ZAGREB, January 20, 2020 - European bishops met with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković in Zagreb on Monday, underscoring the importance of the European Union in promoting and protecting the right to religious freedom, the government said in a press release.

Croatia is currently presiding over the Council of the European Union and in that context, Prime Minister Plenković met with representatives of the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community, headed by the Archbishop of Luxembourg, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, and representatives of the Conference of European Churches, headed by pastor Christian Krieger.

After they were informed of the priorities of Croatia's EU presidency, the bishops underlined the significance and role of the European Union in promoting and protecting the right to religious freedom and confession within their borders as well as in relations with third countries.

As reported in the press release, the interlocutors discussed various topics about Europe, from demography and digitisation to migration and ecology.

The importance of inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue was especially highlighted as was cooperation with religious communities.

Considering that half of EU's member states, including Croatia, have a negative population growth, Plenković spoke about Croatia's efforts to strengthen demographic revival and the status of the family at the European level during its presidency, and recalled that demography was included in the EU's strategic programme for the next five years at Croatia's insistence.

The meeting between the prime minister and the religious dignitaries was also attended by the President of the Conference of Croatian Bishops, Zadar Archbishop Želimir Puljić, Zagreb Archbishop Cardinal Josip Bozanić and Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković.

More news about religion can be found in the Lifestyle section.

January 20, 2020 - The Croatia handball team met the Czech Republic for the third game of the second round of the European Championship.

Croatia secured the semifinal of the Euros on Saturday after a thriller against Germany, though every game was still crucial to determine their place in the group.

Luka Cindric, Croatia’s best player in this championship, did not play against the Czech Republic due to a wrist injury. It is not yet known if he will play against Spain, but should be ready for the semifinal match. 

Kasparek scored the first goal of the match in the 2nd minute, though Matej Hrstic returned on the other side for 1:1. 

Marko Mamic scores a great goal for 2:1.

In the 6th minute, Sarac scored to put Croatia in the lead, though the Czech Republic came back to equalize.

Mamic scored his second goal of the game in the 8th minute. 

Asanin made his first save of the game in the 9th minute, and Croatia went up by two goals for 5:3.

The Czech Republic scored a quick two goals in the 11th minute to equalize.

The Czech Republic retook the lead in the 14th minute, though Horak came back to equalize. 

In the 17th minute, Mandic used a counter-attack to equalize. Neither team had a significant advantage yet. 

In the 19th minute, Hrstic found Maric, who scored Croatia’s 8th goal of the game. 

In the 20th minute, Sarac put Croatia back in the lead, and in the 23rd minute, Croatia was up by two goals. 

Mamić scored his third goal of the match and Croatia went into halftime up 11:9. 

Croatia opened the second half with a goal by Mandic for 12:9 in the 32nd minute. 

Brozovic scored for 13:9 in the 36th minute. 

The Czech Republic reduced the score to 13:12 in the 40th minute, though Mamic made it 14:12 seconds later.

Maric scored for 15:13 in the 42nd minute, and Stepancic scored his first goal of the game in the 44th minute for 16:14.

Duvnjak scored a 7-meter shot for 17:16 in the 46th minute. 

Matanovic scored for 18:17 in the 49th minute, and Mamic scored his fifth goal of the game in the 50th minute for 19:17. 

Matanovic scored his second goal of the game for 20:18 with eight minutes to go. 

Stepancic scored his second goal of the game for 21:19 in the 55th minute. 

With seconds to go in the game, Stepancic scored the winning goal of the game. Croatia won 22:21!

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

The use of disposable or so-called single use plastic has become a common topic of conversation and is a frequent theme of all those engaged in attempting to preserve their local environment. Plastic pollution has also captured an enormous amount of attention, especially when it comes to human damage to the marine world. Vrgorac, a town in Split-Dalmatia County, has stepped up.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 20th of January, 2020, on Monday, Vrgorac Mayor Ante Pranic gave the directors of the town's numerous institutions instructions on the decision to prohibit the use of plastic packaging in the town's official institutions as well as at during Vrgorac's various events held throughout the course of the year, stating that they should be replaced by glass and also by much more environmentally friendly, biodegradable paper packaging.

