February 22, 2023 - We are delighted to welcome Maja Dezulovic to TCN, and she begins with a somewhat different perspective - life as a black Croat in Croatia. Welcome Number 185! If you would like to write about Croatia from your perspective, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Subject Writing.

When I was a high school student in Zagreb from 2005 to 2007 I could go months without seeing people of African descent anywhere. For the entire first year I was the only student of African origins in the school. I remember how seeing an African in the street was memorable because it felt like a rare snippet of home. Nowadays that is no longer the case.

I can’t say that I really experienced racism or hate in Croatia. The closest thing to prejudice I experienced was on a walk on Jarun as a teenager. My friend and I were about to pass a man walking towards us with a little girl, possibly his daughter. As they got closer he glared at me with disgust and grabbed his daughter closer. “Ciganka!” He exclaimed. That’s the Croatian word for gypsy woman. I was saddened by his reaction but also not offended because I felt it came more from a place of ignorance rather than hatred. That was one of two occasions on which I was mistaken for a gypsy.

Most Croats who don’t know me mistakenly assume that I don’t understand Croatian and proceed to gossip about me in front of my face. However, rarely is it insulting or malicious. Most commonly they comment about my hair. I’m okay with comments, even those directed at me. I’ll even answer questions sometimes. The thing I don’t like is when people assume it’s just okay to touch my hair without asking. There are four words that Africans with natural hair often want to say to the ill-informed Croat who encroaches on personal space. Solange captured them in the title of her song “Don’t touch my hair”.

As the demographics of this country inevitably shift, some of the challenges faced globally by non-white minorities will begin to surface here too. The biggest issue, I believe, is ignorance within the majority population. Croatia has been almost completely white for a very long time. People are open, they want to interact, the thing is that they don’t know how to because they haven’t had to before.

As with most things the solution here is to educate people and one of the best ways of it happening organically is through exposure. The more we welcome people of colour here the more effortless integration will become for all.

It also helps to remember that people’s reactions come from a place of innocence. People are in awe when they see people who look nothing like those who they encounter in their daily lives. If you look different you’re on display. You get used to it and while the population of non-whites remains so small it comes with a responsibility too – you represent your race with your behavior and responses.

It is my hope that the description of “that Black woman who speaks Croatian”, often used to refer to me, will become less surprising as more Black men and women learn the language and themselves become a part of the Croatian community.

My only fear is that many non-whites are coming here as migrant workers to fill in the labour shortages, which may skew perceptions of them. They’re entering a social class that is looked down upon no matter what race you are. I hope Croatia becomes home to a good number of African doctors, engineers and people in places of leadership to combat the stereotype of the Black labourer and serve as hope to a demographic of people who may mainly be confined to the working class in Europe.

On my last extended trip to Zagreb in January not a day went by without my spotting a person of colour in the streets around the main square. It’s refreshing. I hope that locals will recognise the wealth that diversity has to offer a nation and embrace it.

Read more... What is It Like for Black People Living in Croatia?

February 22, 2023 - After the 2022 European Championships in Split, Croatia is again the center of water polo. This time, the world's water polo elite is coming to Zagreb, where the World Aquatics Water Polo World Cup will be held from March 8-14.

The Barracudas thus become hosts to the national teams of France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, and the United States of America in the first edition of the World Cup. 

The World Cup is played in two groups with six national teams each. Croatia is playing in the Zagreb group with powerful opponents. Five intense matches await Croatia, which will be an excellent opportunity to prepare for the most important competition this year - the World Championships.

The Croatia national team gathers in Zagreb on March 5 and plays their first game of the tournament on Wednesday, March 8, against the USA.

"I invite all spectators to the World Cup tournament. We are in a group against Italy, Hungary, Italy, Japan, the USA, and France. We expect a tough rhythm with five games in a week, which will be a great mini-test for what awaits us this summer at the World Champs. I hope we will play well and reach the super final," announced player Luka Bukić.

While Group A is held in Zagreb, Group B is simultaneously held in Montenegro with the national teams of Greece, Serbia, Spain, Georgia, Australia, and Montenegro.

