The first time ever a Croatian film has won the Palme d’Or award

The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent, a film by Croatian director Nebojsa Slijepcevic, who is also the author of the script, on Saturday won the Golden Palm award in the short film competition programme at the 77th Cannes Film Festival.

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The doily makes big comeback thanks to Baby Lasagna

A doily, traditionally an ornamental to place under things in the house like glasses, bowls, vases, or often used as table centrepieces, have found their way back into fashion thanks to the Croatian Eurovision runner-up. Baby Lasagna’s recent wardrobe transformation, swapping out conventional attire for a crochet doily shirt, garnered widespread attention and admiration. This revival of the crochet doily has become a hot topic of conversation, with social media abuzz with discussions and a surge in demand for these intricately crafted pieces, which one would often only find in grandma’s house.

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Croatia's Eurovision AfterParty with Baby Lasagna in Zagreb 2024

Fear of Flood

The water level is constantly increasing, and currently in Zagreb it is 438 centimeters.

 

Croatia braces for heavy rain

Considering that there are a lot of flash floods in Slovenia today, and therefore the water level of the rivers that pass through the territory of Croatia has increased, the DHMZ asks all citizens to be on guard against inclement weather and follow the weather forecast today and tomorrow. 

 Heavy floods are expected, which will cover a larger area and flood property, with a significant risk to lives and the possibility of evacuations.

 

Croatia braces for 40C temperatures

The State Hydrometeorological Institute warned of high temperatures in most of the country. 

The Institute of Public Health called on citizens to be extra careful. 

Temperatures up to 40°C are expected this week. The heat wave will last until Thursday, and a red alert has been issued for the Split region for Wednesday.

Yesterday in Zagreb

Tens of thousands of fans lined the streets of the Croatian capital and crammed into Ban Jelačić square to show their appreciation for the Croatian football team as they arrived home this afternoon after winning bronze at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. 

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Croatia joins Schengen Area

After receiving unanimous backing from EU members during a vote in Brussels on Thursday, Croatia will join the Schengen Area as of January 2023. All border controls will be lifted at land and sea border crossing points on 1 January 2023 and at airports on 26 March 2023.

 

The doctor should have taken his case much more seriously

On August 5, Index’s journalist Vladimir Matijanić, aged fifty-one, tragically passed away due to the negligence of the Croatian health system.

 With several autoimmune diseases, he tested positive for covid-19 on August 2. Both he and his girlfriend spent days trying to convince the hospital staff to take them seriously. 

The emergency services only ever looked at him once, refusing to take him into the hospital even when he was extremely ill. Matijanić's colleagues at Index recounted the key mistakes of the system.

 

It’s going to be a very hot weekend

The maximum daily temperatures can reach 40 degrees Celsius in Croatia.

 

 

Hailstorm hits Zagorje , Croatia

A hailstorm hit the northwestern Croatian region of Zagorje on Thursday night, causing extensive damage to crops and vineyards. 

 The harsh weather caused the most extensive damage in Oroslavje, Klanjec, Kumrovec and Zagorska Sela. Klanjec Mayor, Zlatko Brlek, said the storm, hurling stones the size of walnuts, lasted around five minutes, and that he believed it had caused total damage to crops and vineyards.

Also affected by the hailstorm was the western part of Zagreb County, where the roofs on a number of houses were damaged.

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Protest In Zagreb

Kristina Uremović/24sata 

 Hundreds of citizens, mostly women, rallied in Zagreb's main square on Thursday to protest against the "destruction of public health and neglecting women's health," and to demand that legal, available and safe pregnancy termination be guaranteed.

 The protest was held in solidarity with Mirela Čavajda, whom a Zagreb hospital's second-instance commission allowed to terminate her pregnancy for medical reasons only after she went public with her case. It was organised by several NGOs which demand that the government and the Health Ministry make sure that pregnancy termination is available in public health. 

 According to a survey by the gender equality ombudsman, 59% of Croatian doctors are conscientious objectors. The NGOs demand the urgent adoption of protocols that will guarantee the availability of pregnancy termination and the publication of the names of doctors who are conscientious objectors as well as information on which hospitals in Croatia perform the procedure. 

The demands have been signed by more than 100 civil society organisations.

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Callous abuse of women in Croatia

Mirela Cavajda, a 39-year-old pregnant woman who requested abortion in the 26th week of pregnancy after the foetus was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, had her request rejected by three hospitals in Zagreb.

 Abortion in Croatia is legal until 10 weeks following conception, and afterwards in specific circumstances, including cases in which the mother’s life is in danger, the child is likely to be born with serious defects, or when conception was the result of a criminal act. 