In addition to the aforementioned, praiseworthy move, Vrgorac's mayor is also putting a stop to the consumption of bottled water at work meetings held within Vrgorac's local government and at during Town Council meetings. These bottles are all to easy to purchase, drink from and throw away without a second thought about how the wasted plastic builds up and negatively affects our local environment and our entire planet as a whole.

In the future, drinking water should be served in glass jars from Vrgorac's water supply network, removing the need for harmful plastic bottles which don't break down.

All establishments in Vrgorac will, owing to this decision, receive special waste disposal containers by Friday this week in order to facilitate the proper separation of all of the collected paper, to make sure things are recycled and disposed of in a safe and correct manner, with the least damage being inflicted on the local environment.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for much more. For more information on both official and unofficial ways Croatia works to protect its environment, give Total Eco Croatia a follow.

ZAGREB, January 20, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Monday that Croatia would pay special attention at the Zagreb summit scheduled for early May, to unblocking the start of accession negotiations for North Macedonia and Albania.

The Croatian prime minister attended a meeting of the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the European Union (COSAC) in Zagreb.

Plenković presented the priorities of Croatia's presidency of the EU and reiterated that the most important tasks facing the Union in the coming months include the next seven-year MFF budget, enlargement, the Conference on the Future of Europe, and an agreement on future relations with Great Britain.

He announced that the Zagreb summit in May that will be dedicated to enlargement, will focus especially on deblocking the situation that North Macedonia and Albania found themselves in at the European Council in October.

Europe's openness as it was in the 1990s will never recur, now we have a carefully elaborated process of enlargement, Plenković said.

He underscores that it isn't fair, that North Macedonia has been put on hold for the beginning of accession negotiations after it changed its name and constitution.

Plenković says that for now it does not seem that Great Britain will request an extension of the transition period which expires at the end of the year when an agreement on future relations with the EU should be concluded.

After Great Britain exits the EU on January 31, as part of its presidency, Croatia needs to present a motion by the end of February for the adoption of a formal negotiation framework of future relations with London.

Plenković underscored that Croatia's presidency of the EU is a historic moment and an opportunity to make a contribution and add impetus at the start of a new institutional and legislative cycle in the Union.

Croatia's presidency is a historic moment for us which comes 28 years after Croatia's international recognition, 25 years after it liberated its occupied territory and 22 years after the peaceful reintegration of the Danube region, said Plenković.

He recalled that after the 1991-1995 war, Croatia undertook thorough reforms, conducted economic recovery and finally, joined the EU in 2013. Now seven years later, it has taken over the presidency of the Council of the EU.

For Croatia, the EU is an unprecedented peace project and a community that gains its strength from common values and solidarity. It is a pleasure to be at the helm of the Council of the EU and to make a contribution and add impetus at the start of a new institutional and legislative cycle in the Union.

The meeting of the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the European Union (COSAC) was convened in Zagreb in preparation for a plenary session of COSAC that will be held in Zagreb on May 24-26.

The Conference of Committees on Union Affairs of the Parliaments of the European Union (COSAC - the abbreviation of its French name, Conference des organes specialises en affaires communautaires) facilitates regular exchanges of views between the committees on Union affairs of the parliaments of the Member States. In accordance with the Lisbon Treaty, the conference is empowered to inform the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission of any contribution that it deems appropriate. This conference also promotes the exchange of information and best practices between national parliaments and the European Parliament.

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

As Glas Istre/Andjelo Dagostin writes on the 20th of January, 2020, on a sunny winter afternoon, Glas Istre reporters arrived at Pazin Animal Shelter, housed in two buildings of an old military complex located just north of Pazin, at a location called Loke near Pazinčica.

They were welcomed by the Pazin Animal Shelter's manager, Pazin local Mae Isaksson, who, together with her daughter, Maja Lilith Klemen (president of the Happy End association) and volunteer, Swede Benny Andersson, has been caring for abandoned animals, primarily dogs and cats, for over a decade now. On weekends, 20-30 volunteers come from all over Istria to lend a helping hand at the Pazin Animal Shelter, and in the summer months, even tourists show up. Some come and work, but most walk the dogs.

