the Sava-Odra flood-relief canal, he noticed that the cat was three times the size of a normal house cat so he took his phone out to take a video. On the video, you can see the beautiful animal, that it has a collar around its neck and that it isn't starving (some experts even made statements that could only be described as body-shaming, if they were directed at a human).

After the cat was first spotted, the owner was found, who purchased the cat legally in an EU country and who lives in Slovenia. He took his African wild cat for a walk, as one normally does, where the cat got spooked by some loose dogs, and ran away from him. How it found itself in Croatia is probably a question which will never be answered, especially if you consider the situation on the Croatian-Slovenian border. One has to have a dose of respect for the animal, though, having survived so long in an environment where it does not feel "at home", as it comes from Africa.

However, veterinarians Branimir Reindl and Vedran Slijepčević spent the time chasing after the cat, and yesterday they were finally successful. They had some help from the team working on the LIFE Lynx project (this cat doesn't have much to do with the lynx, but they are cats, after all, and it's nice that the project decided to help save a fellow cat in need), and after a week of intensive search (they were in contact with the owner) they managed to narrow the field down and finally snatch the cat.

The serval was caught near Sveta Helena, Sesvete, to the east of Zagreb, so it'd be interesting to see where it was staying and travelling all this time. It was probably eating wild rabbits, frogs, squirrels and rodents, and it's not at all dangerous to people.

Reindl told the VG Danas website that the cat was back at his home, totally relaxed and even taking food from his hand. The cat was probably just over that whole adventure and was waiting for someone to finally pick it up already. Good thing it was the veterinarians who wanted to help him, and not some hunters who don't really care about the laws. The cat will be returned to its owner today or tomorrow.

At least some good came out of this climate change crisis - it's hard to imagine the African cat managing to survive for two months during the proper winters we once used to have.

As Novac writes on the 6th of January, 2020, while many young Croats take advantage of Croatia's European Union membership and head off in their droves to Ireland or Germany, Kristian Hostić decided to move to Croatia from Germany, the country of his parents, to which he had only been going on holiday so far, writes DW.

He grew up in Stuttgart, where his parents moved to from Croatia originally. He graduated from the Faculty of Economics and got a comfortable job at Mercedes. Although he had good conditions and a good salary, he decided a year and a half ago to leave a secure job in Germany and move to Croatia. Ge returned to his family home in Đakovo.

''I always wanted to live in Croatia, but at the time I graduated from college, the salary level in Croatia was still very low. I looked at job postings occasionally and a year and a half ago I simply decided to do it. I feel at home in Croatia, my heart is where it's meant to be here, even though I grew up in Germany and have friends there, it's just a feeling, you either feel it or you don't feel it,'' he says, adding that his parents supported him in his move to Croatia, as did his friends, even though they were in shock, they didn't try to deter him. 

He now lives in his parents' home in Đakovo and travels 40 kilometres to Slavonski Brod every day for work. He found his job at a German certification and risk assessment firm - Tüv Nord, where the working language is German. This German company has been operating in Slavonski Brod for five years now, employing 50 people, mostly Croats who have returned from Germany.

Although it is a German company, the salaries at Tüv Nord are not German. Kristian doesn't mind that, and he says that he is pleased because he has been given the opportunity to move to Croatia and work in a normal workplace, where the Croatian mentality prevails. In addition, he found love in Croatia - his girlfriend Marijana. He wants to build a future in Croatia, precisely with her.

According to official statistics, most of the Croats who have left Croatia were precisely from the overlooked Eastern region of Slavonia, and their destination was mainly Germany. From 2008 to 2018, 240,000 young Croats went to Germany and Ireland. Kristian is convinced that most of these young people or their children will return or move to Croatia once, as he did.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for more.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Sergej Novosel Vuckovic writes on the 6th of January, 2020, GlobalLogic, an American company that has an office in Zagreb, has developed a piece of very interesting technology known as GLOface, which also has the ability to detect possible illnesses based on an analysis of drivers' facial symptoms.

