March 8, 2020 - As airlines announce many flight cancellations due to the coronavirus, how is Croatia affected with the crucial tourism season about to start? Some hints from the Ryanair Croatia booking engine.  

A lot of people have contacted me recently asking me to write something about coronavirus and the upcoming tourist season in Croatia. This is a very sensitive time, with so many rumours, theories and panic due to the coronavirus, and I am aware that the information put out by this portal is widely read these days, and it therefore comes with a responsibility. 

Regarding coronavirus, I am firmly in the Jurgen Klopp school of thought on this. Just as the Liverpool coach can't understand why his opinion is important, as he is a football coach, not a medical expert, so too with me. I could write something clickbaity which I am sure would be shared and I would make some ad revenue, or I could write something soothing to make feel better, but as I am not an expert, it is better I write nothing at all in terms of opinions, and stick to reporting the facts. And the facts about coronavirus in Croatia at time of writing, is that we have 12 confirmed cases, all of which seem mild, in Varazdin, Rijeka and Zagreb only. All the major Croatian coastal tourist destinations are coronavirus-free at time of writing.

The fallout from the virus is going to - is already - have a big impact on the tourist season. Stories of Lufthansa possibly cutting up to half of their flights worldwide are pretty scary for the global economy, tourism and otherwise. But how are things in Croatia? Are airlines cancelling flights en masse?

Several people sent me emails similar to this, above, communications from budget airlines such as Lauda and Ryanair about cancelled flights to or from Zadar in April or May, 2020. The reason for the cancellation cited was "due to the impact of COVID-19." Were airlines really cancelling flights two months in advance?

The Internet is a wonderful thing, and these days it is relatively easy to check such things. I decided to check out the booking engine of Ryanair, one of the major budget airline players in Croatia, whose flights service Pula, Rijeka, Split and Dubrovnik, with the largest number of flights going to Zadar. People had contacted me with details of flights cancelled from Zadar to both Paris and Dublin in April and May. I decided to go through the Ryanair site and look for cancelled flights. What I found was interesting. 

Flights to Split, Dubrovnik, Pula and Rijeka had NO cancelled flights whatsoever. Not one. Some sample starting dates for seasonal lines, including to Split today;

March 8, 2020 - Split - Stuttgart

March 29, 2020 - Pula - London

March 30, 2020 - Pula - Brussels

March 29, 2020 - Pula - Frankfurt

March 29, 2020 - Dubrovnik - Vienna

With Zadar, however, the situation was a little different. There have been several cancellations, even one in June. Not a huge number, but across several destinations. It should be remembered that there are a lot more Ryanair flights to Zadar than any other Croatian destination. 

Some examples of cancellations - one flight from Liverpool in May.

Two from Brussels. 

Two from Dublin. 

One from Paris. 

And interestingly, one in June from Stuttgart.

I was pleasantly surprised and encouraged that so few flights have been cancelled. This could, of course, change quickly, and a good way to check the latest situation is to check the booking engine yourself for destinations. 

I asked the aviation experts at ch-aviation for a comment, as their insights are a lot more valid than mine:

They are cutting capacity blaming a lack of demand, with flights with the lowest number of advance booking being cut. That is what all of the other carriers are doing as well, as demand has really plummeted and people are either not booking at all, changing dates or simply not showing up for departures. It is probably an unprecedented situation in recent European airline history in the sense that it is very unpredictable for airlines to see what the medium-term demand effects are. I suspect it will become a big legal argument in courts whether or not people can claim compensation for these cancelled flights when there is no government mandate or travel warning in place to ban flights.

It is a subject we will keep an eye on and report accordingly - if anyone has any insights to contribute, please contact us on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Subject Flights. 

For the latest flight news to Croatia, check out the dedicated TCN section.