When they decided to open an animal shelter back in the spring of 2010, they looked for terrains and facilities around Pazin that would be suitable for this, however, Pazin itself had very little to offer. They decided to equip a part of an old military complex that was empty, devastated and that had been of no interest to anyone for some twenty years. Pazin requested that the Ministry of Defense hand over these non-prospective facilities for ownership, concession or lease. In the meantime, the asylum-plots were included in their spatial plans for the purpose of the animal shelter, and some time has been lost on the property-legal solution of a disputed piece of land, a classic Croatian saga. Nevertheless, a shelter project for fifty dogs was completed and a location permit was issued for it.

''Ten years have now passed and we haven't gotten anywhere,'' says Isakkson, and when asked where the plot is, he says that the asylum-containing plots of land are currently owned by the State Property Ministry, which now has no obstacles in its way to solve the problem. He notes that they have encountered a legal problem, however. Specifically, the first few metres of the plot on which the main shelter building is located was affected by the flood risk zone and it should therefore not be located in such an area. Owing to that, Pazin applied for an asylum permit for an adjacent plot of land that is not in any area within the risk zone.

''But what happened at the end of last year? A new law on shelters was released that deleted the item on flood risk zones, so that what has been the biggest obstacle for us to legalise the facility has now been resolved. It would be expensive for us to go and build a brand new shelter,'' Isaksson says, adding that after Pazin's involvement with the water and rubbish collection, they needed more electricity, a septic tank and renovation of facilities as well as the installation of more adequate heating, etc.

For the time being, solar panels are being used for light, as some dogs must be treated with their various therapies at night.

"We're now waiting for the opinion of the County Office for Spatial Planning as to whether or not there is any other legal obstacle preventing us from registering the Pazin Animal Shelter. But now it's certain that the asylum will come to be: either it will be registered or a new one will be built on the adjacent parcel of land," Isaksson explained.

Legalising the business would ultimately provide them with finances (food, veterinary care and employee benefits), as they now depend on a donation from Pazin and on people's goodwill.

When it comes to the question of how many animals have been adopted so far, Isaksson responded:

''Considering all those who only stayed with us for a few days or were temporarily staying with someone, we must have adopted over a thousand dogs by now. Until last year, on average, we received and fostered about a hundred dogs a year, but then you're there from morning till dark, there is no moving anywhere. Last year, we significantly reduced the number of dogs we took in because of our uncertain future,'' said Isaksson, adding that cats are rehomed much less frequently.

They currently care for 40 dogs and 60 cats, but they also have pigeons, ducks and even one young seagull. A real little zoo. How did the young seagull come to the Pazin Animal Shelter?

''They brought him from Pula for us to rehabilitate him and then let him go. We planned on having him with us for a week or two until his injured leg was healed. And now he's completely healed, but he can't fly even though his wing looks normal and the x-ray shows nothing, apparently some nerve is destroyed. Maja tried to put him back by the sea anyway, but the bird did not want to go. One can see that he knows what to do, run, take off, but one wing doesn't work at all and now he lives here. He gets along with the ducks very well,'' Isaksson noted.

In the enclosure, five ducks and one seagull swim around in small pools. Very nice. How did the ducks get there?

''I bought them at the cattle fair in Zminj, because I felt sorry for them. The seller said that these little ducks would weigh three pounds in three months and would be ready for slaughter. And so, for two years now, which is already old age for fattening ducks in our country, here they are,'' said Mae.

Although this is not the focus of their activities, Glas Istre journalists asked whether they were engaged in animal rights initiatives or improvements to farm conditions.

''Whenever we have the opportunity and time, even though we have no space here, but we certainly support and join any such petition or action,'' Mae replies. She added that when they started the Pazin Animal Shelter, the ideas were much larger and more complex - an animal centre with special departments for dogs, cats, a wildlife rehabilitation centre, and a farm animal shelter where children could be shown how animals should live, etc.