The only safe participant in the World Cup Superfinal is the USA, as they are hosts of the Superfinal tournament. 

Thus, two more teams from Croatia's group and three from the group who played in Podgorica hope to secure their spot in the final tournament.

The World Cup matches in Zagreb will be played according to the following schedule:

Tickets for the tournament can be purchased at ulaznice.hr.

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

February 22, 2023 - Illegal construction has been rampant in Istria for years. It is estimated that there are almost 50,000 illegally constructed buildings on the Istrian Peninsula. And that will finally be stopped. In the area of Mandriol alone, the construction inspection closed 14 construction sites last week, and the City of Vodnjan issued decisions on the removal of these illegal structures.

As HRT writes, there are more than 3,000 such and similar facilities in the Vodnjan region. The city decided to put an end to this and punish illegal builders. Since the beginning of the year, communal wardens have made 300 reports on illegal construction.

"The fact that these construction sites are sealed is the result of about 50 applications that we sent to the construction inspection. This is initiated b,y us, and we see that it has an effect. I think it is the obligation of the city of Vodnjan to do it and to act like that", said Edi Pastrovicchio, the mayor of Vodnjan.

Communal wardens in the Vodnjan area are on site every day. They note about 20 illegal buildings daily. And in the construction inspection, they claim that they continuously conduct inspections in Vodnjan.

Illegal construction everywhere

Illegal construction has been a problem on the Istrian peninsulafor the last 20 years. Nevertheless, illegal construction occurred everywhere, on almost every part of the Istrian coast, even in protected areas. However, no one has yet paid the fine there either.

"We initiated criminal charges, and that was the only thing left to do. At the end of the day, we hope that we will stop illegal construction, at least in our protected areas, and that someone will bear the responsibility, emphasized Silvia Buttignoni, director of the public institution Natura Histrica.

Therefore, Natura Histrica and the County of Istria warned that the system is too lenient towards illegal construction.

"If the state, or the state inspectorate, does not have enough human resources, leave the authority to the regional and local level. I'm sure we'll be able to handle it, deal with it. The legal regulation in terms of punishment should definitely be changed", said Boris Miletić, the Istrian prefect.

Both the IDS and some Istrian cities and municipalities started a fierce fight against illegal construction. They launched a website - bespravnagradnja.hr where you can see the extent of such construction and report it.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated News section.

February 22, 2023 - Did you know there are more Uzbeks living in Croatia than Brits? A look at the population change since 2018, as Croatia is no longer the whitest county in the world.

Back in 2018 as Croatia reached the World Cup Final against France, an anti-racism group tweet suggested that Croatia was racist as all its players were white. A quite ridiculous suggestion, in the same way as Nigeria could be accused of the same thing for not fielding any white players (in fact Croatia has had black players and Nigeria a white player, according to research I did at the time). 

It did get me thinking though. Having lived in 10 countries including Rwanda, Somalia, Japan, Russia, the UK and Germany, it was quite a rare thing to see black or Asian people in Croatia. Curious, I contacted the Ministry of the Interior to get statistics on how many foreigners were living in Croatia in 2018. The answer - 29,156. You can see a breakdown in my 2018 article How Many Foreigners Live in Croatia, and Where are They From?

99.3% Croat and most of the foreigners also being white, it seemed that Croatia was the whitest country in the world, as I explored recently on my YouTube channel. 

Back in 2018 (and please note these are not my numbers, but ones from the Ministry of the Interior), these where the top 20 countries in terms of numbers of nationals with temporary or permanent residence in Croatia.

Of these, only five countries - BiH, Slovenia, Serbia, Germany and Italy had more than 1,000, see below.

So how have things changed since then?

I contacted the Ministry again, and they very kindly provided me with data for every country. I was very surprised by some things I saw - that there are more Uzbeks than Brits living in Croatia, for example. 

Here are the top 20 on December 31, 2022, according to MUP. 

Quite a difference. 

The trend of importing cheaper labour from Asia seems to be clearly visible.

In 2018, there were only 5 countries with more than 1000 nationals living here, according to official MUP statistics.

That has changed considerably, as you can see below.