Article Update (reader contribution)

Hi,
Your article is helpful but also misleading.
We were booked Dublin to Zadar return going out on first flight of the season on 29th March. (We have boat in Croatia)
Yesterday, we were told both flights were cancelled.
On Ryanair website first flight to Zadar from Dublin is now 1st May., over one month later.
So obviously a lot more than 2 flights cancelled as you stated.
Hopefully this will be resolved soon, we absolutely love Croatia.
Best regards,

Second reader update

I have a correction to make regarding your latest article regarding flight cancelations, where you said that flights to split are not affected. I had a flight Stg- Split beginning of April which got cancelled, and I can confirm first hand info that return flights from Fuerteventura to Stuttgart end of March got canceled, the flight to Fuerteventura next week however didn’t. My conclusion was they set a date end of March where they’d cancel most of their European lines, but I guess we’ll see ;)

As Glas Istre/Milan Pavlovic writes on the 8th of March, 2020, there are plans afoot for the Pula fortification system and the Kastel Atrium, which houses the Historical and Maritime Museum of Istria, to be connected by elevator to the Austro-Hungarian Zerostrasse tunnel at the foot of the hill, and then to a station on the intermediate level consisting of underground rooms of the fortress.

With the recent signing of a grant agreement from European Union funds in the 2014-2020 financial period between the City of Pula and the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds, the implementation of the strategic project entitled: "The Pula Fortification System as a New Cultural and Tourist Product" has now begun.

It is a project that included the revitalisation of existing infrastructure and the renovation of the Kastel fortress, which includes specific plans for the Kastel Atrium and the aforementioned information.

Thanks to this intervention, the whole area of ​​Kastel will be further opened up for both tourists and locals, especially to persons with reduced mobility, for whom the plans will greatly facilitate access. The implementation of the project will revitalise the existing infrastructure, which will be put into the function of tourism in a way to enrich new facilities, and a new visitor centre will be opened. Among other activities involved in this project, the plan is to set up a historical exhibition with a complete view of the Pula fortification system in one place.

At the same time, with the help of modern multimedia technology, the rich military history of the Kastel Atrium will be revived and visibly presented in the authentic ambience of the premises and in the underground tunnels of Zerostrasse, which themselves formed part of the former defense system of the City of Pula. Namely, the project aims to increase the supply of educational and other facilities for the benefit of all residents of ​​Pula, but also of the wider surrounding area.

''With this contract, the City of Pula has been awarded co-financing of nine million kuna in grants from the European Regional Development Fund, while the total value of the project stands at just over 23.3 million kuna,'' said Mayor Boris Miletic, adding that this was a significant project thanks to which the further valorisation of the the rich history of the Pula fortification system can be properly undertaken.

Miletic points out that this is a positive example of the sustainable management of material cultural heritage that Pula abounds with. For this reason, he adds, the valorisation and revitalisation of the heritage in the area, as well as leaning more towards tourism, are absolutely crucial when it comes to the ITU mechanism, as the instrument through which the funds for the realisation of this project have been secured.

The plan is for the project which involves the Kastel Atrium and much more to be completed by November 2022 and it is being implemented under the "Competitiveness and Cohesion 2014-2020" operational programme.

For the City of Pula, as the centre of a very urban area, the integrated territorial investment mechanism, which is in reality a new EU instrument, represents a strong development perspective and is an outstanding tool in the system of using EU funds. The powers that be within the EU have clearly recognised the importance of urban centres, and in this way, they're enabling a more efficient and proactive way to withdraw EU funds/grants and strengthen the role of cities in general.

The ITU mechanism responds to the economic, environmental and social challenges affecting entire urban areas and seeks to address them through an integrated territory-based approach.

From an urban point of view, this is a good example of implementing European projects at the local level. In addition to the project related to the Kastel Atrium and the entire Pula fortification system, several other significant projects will be implemented through the ITU mechanism in the Pula area.

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

The situation on the Greek-Turkish border, not all that far from Croatian territory, is gradually becoming worse and worse after Turkey opened its border to allow migrants to head towards Greece, and thus towards the EU. Frontex has now stepped up its game and the Croatian Interior Ministry has made itself available.

With numerous pieces of footage being released every now and then showing violent clashes between the authorities on the border and migrants seeking to enter the EU, it's difficult to remain neutral.

Owing to the escalating situation, Frontex has asked the Croatian Interior Ministry (MUP) to send another border patrol vessel down to the Aegean sea to attempt to prevent the entry of illegal migrants into the European Union (EU).