We don't advocate veganism so much, people should be left to choose whether they want to eat meat or not, but we advocate for the proper conditions of domestic animals while they're alive,'' points out Mae, who says they had big plans, but after ten years they are already a little tired and have lost hope that some of it will ever come to be.

This does not mean that they do not have wild animals visit within the vicinity of the Pazin Animal Shelter, because of the proximity of drinking water in the stream, they often see wild pigs, foxes, roe deer, badgers, rabbits, weasels and more.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for more.

ZAGREB, January 20, 2020 - Opening a meeting of the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the European Union (COSAC) in Zagreb on Monday, Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković said that Croatia's presidency of the EU is confirmation of its "strict dedication" to promoting European values.

"The chairmanship is confirmation of our strict dedication to participate with other member states in promoting the European project and common values," Jandroković said and added that Croatia is "firmly committed" to European values and principles.

"We will advocate a Europe based on common values, equality, respect for mutual interests and differences," Jandroković said.

The key topics during Croatia's chairmanship will be Great Britain's withdrawal from the EU, adopting the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2021-2027, and the continuation of the enlargement policy, he added.

Jandroković said that the EU needed to establish as close ties with Great Britain as possible and that an agreement should found with regard to the MFF that "will be sustainable, balanced and in a spirit of partnership."

The Parliament Speaker reiterated that Croatia "strongly supports" EU enlargement and that that is in Europe's "political, security and economic" interests.

"Abandoning European credibility in this region will result in the growing influence of other factors," Jandroković believes. The EU accession criteria need to be "consistent and require an individual approach," he added.

The chairman of the Croatian Parliament's European Affairs Committee, Domagoj Ivan Milošević, expressed hope that the MFF would be adopted during Croatia's presidency.

Today's meeting was convened in preparation for a plenary session of COSAC that will be held in Zagreb on May 24-26.

Milošević said that the COSAC plenary session would discuss the implementation of presidency priorities, transformation of the labour market, labour mobility, the distributive effect of cohesion funds on member states, a European integrated maritime approach, and rights and obligations in the digital sphere.

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

ZAGREB, January 20, 2020 - A total of 64,349 new cars were registered for the first time in Croatia in 2019, an increase of 4.2% on 2018, while the number of used cars registered last year rose by 7% to 84,913, according to data provided by the Centre for Vehicles of Croatia (CVH).

Of the new cars, 38,487 or 60% were fuelled by petrol. The number of petrol-powered cars increased by 16.9% compared with 2018, while the number of those using diesel fell by 13.9% to 23,515.

The number of new electric vehicles registered in 2019 increased to 198 from 144 in 2018, and the number of hybrids rose from 781 to 1,560.

The CVH said that the most popular car brand in Croatia was Volkswagen, among both new and used vehicles on first registration, ahead of Renault. Among used cars, these two brands were followed by BMW, Audi and Mercedes, and among new cars, by Opel, Škoda and Peugeot.

The first-time registered used cars were dominated by diesel-fuelled vehicles and their number increased by 6.5% to 74,950. The number of used petrol-powered cars registered for the first time in 2019 was 9,089, up by 10.9% compared with 2018.

The number of used hybrid cars increased from 206 in 2018 to 241 in 2019, and that of used electric cars rose from 38 to 81.

More news about the car industry can be found in the Business section.

Croatian Doctor Alen Juginović, a recent graduate of the Faculty of Medicine in Split, will be leaving Croatia in two weeks to start a Postdoctoral Researcher position at the most prestigious college in the United States.

Dr. Juginović graduated from the Faculty of Medicine in Split in 2018. In September 2019, he was in Houston, Texas completing the second of two US observership programs. Then, he had an idea. Since he was in the US, why not visit the top universities with Neuroscience programs? So, he reached out to the Neuroscience departments at Stanford, MIT, Harvard and Columbia to arrange campus visits.