The total number of foreigners with temporary or permanent residence as of December 31, 2022 stood at 172,199, a big leap from those 2018 numbers. 

And bear in mind also that the population has been slowly declining over that period, as young Croats emigrate in search of opportunities abroad. 

So it would appear that Croatia is no longer the whitest country in the world. I am not saying that is a good thing or a bad thing, just that it is a thing. An interesting discussion in the cafe, for sure. 

Many thanks for the efforts of the press department of the Ministry of the Interior for providing the information. Having worked closely with MUP during the pandemic with the award-winning Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community, I do sometimes wonder how Croatia might look if they ran other parts of the administration.

Read more... Croats Leaving, Foreigners Arriving, How to Preserve Hrvatska?

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You can subscribe to the Paul Bradbury Croatia Expert YouTube channel here.

What is it like to live in Croatia? An expat for 20 years, you can follow my series, 20 Ways Croatia Changed Me in 20 Years, starting at the beginning - Business and Dalmatia.

Follow Paul Bradbury on LinkedIn.

Croatia, a Survival Kit for Foreigners is now available on Amazon in paperback and on Kindle.

February 22, 2023 - Zagreb mayor Tomislav Tomasevic announced on his Facebook page that 20 buses were presented as part of the project to purchase 65 buses for ZET, co-financed from EU funds, on top of the 45 new buses which were put in traffic in November last year.

"These are 20 articulated buses with a capacity of 89 standing and 41 seated places, equipped with access platforms for simpler and easier entry for people with disabilities, video surveillance, and an air conditioning system. The value of all 65 buses is EUR 21.4 million, of which EUR 14.5 million was financed from the EU Cohesion Fund", the Zagreb mayor wrote on Facebook, as reported by 24Sata.

"The new buses are replacing worn-out vehicles of the older generation, which means that the fleet will break down less often, the timetable will be more reliable, and through the reduction of exhaust gas emissions, the new buses will contribute to cleaner air in Zagreb. In addition to these buses, in December, we signed a contract to purchase 20 new low-floor trams, the largest project co-financed from EU funds in Zagreb. After a full 17 years, when the last tram was purchased, the men and women of Zagreb will be able to ride in new trams again shortly", he added.

"The plan is to purchase an additional 40 to 60 trams and about 100 buses that run on clean energy sources (most likely hydrogen or electricity), which we will discuss in the coming months. These are investments of several hundred million euros. To this should be added the reconstruction and expansion of the tram and road network (Heinzelova, Sarajevska, Črnomerec Srednjaci, connecting the airport with the city center), the reconstruction of bridges, the construction of new bicycle paths, the expansion of pedestrian zones, the reconstruction of Jarun, etc., which together shows that it is a busy infrastructure at the top of our city administration's investment.

Our goal is that the share of citizens who use public transport (tram, bus, cable car, and in the future the train to the airport) increases significantly compared to the number of car users. Everyone will benefit from this: the city will be less congested with crowds, the air will be cleaner, and travel around the city will be faster and more affordable for the people of Zagreb and everyone who comes to Zagreb", Zagreb mayor concluded in the announcement.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated News section.

February 22, 2023 - Aging like a fine wine, maestro Luka Modrić continues to impress in the Champions League at 37 years old. 

It was an epic duel at Anfield on Tuesday night as part of the Champions League round of 16. Liverpool hosted Real Madrid in the first leg of this last-16 tie, and by the 67th minute, it was already 2:5 for Real Madrid. 

Liverpool was up 2:0 in the first 15 minutes with goals from Nunez and Salah, but the current European champion woke up five minutes later, and two goals from Vinicius in the 21st and 36th minutes leveled the result. Luka Modrić masterfully assisted for the Real Madrid lead at 2:3 in the 47th minute and intercepted the ball from Liverpool in Madrid's half to launch the play that resulted in Madrid's 5th and final goal, scored by Karim Benzema.

Modrić's world-class performance lasted until the 87th minute when he was subbed off for Toni Kroos. The 37-year-old Croat received a standing ovation from the whole of Anfield, proving once again that his Champions League masterclass knows no age. 

Real Madrid became the first club in history to score five goals against Liverpool in a European match at Anfield.