As Morski writes on the 7th of March, 2020, Croatia has responded to Frontex' request for another vessel to be deployed in the Aegean sea will soon send eight police officers, vehicles and equipment to the Greek-Turkish land border at their request, according to a recent report from Jutarnji list.

The officers, vehicles and other equipment from the Croatian Interior Ministry will be deployed as part of a Frontex force tasked with preventing illegal migrants from entering the territory of the European Union. In addition to manpower, Croatia has reported to Frontex the possibility of it sending another police ship complete with eight crew members into the Aegean sea to join in with Operation Poseidon.

This all regards a large Frontex operation to protect Greece's maritime border with that of Turkey, which is not an EU member state. At the moment, one Croatian police ship is already located down in Greece. Immediately after the seemingly provocative Turkish decision to open their border towards Greece for the illegal migrants, Frontex stepped up its forces along Greek borders in an attempt to protect EU territory.

The organisation boasts a rapid intervention force of 1,500 people, and all EU member states are required to declare forces for the unit. Croatia has declared about seventy of its police officers, and Frontex has so far requested eight people from the country, Jutarnji writes.

Make sure to follow our dedicated politics page for more.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 8th of March, 2020, Boran and Andrej Loncaric and Ivica Skender from GDi, a Croatian company with thirty valuable years of experience, work in the field of modern geoinformatics solutions.

As coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread around the world with an apparent ease, it is most visible for people interested in tracking where the virus has penetrated on so-called online ''dashboards'', of which there are currently several.

One of the most relevant dashboards in terms of data sources is that of the Johns Hopkins University, where the coronavirus location data is updated as soon as it is released by official bodies of the state or by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

This simple and transparent display is for general public information and easy access, but above all, it is a useful tool for high-level decision makers and for the introduction and implementation of various measures to attempt to curb the virus and its spread around the globe. According to a report from Vecernji list, as dramatic as it may sound, life in the age of coronavirus is actually a life in crisis.

According to Andrej Loncaric, board member of the Croatian company GDi, otherwise a leading Central European company in the field of geoinformation solutions, tracking coronavirus' location is extremely important for crisis management because 85 percent of all information has its location component. He explains it in further detail with the very relevant example of coronavirus.

''In this case, we're interested in where hospitals, quarantines, people who've placed themselves in self-isolation, where there are ill people, whether or not they're at home, where they work, where they live... It's important to know where the critical infrastructure is, or where the roads and places of public gatherings are,'' Loncaric points out and continues:

''In order to get the right tool, we separate all this information into layers and then stack it up like a sandwich. When we connect and integrate the information, we get information solutions, and that's exactly what we do. If we don't have the spatial components, then we're losing a lot of information and therefore we don't really have the right picture, and most importantly, a proper insight into the situation,'' he says.

''ArcGIS software, or the software platform, integrates resources and databases, either locally or online. Many solutions are implemented from the cloud,'' explains Loncaric.

For more on Croatian companies, products and innovation, follow our dedicated Made in Croatia page.

March 8, 2020 - The Sinkovic brothers, composed of Martin (30) and Valent (31) Sinkovic, are currently in Zagreb, preparing for the new rowing year on Jarun.

This year, at the Tokyo Olympics, they want to win a third medal in their third discipline - coxless pairs, they said in the podcast 'I ja sam sportaš', as reported by 24 Sata.

“It has never happened in rowing that the same crew wins three medals in three different disciplines at three Olympics, so this is definitely an additional motive that pushes us forward to achieve this,” Martin said, and Valent continued that in the future, we could see them in yet another discipline.

“It would be nice to row in the eight at the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024, but I doubt it will happen because at least 10 to 12 very good rowers should be available for the eight, which is quite difficult in such a small country. But going back to the four is always possible.”

The Sinkovic brothers were part of the silver foursome from London in 2012, and they won gold at the Rio Olympics in 2016, and it is difficult to list their smaller successes. Some medals, however, are more important to them than others.

“Some medals in my room are on one shelf, from the smaller competitions, but the ones from the big championships, like the Olympics, are stacked in the showcase for me to see,” Martin Sinkovic said with a smile.