Harvard Campus Visit Leads to Instant Job Offer

He spent a day and a half in San Francisco and walked among the majestic red-roofed Romanesque sandstone buildings of Stanford University in perpetually sunny Palo Alto. Then he jetted across the country to Boston. After touring MIT, he set off for a visit of the Neuroscience Department at Harvard. With a name tag pinned to his lapel, he met Dr. Dragana Rogulja, an Assistant Professor of Neurobiology. Instead of leading him on a tour of the department, Rogulja, originally from Belgrade, brought Juginović to her office where she began inquiring about his academic background, interests and experience. Two hours later, she offered him a job in her lab.

“Everything was moving in slow motion,” the young medical school graduate recounts. He had a bus to catch to New York City for his planned visit to Columbia University, so he briefly toured his future employer’s lab. They parted ways, and Rogulja promised Juginović that she would give him all the time he needed to think about her job offer. “You’re not dreaming,” she assured him. Upon departing the Ivy League institution, however, the young Croatian doctor was in such a state of shock, that he sat motionless and in a daze while he rode the Boston Metro. Then he realized that he had missed his bus to New York.

Alen Juginović waited over a month to accept the Harvard professor's offer.

Three months later, Total Croatia News received a tip about Dr. Juginović’s job appointment at the most prestigious university in the United States, if not the world.

“I am reaching out to you with an exceptional success story about a young Croatian doctor who, as one of a very small number of Croatians in history, is leaving for the most prestigious university in the world – Harvard! I believe that this story, with all its successes, is very positive, incredibly unique and motivating for everyone in Croatia, especially the young. They will see how it is possible to reach the top of the world from tiny Croatia. I would ask you to consider this ultimate story of medical success for publication in your portal,” the source, overwhelmed with enthusiasm, wrote to us while insisting upon remaining anonymous.

Unique Story Follows Long-Lasting Croatian Tradition

Another story of a young talented Croatian leaving the county for better opportunities abroad; what makes this story so unique and motivating, I wondered. What’s the message for young people? Work hard for a future which only exists beyond your country? That scenario is so commonplace, so predictable – and has flourished without interruption since boatloads of young Croatian emigrants, housed in cramped steerage on majestic passenger steam ships, began making their way in masses across the Atlantic over 130 years ago. Croatian independence, secured in a hard-fought war 105 years later, was supposed to curb mass emigration, not accelerate it. It's worth noting that Alen Juginović was born just a year before the last war officially ended.

The doctor and I agreed to meet at Vincek at 6pm on Friday. I’d passed the dessert café on Ilica many times but had never been inside. Frankly, I could do without the extra calories. I knew that the young doctor would arrive on time, a policy which seems to be hit or miss in this country, so I entered the very bright crowded café right at 6pm. As I meandered past glass cases of cakes and tarts, a lean spry figure passed me on the left from behind. I recognized him immediately, so I quietly followed him to the corner empty table, and waited for him to turn around, so as not to surprise him.

We shook hands and laughed about our simultaneous on-time arrival. He insisted on paying for dessert and coffee, I protested but quickly capitulated, still not entirely confident in Croatian customs. Juginović is a bright, wiry and very energetic figure. We chose sumptuous chocolate desserts, both of which were packed with calories. However, the young doctor, who was comfortably draped in an Adriatic-blue sport coat, white pressed shirt and muted chinos, showed absolutely no evidence of caloric abuse.

Juginović Outlines ‘Hygiene’ of Healthy Sleep Habits

I was pleased to learn that Dr. Juginović’s area of interest is studying and treating sleep disorders, because I’ve read a little about the subject, and could ask a few informed questions. Somewhere during the onset of middle-age, I had become a finicky sleeper. Sleeping a consecutive 8 hours is no longer a given, it has become a much-valued gift. So, we launched into a discussion about “sleep hygiene” as he called it. Admittedly, I was amused by the word hygiene, especially as it relates to Croatia. Try riding a crowded Zagreb tram in July and you’ll immediately know what I’m talking about.

