Latest News from Croatia
Croatia is ready for Schengen
Croatia meets the necessary conditions to implement all parts of the Schengen acquis.
This is the conclusion reached by the Council of the EU.
The report on the issue was adopted at today's Justice and Home Affairs Council in Brussels. This was announced by Slovenian Interior Minister Ales Hojs, whose country holds the EU presidency.
Hojs says Croatia meets conditions for entering Schengen Area
Brussels – Coming out of a meeting of EU home affairs ministers, Slovenia’s Aleš Hojs said it had been agreed that Croatia meets the conditions for entering the Schengen Area, and that it was a key step towards a final decision on the expansion of the no-passport zone. Hojs believes other steps will follow relatively soon.
Shooting from the Hip, Croatian President Makes Play for New Base
For months, the president has been scathing of the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, accusing it imposing repressive restrictions on the people, regardless of the fact that Croatia's measures are in fact not among the strictest in the European Union despite its poor performance on containing the virus, vaccinating its people and saving lives.
Ban on blood donation for homosexual men found discriminatory
Ljubljana – Equal Opportunities Ombudsman Miha Lobnik has noted that the permanent ban on blood donations for all homosexual men is discriminatory, as they are excluded from taking part in this important philanthropic activity despite the fact that the safety of blood donations is also ensured by additional testing for viruses.
Mayor Praised, President Criticised, Over Croatian Serb Murder Commemoration
Croatian leaders' contrasting attitudes towards Tuesday's annual commemoration of the murder of a Croatian family during the independence war drew equally contrasting responses.
Zagreb's new Left-Green mayor, Tomislav Tomasevic attended the commemoration of the murder of the Zec family in 1991 in person.
Slovenia saw biggest drop in air passenger numbers in EU last year
Luxembourg – Slovenia saw the biggest drop in air passenger transport in the EU in the 2020 pandemic year, fresh Eurostat data show. While the number of total passengers in the EU dropped by 73% to 277 million, in Slovenia it plummeted by 83% year-on-year. Slovenia is followed by Slovakia and Croatia, where 82% fewer air passengers were recorded.
Serbs accuse Croats: "They are the most brutal"
This was announced by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation in Belgrade at a press conference.
The representative of that foundation for Southeast Europe, Vladan Jeremic, pointed out that collective expulsions, abuse and arbitrary arrests take place along the Serbian-Croatian border from 2016 to 2021, despite the efforts of civil society organizations to prevent it from happening.
CoE Torture Watchdog Accuses Croatia of Abusing Migrants at Borders
The Council of Europe's anti-torture committee has called on EU external border state Croatia to stop police ill-treatment of migrants and asylum seekers in its borders.
On Friday, its report called on authorities to take "determined action to stop migrants from being ill-treated by police officers and to ensure that cases of alleged ill-treatment are investigated effectively".