"This is how Real Madrid wins," wrote Luka Modrić on Twitter and Instagram after Real Madrid's fantastic performance. The Croatia captain also received praise from all sides for his outstanding play.

"It was the usual Modrić, the best one can see, constant, in rhythm, with good control of the ball. I think he was key in the moments when we had difficulties," said coach Carlo Ancelotti.

"These are tournaments for players like Modric, Kroos, and Karim, where experience makes the difference. When you're down 2:0, the experience of these players is key to helping the younger players stay focused," added the Italian expert.

Spanish sports daily Marca was also full of praise.

"He is a leader and life insurance on big nights. It's crazy to rule Anfield at 37."

"The fact that Liverpool fans applauded Luka and Karim only proves that people here know how to appreciate these guys who play great," said Real Madrid's goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

The 37-year-old Croatia captain wants to end his career at Real Madrid, and according to Ancelotti, he deserves a contract extension, which expires on June 30.

"Modrić has a career in which he has shown it and shows that he deserves it. He didn't do well in January but returned to his best level and will continue to grow. I am sure of this because he is physically excellent and also wants to play for Real Madrid," Ancelotti said.

Modrić said at the same press conference that he wants to earn a new contract and not be given or offered one because of past merits and achievements. However, the club and the player still haven't discussed his contract renewal. 

The Croatia national team captain won 22 trophies with Real Madrid, and this season made 31 appearances for the club. Real Madrid is defending the Champions League title this season.

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

February 22, 2023 - In the centre of the Earth's inner core, there is another layer: the innermost core, which is a solid "metallic ball," asserted Croatian scientist Dr. Hrvoje Tkalcic and his associate Dr. Thanh-Son Pham from the Australian National University in a paper published in the journal Nature Communications (ANU) in Canberra.

As Jutarnji writes, in school, we were taught that the Earth's interior consists of four layers: crust, mantle, outer and inner core. The border between the Earth's crust and the mantle is called the Mohorovičić discontinuity or Moho layer because it was discovered by the Croatian scientist Andrija Mohorovicic (1857-1936), which is one of the most significant discoveries in seismology of the 20^th century. Now, however, Croatian scientist Hrvoje Tkalcic is changing the existing knowledge about the interior of the Earth.

Twenty years ago, scientists made the assumption about the existence of the innermost core, and using data collected from seismic waves caused by earthquakes, Tkalcic and Thanh-Son Pham proved it. They analysed data from around 200 earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 and above in the last ten years. For example, one of the earthquakes studied by scientists occurred in Alaska. The seismic waves generated by that earthquake "rebounded" somewhere in the South Atlantic before travelling back to Alaska.

"These are observations of waves that spread two, three, four, or five times along the Earth's diameter after large earthquakes. These waves are bounced multiple times through the Earth's interior, like a ping pong ball bouncing in the same direction, and pass through its very centre. We observed these multiple paths of waves through the centre of the Earth for the first time in the history of seismological observations", said Dr. Hrvoje Tkalcic, professor of seismology and mathematical geophysics and head of the Department of Geophysics at the Australian National University (ANU).

Updates in textbooks

Secondly, by measuring the time of the passage of seismic waves through the interior of the Earth's core, we confirmed that the inner core has two parts. The inner part is the central core, and the outer part is the shell that surrounds it. Both the central inner core and the shell surrounding it are alloys of iron and nickel in a solid aggregate state. However, what differentiates them is not their chemical composition but the direction in which the waves slow down through them. In jargon, this is called anisotropy. In other words, the central core and the outer shell that surrounds it are anisotropic, each in its way, either because of the different crystal structure of iron (the way the iron atoms are arranged in the crystal lattice) or because of the orientation of the crystal", explained Tkalcic. This Croatian scientist is one of the leading world experts in understanding the Earth's inner core, about which he published a book published by Cambridge University Press in 2017, the first of its kind in the world.

He pointed out that studying the deep interior of the Earth's inner core can tell more about the past and evolution of our planet.