So the young doctor enthusiastically reviewed the necessary components for “sleep hygiene”, some of which I already knew: keep the same sleep schedule, afternoon naps are OK as long as they are shorter than 45 minutes, avoid computers and smartphones (blue light), the sleeping room should not house elements of daily awake life (work-related tools) etc. He then went on to review the stages of sleep, the mechanics of each stage and circadian rhythms. I mentioned that I had read, to my relief, that the concept of a consecutive 7 to 8-hour sleep pattern only came into existence at the turn of the 20^th century. Before that, many societies thrived on segmented sleep, with an interim wake period, which was integrated into daily life. He emphasized that sleep cycles are adaptable but that humans are not nocturnal by nature.

Dr. Juginović struck me as someone who lives fully scheduled days where every minute is accounted for, so I steered our discussion toward his autobiography. It unfolds like a resume every job recruiter dreams about (undoubtedly during REM sleep): President of Student Union, founder of NeuroSplit and member of the organizing committee for ISABS conferences.

Practical Knowledge for Students | Alen Juginović

Organizer of World Class Medical Conferences in Split

Most notably, he was instrumental in organizing two Split-based world conferences. The first, Practical Knowledge for Students, is an annual event which provides medical, dental and pharmacy students the opportunity to practice key physical functions in their chosen professions: like suturing. Suturing, I thought, don’t students practice how to suture in medical school? Apparently, not enough. As the young doctor pointed out, students only know how to perform many of these tasks in theory. I immediately wondered if this was true for US medical schools too. The conference has been a smashing success and participation has ballooned to over 400 students, who arrive in Split from all corners of the world.

The second conference, Nobel Days, brought together four Nobel Prize winners in one auditorium for panel discussions, which were free and open to the public. The panel comprised of Biochemist Richard Roberts, who received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1993; Biophysicist Joachim Frank, who received it in Chemistry in 2017; Physicist Georg Bednorz, who won the prestigious award in 1987; and Harald zur Hausen, a Virologist who received it for the discovery of the HPV virus and its association with cervical cancer. The 500-person capacity auditorium in Split was packed; with standing room only.

He also organized several fundraiser concerts with popular Croatian musicians to upgrade a home for children with special needs and finance improvements to pediatric and other medical facilities.

We briefly touched upon his observerships in Milwaukee and Houston, where he was impressed and surprised by the level of student involvement in extracurricular activities. Juginović considers participation in extracurricular activities essential for students’ well-being. It also brings balance to student life and takes the focus away from just attending classes and studying for exams. There are a lot of students who just spend their free time drinking coffee, he lamented, when they could be engaging with others in areas of personal interest and public concern. He also emphasized that he did not consider high grades to the most important criteria for success and even admitted that he didn’t have a perfect grade point average.

So, Juginović’s autobiography is full of significant and impactful achievements, which he shared with enthusiasm, energy and passion. It wasn’t at all difficult to imagine how he wowed that Serbian professor in Boston, who runs a lab at the most prestigious university in the world. And, their partnership suggests a promising overseas Serbo-Croatian collaboration, which is still a rarity in the homeland.

Nobel Days | Alen Juginović

The Croatian Journey to America Spans Over a Century

My grandfather arrived at Ellis Island on the SS Slavonia, which had departed Rijeka on a 19-day journey to America. The trans-Atlantic journey, which he had most likely spent in steerage, was long and grueling, but the young nation was open to everyone who arrived. One hundred fifteen years later, getting into America has become much more complex. One way is to successfully and illegally traverse an increasingly fortified Southern border. Another way is to obtain a H-1B visa, and eventually a Green Card, which can be a complicated affair, and is only expedited by possessing vast financial resources, outstanding individual talent or powerful connections.

In Dr. Juginović’s case, Dr. Rogulja and Harvard will likely process a H-1B visa application which allows a US employer to temporarily hire a foreign worker in a specialty occupation. For a world renown institution like Harvard, that process will likely be streamlined and accelerated, regardless of legal route. It’s worth noting that Croatia remains among just a handful of EU countries for which the US still requires a visa for entry, even as a tourist. However, US and Croatian efforts are now finally underway to abolish that requirement within the next few years.

