The Croatian Diaspora

ZAGREB, 6 Sept 2021 - Croatia has set aside HRK 3.5 million (€467,000) for this year to support projects by Croatian diaspora organizations in 29 overseas and European countries.  Grants will be awarded based on a tender issued by the Central State Office for Croats Abroad. Applications are accepted by 1 October. Diaspora organizations are invited to submit projects of importance to their development, culture, education, science, sports, and tourism, as well as those that contribute to the preservation of the national identity and promote relations between the diaspora and Croatia. One organization can submit not more than two projects…

July 2, 2021 - Dedication to researching and developing the field of social sciences sees the Ivo Pilar Social Research Institute expanding scientific cooperation once again after Željko Holjevac's visit to Sarajevo, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Ivo Pilar Social Research Institute, active as always, continues to expand its cooperation on scientifically explain social issues (symbolically noted as 2021 marks 30 years of the Institute). As reported on their official website, Institute headmaster dr. Željko Holjevac visited Sarajevo, the capital city of the neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina, from June 21-23. The main story of that visit was a signed bilateral cooperation agreement…

June the 14th, 2021 - This article was co-written by Steve Rukavina and Anna Maria Sicenica, NFCACF Board Members. On Saturday, June the 26th at 11:00am Eastern time, the NFCA will be co-hosting with the Croatian Fraternal Union, a global webinar salute to the founding of the Republic of Croatia's democracy. The NFCA’s webinar will celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Independence Day and the honoring of another “Statehood Day” (1990 milestone) and Croatia’s successful and historic road to democracy and its independence achieved especially in the 1990-1991 time frame. Please let us invite you to a virtual celebration to mark thirty plus years of Croatian Independence (Croatian: Dan Državnosti), filled with…

ZAGREB, 5 June 2021 - Marija Bistrica will host on 10-11 June an international conference focusing on numerous topics of importance for Croatia's expat communities and the relationship towards them, the Croatian Heritage Foundation has announced. The live conference is a continuation of the 4th Croatian Emigrant Congress, which was not completed in Zagreb last November due to the pandemic. About 60 participants will analyse the challenges and prospects of Croatian emigrants in relation to the homeland, demographic challenges, and emigrants as promoters of Croatia. The event will also be an opportunity to talk about the aid expats sent via their Catholic missions to the areas…

May 12, 2021 - Earlier in May, Boka Kotorska, in the town of Tivat in Montenegro, was the host of the scientific conference "Identity of Boka Kotorska Croatians" which will introduce changes in Croatian education. Croatia has a big diaspora, no secrets there, but its worldwide spread makes you miss the region. In Boka Kotorska, in Montenegro, Croatia's first neighbor on the southern border after Dubrovnik, not only is there a huge population of Croatians, but they also have a significant cultural impact on the area. So significant it even calls for social science to step in. As Ivo Pilar…

May 9, 2021 - TCN is delighted to welcome award-winning blogger Ana-Marija Hota to TCN, bringing a much-needed Croatian voice from Ireland. She starts with a look at the pandemic responses in Ireland and Croatia with a Croatian view from Dublin.  In March 2020, I found myself in Dublin, Ireland, which has been my home since September 2013. The pandemic was looming, and it all seemed like a bad dream. In the weeks prior to the lockdown, I was very busy in the hair salon where I was working at the time. It was a bit scary, because many of…

April 17, 2021 - Two years ago I moved from Peru to Croatia. Thousands of returnees like me are hurting each year to leave our countries behind. But we have to look forward. My parents taught me and my siblings from a very young age to value and appreciate the best of Peru: its people, our history, our culture, our traditions, our food, our ecosystems, and much more. That, no matter what, we should always speak with pride of our country when a foreigner asks us about it. In the same way, and as we have grown and had experiences…

ZAGREB, 25 March, 2021 - The head of the Central State Office for Croats Abroad on Thursday told the parliament that after the "shameful" decision of the Subotica city's authorities to give a status of an official language to the Bunjevci vernacular, local Croats in Serbia had been receiving more and more threats. In the wake of the discussions about that wrong and shameful decision by the Subotica City Council, which were also soon followed by the propaganda film "Dara iz Jasenovca",  more and more threats were made against ethnic Croats, notably ethnic Croat leaders in Serbia, Zvonko Milas told the Sabor,…

March 12, 2021 - One of the most heartwarming Croatian diaspora returnee stories I have heard for some time, hear about Jose Alfonso's incredible journey from Lima in Peru to the new Total Croatia News intern.  The Total Project started on the island of Hvar almost ten years ago, when I started a mission to provide information about Hvar to match its quality as a destination. In order to be 'Total', I did an article on every village, including one which was largely uninhabited and totally unpronounceable. I hadn't expected many people to read Introducing the 'Z' Village, Zastražišće, and I…

February 11, 2021 - Looking for your Croatian roots? Meet Robert Jerin, who has helped countless people connect with their ancestral homeland over the last 30 years. The wider Croatian family is one of the most diverse on the planet, located in almost every corner of the world. Many people of Croatian origin have only a tenuous connection to their roots of the country their ancestors emigrated from generations and centuries ago.  And many are curious about their roots. Meet Robert Jerin, one of the nicest guys I have met in that wider Croatian family, and a man who has…