“These are more important to me and need to be in a visible place, and for these others, I really don't know where they are. I think we have over 250 of them,” Valentin said.

After they have won everything they can win, it would be easy to assume that the Sinkovic Brothers would soon retire, but they are not.

“I do not know when it will be over or what I will do later. I know I don't want to be a coach. I think that whenever the end of my career comes, we have nothing to regret, but I certainly want to row as long as it makes me happy,” Martin emphasized.

The focus of the season is the Olympics and they will be honing their form at the World Cups and European Championships.

“We have two World Cups and the European Championship before the Olympic Games, which will be the crown of the whole four-year cycle, so all competitions in this season are preparations for Tokyo,” Martin says, while Valent warns about the competition.

“In these three years, as long as we’ve rowed in coxless pairs, the main competitors alternate with us, but we look at the Italians, who beat us in 2017, as our biggest competitors.”

Many young rowers view them as role models, which they are extremely proud of, but also aware of the responsibility that this role carries.

“I am very pleased to hear that my brother and I are role models and that is why we try to give young people an example in rowing, but also in their daily lives, because they really provide many things that help us develop into quality people,” Martin concluded, answering the question of who is his role model in life.

“For me, every man who is honest, who brings up his children in the right way and cares for his family is a role model.”

Valent said in the podcast that he felt that we should not worry about the future of Croatian rowing and that we could soon witness the new successes of some new siblings.

“The Jurkovic sisters and the Loncaric brothers were juniors worldwide and I would choose them because I think they have everything they need to be successful in the seniors. However, they have to be patient because the transition from junior to senior competition is the hardest, and that's where it is and, unfortunately, many rowers are lost here. The Loncaric brothers are training with us and we are trying to help them as much as we can and I really think that they are on the right track and that they will succeed.”

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

March 8, 2020 - Mario Hezonja played his best game since arriving in Portland last summer, though it still wasn’t enough for the Blazers to win.

In the defeat to the Sacramento Kings (123:111), Hezonja scored 16 points with three rebounds, an assist, and a steal, hitting seven of 11 shots and two of four three-pointers.

This marks the eighth time this season that Hezonja has reached double digits, but so far has always stopped at 10 or 11 points.

He was particularly delighted with this sequence in which he hit a three-pointer in 15 seconds, then stole the ball in defense and scored again from the counter.

Although C.J. McCollum and Hassan Whiteside scored more than him (19 points each), on social networks, the general impression is that Hezonja was the Blazers' best player and that he was the only one really trying, which is especially worrying for Portland when Sacramento is known to be one of its main competitors in the playoff hunt. The Kings were led by Bogdan Bogdanovic with 27 points.

Mario Hezonja drills a triple, steals it, scores again pic.twitter.com/cw9V93L7hB

— NBC Sports Northwest (@NBCSNorthwest) March 8, 2020

For the 11th time this season, Bojan Bogdanovic reached 30 points, with his Utah Jazz preventing the Pistons' big comeback, celebrating 111:105 in Detroit.

Bogdanovic finished the game with 32 points, five rebounds and two assists, hitting 12 of 18 shots in play, three of six threes and all five free throws.

Utah had seemingly settled the game as early as the second quarter when they were up by 22 points, but the Pistons came back and equalized early in the last period. The Jazz retaliated with an 18-2 series, but even then, the hosts did not surrender and came close to just three points behind in the last minute before Rudy Gobert sealed the win with two free throws.

Next to Bogdanovic was Donovan Mitchell with 25 points, while Christian Wood led the Pistons with 30 points.

Utah has solidified its fifth consecutive win and is in fourth place with a 41-22 ratio in the West, behind third-placed Denver.

In addition to Hezonja and Bojan Bogdanovic, Dragan Bender and Ante Zizic also performed last night.

The Golden State Warriors surprised Philadelphia 118:114, though they did not play Stephen Curry, who returned this week after a four-month break due to a broken arm. American media says he has the flu, not the coronavirus.