GlobalLogic, an American-owned software development company specialising in product engineering, which also has an office in the Croatian capital city with about a hundred employees working there in total, has developed GLOFace, a solution it says recognises driver problems while driving, just by analysing their faces.

For example, GlobalLogic's new innovation recognises signs of fatigue on the human face and informs the relevant services when needed, it is even able to detect the possible symptoms of a heart attack or stroke, all based on the analysis and ultra modern recognition technology of the driver's face.

"GLOFace identifies characteristic symptoms, such as facial asymmetry, grimaces which are done in pain, or ticks. If detected, the competent services, such as the emergency services, are notified immediately," a statement from GlobalLogic said.

The director for Croatia, Vladimir Kosanović, says that GlobalLogic's impressive new GLOface technology also offers functionalities that can help prevent traffic accidents. "All drivers are exposed to health risks, and this is especially true for professional drivers such as truck drivers.

''If they, for example, lose consciousness for some reason, that could lead to fatalities,'' he said.

This amazing new solution offers us a new chance to develop and apply biometrics in the automotive industry, such as verifying driver identity or personalising car settings based on the driver's face, as it has improved a recognition algorithm that more effectively identifies an individual.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business page for much more on both Croatian and foreign companies operating in the Republic of Croatia.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 7th of January, 2020, the continental Croatian town of Koprivnica will remember 2019 as an extremely successful year, not only by the numerous activities carried out by the local government and by local companies, but also by the many awards won.

As a continental town, Koprivnica has won two tourism awards, the award for the best continental tourist destination of the Vecernjak Tourist Patrol, while the town's popular Renaissance Festival won the Tourism Event of the Year from the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ), the Ministry of Tourism, and the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK).

In spring, the first living public lighting laboratory was opened, not only was it the very first in all of the Republic of Croatia, but in this part of Europe, in which a dozen manufacturers of public lighting equipment and smart solutions test, present, and also use everyday.

This functional blend of smart solutions, public lighting, energy and everyday city life is the winner of Poslovni Dnevnik's award in the smart energy/environment category.

When it comes to environmental care, Koprivnica is also the recipient of the award for being the most environmentally friendly town, as the town that cares most about its environment and waste management system. At the end of last year, more than 50 percent of the collected municipal waste had already been properly sorted and separated at home and then through the recycling yard, and the construction of a second recycling yard worth over 5.2 million kuna is being co-financed by the EU Competitiveness and Cohesion operational programme in the amount of 85 percent.

A new entrepreneurial/business incubator for creative industries, worth 18 million kuna in total, has been built with European Union money, and it has already filled its premises with young and new entrepreneurs in just a few months.

The energy renovation of Koprivnica's Braća Radić elementary school in the amount of 10.6 million kuna has also been completed, and at the same time, the contract for the energy renovation of the Antun Nemčić Gostovinski elementary school has been signed.

The town's Tratinčica kindergarten (2.8 million kuna) was also renovated energetically. In addition to facilities providing elementary education, a brand new kindergarten will be built with European Union money in the suburban settlement of Starigrad worth 7 million kuna, and a newly constructed junction road (worth 7.8 million kuna) that connects Starigrad with the suburban settlement Reka will be opened. These projects prove that Koprivnica is justifiably included in the Top 10 Croatian cities when it comes to the withdrawal of money from EU funds.

2019 also marked the hundredth anniversary of the Domoljub Hall (Dvorane), the cultural and educational centre of Koprivnica, and its significant anniversary saw 1.1 million kuna invested in the renovation of the hall itself. For the fourth year in a row, the upward trend in job creation continues, and Koprivnica's budget has been a record in the last ten years, which is a direct indicator of positive economic activity. In addition to this are new entrepreneurial measures that have resulted in the signing of construction contracts in the Koprivnica entrepreneurial/business zones, contributing to more work and as such - more job opportunities.