"This inner core is like a time capsule of the Earth's evolutionary history – a fossilized record that serves as an insight into the events of our planet's past. This helps us understand the Earth's history, that is, the conditions that prevailed during the crystallisation of the Earth's inner core, in a similar way to how we study the age of trees and the climatic conditions that existed on Earth. I think that with this work, we have put a dot on the 'i' and confirmed the existence of the central core of the Earth. The time has come for the illustrations of the Earth's internal structure in textbooks to change", emphasised Hrvoje Tkalcic.

Who is Hrvoje Tkalčić?

He was born in 1970 in Bjelovar, went to high school in Vinkovci, and graduated in physics - majoring in geophysics at the Faculty of Science and Mathematics (PMF) in Zagreb. He received his doctorate on the subject interior of the Earth's core at the University of California, Berkeley. Then he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Scripps Institute in San Diego and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the largest nuclear laboratory in the USA.

He is the recipient of the Australian Research Achievement Excellence Award, the British Price Medal, and a member of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). Also, prof. Tkalcic is an excellent populariser of science: his book, "Earthquakes: Giants That Sometimes Wake Up," published last year by Ljevak, is very popular among readers.

Open access to the paper, as shared by the professor on Twitter. 

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated News section.

February 22, 2023 - Lost in translation, the video edition - 15 Croatian Language Fails: Smallpox, Hand Jobs and a Burek Called Desire.

I have very rarely cried with laughter when reading an article online, but TCN editor got me crying three time in the same month with her fabulous Lost in Translation series about Croatian language fails a few years ago.

You can find links to the original articles by Lauren below, but we thought it might make a fun video to compile the best of the best.

15 Croatian Language Fails: Smallpox, Hand Jobs and a Burek Called Desire goes out live tonight at 19:53. Click on the video to get the notification.

Hope you enjoy.

Smallpox, Diarrhoea and Free Hand Jobs: Lost in Translation in Croatia - https://www.total-croatia-news.com/lifestyle/21467-lost-in-translation-the-croatia-edition

Leprosy, Bitches and a Burek named Desire: Lost in Translation in Croatia - https://www.total-croatia-news.com/lifestyle/21743-leprosy-bitches-and-a-burek-named-desire-lost-in-translation-in-croatia

Shakespeare, the Pope and the Way to the ''See'': Lost in Translation in Croatia - https://www.total-croatia-news.com/lifestyle/24083-shakespeare-the-pope-and-the-way-to-the-see-lost-in-translation-in-croatia

Adverbs, Cocks and Dalmatian Furniture: Lost in Translation in Croatia - https://www.total-croatia-news.com/lifestyle/24100-adverbs-cocks-and-dalmatian-furniture-lost-in-translation-in-croatia

Winos, Doggy Style and Strange Furious Drinks: Lost in Translation in Croatia - https://www.total-croatia-news.com/lifestyle/24144-winos-doggy-style-and-strange-furious-drinks-lost-in-translation-in-croatia

Lubricator, Prefects, and Middle-Earth Moving Cake: Lost in Translation in Croatia - https://www.total-croatia-news.com/lifestyle/30209-lubricator-prefects-and-middle-earth-moving-cake-lost-in-translation-in-croatia

Paper Sauce, Bears, and Fertilisers of Rice: Lost in Translation in Croatia - https://www.total-croatia-news.com/lifestyle/30255-paper-sauce-bears-and-fertilisers-of-rice-lost-in-translation-in-croatia

Prize Lists, Cold Deposits and Viagra: Lost in Translation in Croatia - https://www.total-croatia-news.com/lifestyle/30684-prize-lists-cold-deposits-and-viagra-lost-in-translation-in-croatia

Lost in Translation in Croatia: Bears, Acid, and Worm Appetisers - https://www.total-croatia-news.com/lifestyle/37599-croatia

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You can subscribe to the Paul Bradbury Croatia Expert YouTube channel here.

What is it like to live in Croatia? An expat for 20 years, you can follow my series, 20 Ways Croatia Changed Me in 20 Years, starting at the beginning - Business and Dalmatia.

Follow Paul Bradbury on LinkedIn.

Croatia, a Survival Kit for Foreigners is now available on Amazon in paperback and on Kindle.