In his absence, as many as seven of the nine Warriors who played had a double-digit impact, including Bender, who scored 10 points without a miss in 13 minutes (4/4 from play, 2/2 for three-pointers), while recording three rebounds and one assist.

Damion Lee led the Warriors with 24 points.

Zizic's Cleveland also won a surprising victory over a much more reputable rival by defeating Denver 104:102. The Croatian center, admittedly, played four minutes and recorded only one missed shot. Kevin Love scored 27 and Colin Sexton had 25 points, while Nikola Jokic, on the other hand, had only eight points. For the first time in more than three months, the ‘Joker’ has maintained a single-digit performance.

Source: Index.hr

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, March 8, 2020 - Miroslav Škoro, said on Saturday he had been subjected to a media smear campaign in recent days over a parking lot in Zagreb, adding that he was prepared to withdraw from all his business projects but that he would stay in politics to end the current duopoly.

"It's not an attack on me, but an attack on a project that will definitely end the duopoly between the HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) and the SDP (Social Democratic Party) which has captured and held Croatia in its grip for the last 20 years," Škoro told reporters after a presentation of the electoral platform of the Croatian Sovereignists party in Zagreb.

In recent days media questioned the moral fortitude of the former presidential candidate over his co-ownership of a company that charges HRK 15 (€2) an hour for parking near the Merkur hospital in Zagreb.

"I can understand that for some 15 kuna is too much for an hour of parking, but it's not a hospital parking lot, I'm not the majority owner, and I'm being accused by the media of making profit from other people's hardship. That's insolent, to say the least. I will pull out of everything if necessary, but not out of politics. I will be an eternal pebble in their shoe that will cost them elections," Škoro said.

Citing "interest groups" trying to discredit him morally, he said that they wanted to remove him from political life so that the SDP and the HDZ could continue to govern the way they had so far.

Škoro said that attacks on him came after he launched a new political party last weekend. Although they are still waiting for the relevant ministry to formally register the party, they received 11,000 queries for membership in the first two or three days, he said.

Škoro shares a lot of common goals with the Croatian Sovereignists and is considering cooperation with them ahead of the parliamentary elections. They support referendum initiatives and advocate a better judiciary, security at the borders and monetary sovereignty.

More news about Miroslav Škoro can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, March 8, 2020 - The Croatian Sovereignists party on Saturday presented its platform for parliamentary elections due this autumn, calling for changes to election law, decommunisation and "raising the ethnic minorities to the level of the majority Croatian people."

Ladislav Ilčić, a member of the party's council, said that they were offering "a solution to the question of ethnic minorities that terrorise the majority people."

"Nationality would be defined by citizenship and not by ethnicity. We would raise all members of the existing ethnic minorities to the level of the majority Croatian people. We will be a country of equal citizens and there will be no divisions any more," Ilčić said in a packed concert hall where the presentation took place.

The Sovereignists also propose decommunisation, removing antifascism from the constitution and changing election law by abolishing special lists for the minorities and "illogical constituencies" so that the entire country would be a single electoral unit.

They said they would stop Croatia's entry into the euro area, stressing that the kuna was "the last bastion of Croatian sovereignty."

"We are offering the citizens a social catharsis because without radical change there will be no prosperity," the party's leader Hrvoje Zekanović said.

The party is seeking to bring together ideologically similar political groups and is hoping for cooperation with the parliamentary Bridge party. Asked by reporters if they would enter into a coalition with the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Zekanović said. "Of course not."

The party's co-leader, MEP Ruža Tomašić, said she expected their platform to win at least 25 seats in the next parliament. She dismissed the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS), the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Croatian People's Party (HNS) as potential coalition partners, adding that post-election cooperation with the HDZ would depend on "what principles it would uphold."

Another co-leader, General Željko Sačić, said that their platform would offer a better future for Croatia, in which after 2000 "a gang of evildoers cast into the mud everything that was created in the Homeland War."

"The scum have plundered and devastated the Croatian people in the last 20 years. Thieves have sold INA, ruined the Institute of Immunology and brought agriculture to its knees," Sačić said, stressing that the Sovereignists would stand in the way of those wishing the Croatian people "a globalist future".

More politics news can be found in the dedicated section.