This year, the project of the construction of a new elementary school in Podolice with a new hall as well as the halls at the Đuro Ester primary school begins, as does the reconstruction of the city centre - Zrinski square (trg), the construction of two new roundabouts to increase road traffic safety on important and large roads, municipal infrastructure and, of course, the Koprivnica Water Agglomeration project worth 512 million kuna, with which 23 kilometres of new water supply and sewerage network are in the works.

Make sure to follow our lifestyle page for much more.

The Zagreb roundabout is one of those projects that seems to have no end date. Works have been going on on the city's large roundabout (more precisely the Remetinec roundabout) for months on end, with different end dates being thrown out along the way. It seems now, however, that the works have finally been completed, with just one step left to go before it finally opens.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 7th of January, 2020, apparently the impression of completeness can be felt in the air when it comes to the Zagreb roundabout.

Over the past 385 days, one of the largest infrastructure projects in the Republic of Croatia worth a massive 331.6 million kuna has been being worked on. The move should hopefully finally resolve the congestion at the entrance to the metropolis, according to a report from Jutarnji list.

''We just have electricity to deal with, and then that's it, we're sending a request for technical inspection next week,'' Goran Radic tells journalists as they stand by the fence blocking off access to the Zagreb roundabout as the final works continue. Radic is the construction manager of this enormous megaproject, which, as things currently stand at least, will actually be completed on time.

The roads are now paved, the signage has been drawn up, the underpasses are functional, and traffic lights are set up at the entrances to the newly reconstructed Zagreb roundabout. The final step will be to finalise the electricity, ie, to turn on the public lighting, tunnel lamps and connect the other necessary cables to the Elektra network. The plan is to send a request to the technical inspection committee on January the 9th, and their inspectors will then go out into the field and check everything is as it should be.

If they get the green light, by the end of this month, cars could finally fill the Zagreb roundabout's roads, which are now occupied only by work machines, trucks and some of the official vehicles of construction site bosses. In other words, after thirteen very long months, one of the most important hubs in Zagreb will reopen.

Watch the video of the new Zagreb roundabout from above, as posted on Jutarnji list's YouTube channel:

Make sure to follow our lifestyle page for more.

ZAGREB, January 7, 2020 - Slovenian President Borut Pahor said on Monday that he did not believe that Croatia's president-elect Zoran Milanović would change his opinion on the arbitration ruling on the two countries' border dispute, however, Pahor, promises to "give chance to dialogue" at the start of their relations as two presidents.

Pahor told reporters in Ljubljana that he had telephoned the newly-elected Croatian president to congratulate him on winning the election on Sunday, and also added that he accepted the invitation to attend Milanović's inauguration in Zagreb in a few weeks' time.

While Milanović served as Croatia's prime minister in 2015, Zagreb decided to withdraw from the arbitration process due to the behaviour of Slovenia's representatives that contaminated those proceeding.

However, Pahor said that the relations with Milanović as soon as he steps into office as the Croatian president should start "with open arms."

Pahor told the press in Ljubljana that he was glad to hear from Milanović that one of his priorities would be to improve the bilateral relations between the two neighbouring countries.

Nevertheless, Pahor does not believe that Milanović, whom he knows for 15 years, will change his mind on the arbitration award only because he is now the president.

Pahor also said that Slovenia would be a friend dedicated to dialogue in seeking a solution, however, he reiterated Slovenia's position on insisting on the implementation of the arbitration award on demarcation of the border between the two countries.

We should seek through dialogue a model for a consensual demarcation in accordance with the arbitration ruling and thus close the last difficult issue stemming from the breakup of the former (federal) state, Pahor said.

Also, the leader of the Slovenian Social Democrats (SD), Dejan Židan, who is the parliament speaker in Ljubljana, extended his congratulations to Milanović on the election win.

More news about relations between Croatia and Slovenia can be found in the Politics section.