So, in a little over two weeks the young Croatian doctor will board a plane bound for America. He’ll arrive in Boston in a matter of hours, not weeks, where he will immediately be taken under Harvard’s wing and will undoubtedly surpass their high-performance standards. His job offer comes with a three-year renewable contract, and from there the possibilities are boundless. In the meantime, he must pack for relocation to “The Hub of the Universe”. And HRT (Croatian Radio Television) has just contacted him for a news feature, which will be filmed at St. Catherine’s Hospital in Zagreb, where he remains employed until his departure.

No Long-Term Plans to Return to Croatia Permanently

For a young man who proceeds with such deliberate intention; like organizing significant world conferences with science visionaries and planning personal tours of America’s top universities, I wondered where Dr. Juginović saw himself in the future. Did he consider America a place to expand his knowledge, absorb her best practices, learn from her shortcomings, and return to his homeland to share that vision, knowledge and optimism? Or was America a more permanent destination?

“I don’t think that far ahead, and am open to all opportunities,” he responded, and emphasized that his focus was on the moment and never extended beyond the next day or two. One could not help but sense the empty space that someone, who had been such a daily inspiration to fellow students, would leave behind. Is he coming back to visit, I wondered. He replied that he’d be back during summer break. How does summer break work for a researcher at a university, I thought aloud. Does it follow the academic calendar? He’d probably come back for a week, he answered tentatively and emphasized that his primary passion is to motivate students. “Never underestimate the power of students,” he proclaimed with conviction.

Even if Alen Juginović’s return visits to Croatia are brief and rare, I’ll safely bet that a more refined version of his story, which he shared with me over coffee and dessert, will appear as a TED Talk on YouTube. It’s simply not even a matter of if; it’s a matter of when. And sure enough, it turns out that his future Serbian mentor has already given a TED Talk. Young Croatians seeking motivation will be able to locate inspirational footage of the soon-to-be former Split resident online by a Google search. Some will be enchanted by his fulfillment of the American Dream, a concept which has long ago achieved mythical proportions. Others, perhaps, might be inspired to stay and effect change in their homeland. Dr. Juginović emphasized that his parents and three close friends have been his main source of inspiration.

Saying Goodbye and Reaching Out for Something New

He admitted that the last few weeks have been emotional. Late one night he sat on a bench ten meters from the sea with a close friend and disclosed that he was leaving for America. Without saying a word, the friend simply hugged him. “Everglow” by Coldplay was playing on the car radio on their way home and that song will always commemorate the moment, he reveals. Then he showed me a stunning image of a sunset taken high up in the hills overlooking Split and the Adriatic Sea. The soft horizontal bars of deep blue and orange were broken up by the silhouette of a young man with mussed up hair and the roof of a car. Flickering lights of Croatia’s second largest city, a city that existed long before the arrival of Croatian tribes, dotted the lower right-hand corner of the image. These were among the reflections of a young man saying goodbye.

Near the end of our conversation, we spoke briefly about his favorite songs. In addition to “Everglow”, he mentioned “Purple Rain” by Prince. We immediately agreed that it was impossible to enjoy songs with meaningless lyrics. In that context, “Purple Rain” seemed like an improbable choice, not to mention that the song was a massive worldwide hit a decade before he was born.

Prince explained the meaning of his song to an interviewer as follows: “When there’s blood in the sky – red and blue = purple… purple rain pertains to the end of the world and being with the one you love and letting your faith/god guide you through the purple rain.”

At the beginning of the song, the late musician’s lyrics appear to be directed toward an individual and allude to the end of a friendship. Then he acknowledges that times are changing and “it’s time we all reach out for something new, that means you too.” Had the young Croatian doctor experienced the end of a friendship? We hadn’t gotten that personal, but I suspect that his affinity for this song hinted at a more collective, rather than personal experience. Near the end of the legendary anthem, Prince calls out to his audience:

You say you want a leader
But you can’t seem to make up your mind

If you know what I’m singing about up here
C’mon, raise your hand

Follow our Lifestyle page and Diaspora page for more information on Croatians and their successes abroad. For updates on Dr. Juginović’s pursuits and health advice, follow his Twitter page here.