 However, medical staff in Croatia have the right to conscientious objection, which means that abortion is hard to obtain in some hospitals in the country. 

The Association for the Promotion of Patients’ Rights requested the Health Ministry to immediately send hospitals protocols for all cases related to abortion, saying that everyone interprets the law in their way. The minister’s statement that hospitals must do something although there are no protocols is scandalous, and sending women to Slovenia to abort at their own expense is unacceptable, the association said. 

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Zagreb marks 2nd quake anniversary as people wait for full-scale reconstruction

Croatia on Tuesday marked the second anniversary of the devastating 5.5-strong earthquake that hit the capital city of Zagreb on March 22, 2020, causing €11.5 billion in damage, as Zagreb residents and the general public are still waiting for full-scale reconstruction to begin. 

 The earthquake killed a 15-year-old girl, while 27 people were injured. As many as 25,000 structures were either destroyed or severely damaged, including schools and hospitals, the Government House and Parliament Hall. Croatia was granted €683.7 million for earthquake relief according to the provisions of the European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF). Although some headway has been made in the post-quake reconstruction, residents in the quake-affected areas and the general public are still waiting for the reconstruction to be in full swing, as the Reconstruction Fond explains that public procurement procedures and designing had taken more than than initially planned. 

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Explosion in Zagreb

Cropix

 
An explosion in Zagreb could be heard last night at 23:00, and a very strange situation has unfolded since then, with an impact hole, parts of a plane and parachutes discovered. 

 Police patrols were urgently sent to the locations of the report and found a crater on the green area at the address Jarunska bb, while they found two parachutes in the wider area, for which we'd also previously received reports from people. Police officers dealt with both the narrower and wider area of ​​the scene where the investigation is being conducted, with the participation of all relevant services.

 So far, the police have had no reports of any injuries in the wider area of ​​the scene, though several parked vehicles were damaged. Out in the field, police teams specialised in dealing with and reacting to this type of event are present, and at the moment there is no reason for people to be alarmed. 

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Zagreb today

Ukrainian Ambassador Vasyl Kyrylych

  The rally was organised by the Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights (HHO) and the Association of Ukrainians in Zagreb.

  More than 1,500 Ukrainian refugees arrived in Croatia by 7 a.m. Saturday, sources at the Red Cross Croatia (HCK) said.

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Croatia to ban Russian airlines from entering its air space, PM says

Already at today’s consultations, the government made the political decision that we will ban (Russian) airlines from flying into our air space,” he told the press.

 The measures will go into force “possibly tomorrow already” and “implementation decisions” will be adopted at the cabinet’s session tomorrow, Plenkovic said. Russian airlines have been banned from entering the air space of the UK, Ireland, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Malta, Austria, North Macedonia, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland are also joining in the ban. Some EU member states like France, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, the Netherlands and Belgium have decided to send anti-tank weapons and ammunition to Ukraine. Plenkovic said the Croatian government would decide on that tomorrow and that the Defence Ministry had drawn up a proposal. “We will also adopt certain decisions on support to Ukraine, which is a victim of aggression, which will concern defence cooperation, first and foremost protective equipment and other equipment so that we can respond to their request,” he added. 

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Hot Wheels

Some of the most expensive cars in the world were driving through Zagreb today.

Photo by Zeljko Puhovski/Cropix

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It will finally connect Croatian territory

With the installation of the last, 165th segment of the steel span of the Peljesac Bridge on Wednesday evening, the bridge will be finally joined together from Komarna to Brijesta and provide a long-awaited road link between the southernmost part of Croatia with the rest of the country.

Work on the 2.4-kilometer bridge, connecting Croatia’s Peljesac peninsula with the mainland to bypass a short stretch of the Bosnian coastline at the town of Neum started three years ago.

 The project is worth €550 million, although most of the funding – €357 million – came from the European Union.

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Croatia’s Plan to Put Tesla on Euro Coins Reignites Balkan Feud

"Nikola Tesla was born in Smiljan on the territory of Croatia. And he lived most of his life in the USA. It is citizens who have recommended that one of the future euro coins should include the image of Nikola Tesla, we do not appropriate anybody," PM Andrej Plenković said after the NBS said on Thursday that putting Tesla's image on the national side of euro coins if Croatia joined the euro area "would represent appropriation of the cultural and scientific legacy of the Serb people." Plenković elaborated that the suggestion made by Croatians amounted to a great gesture, having in mind the fact that Tesla was of Serb descent and his own merits globally were unquestionable. We can be proud of that. I cannot see why somebody may deem it as a problem. If I were on the helm of the National Bank of Serbia, I would send congratulations (for such a decision), the Croatian PM said. 

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