Croatia in Focus, br. 37, July/August 2008

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Welcometo Dubrovnik

ISSN 1334-7047 CROATIAN GOVERNMENT BULLETIN

VOLUME XII | JULY 2008 | No. 37

Interview:Damir Bajs

Negoaons on two newchapters opened in Luxembourg

Vice President Adlešićin Afganistan



Factsandgures

Republic of Croaa

Adriac SeaThe Adriac sea got its name from

an ancient port of the same name.The Adriac spans from the Balkanto the Apennine peninsula.The part belonging to the Republicof Croaa is the eastcoast whichextends all the way from Prevlakain the south to cape Savudrijain the west,including all islands,islets and clis along the coast,andthe archipelago of Palagruza (thenumber of islands, islets and clis ismore than 1700).This is a unique area in Europefor cruising with motor boats,speedboats, or sailboats, but alsofor enjoying the underwater world.

Geographical posionCroaa extends from the furthest

eastern edges of the Alps in thenorth-west to the Pannonian

lowlands and the banks of theDanube in the east; its central region

is covered by the Dinara mountainrange, and its southern parts extend

to the coast of the Adriac Sea.

Zagreb

OsijekRijeka

Split

Zadar

Dubrovnik

Land area56.542 sq. km

Territorial waters area31.000 sq. km

Length of coastline(with islands)

5.790 km

Length of terrestrial border1.777,7 km

Highest peakDinara (1.831 m above sea level)

Number of islands1.185 (66 inhabited)

Populaon(census 2001.)

4.381,352Capital

Zagreb(779.145 inhabitants)

ReligionsRoman Catholic, Serbian Orthodox,

Islamic, Jewish, Protestant and others

Currencykuna (1 kuna = 100 lipa)

LanguageCroaan



Croaa In FocusJuly 2008 | No. 37

ublisher

vernment of the Republic of Croaa,

ce for Public Relaons

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: +385 1 45 69 248,

x: +385 1 45 69 393, 63 03 022

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itor in chief

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M P R E S S U M CONTENT

Croaa Summit 2008

Great Britain fully supportsCroaa on its path to the EU

Vice President Kosor addressed UN SecurityCouncil on violence against women duringarmed conicts

Vice President Adlešič in Afghanistan

News Flash

Seminar: Croaa on the path to the EU

Negoaons on two new chaptersopened in Luxembourg

Interview with Damir Bajs

New label for island tradion

Organised land

Motorway and railway

Nature park Velebit

Croaan cies - Dubrovnik

Sport News Flash

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CROATIAN GOVE RNME NT BULLE TIN

Introducon

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the new edion of Croaa in Focus.

We dedicate this edion to Dubrovnik, the symbol of Croaan tourism and the host of “CroaaSummit” for the third me in a row. We write about previous Summits, reminding you of impor-tant issues that were addressed in 2006 and 2007.

Croaa Summit 2008 – Security, Development, Prosperity – will aim to idenfy ways to maximizethe process of Euro-Atlanc integraon and provide the parcipants a unique opportunity towork towards a broader vision for Europe’s future.

You can read about Prime Minister Ivo Sanader’s visit to London and Brish support to Croaa onits way to the EU.

Vice President of the Government Jadranka Kosor addressed UN Security Council on violenceagainst women during armed conicts and Vice President Đurđa Adlešič visited Afghanistanwhere she met with president Karzai and other ocials as well as with Croaan troops staonedin that country.

Since becoming a member of the EU is one of o ur most important goals we write about the proc-ess of Croaan accession negoaons with the European Union and two new chapters opened inLuxembourg – Freedom of Movement for workers and Social policy and Employment.

We talked with the Minister of tourism Damir Bajs about exceponal results of one of the mostimportant Croaan economic branches and the forthcoming season.

You will read about the beaues of Croaan Nature Park Velebit as well as the c ity of Dubrovnik,the treasury of cultural and historical monuments.

Enjoy reading!

Zlatko Mehun



The Prime Minister of Croaa, dr. Ivo Sanader andCroaan Government will host an internaonal con -

ference of senior European and North American leadersand key opinion makers “Croaa Summit 2008 – Security,Development, Prosperi” in Dubrovnik, 4-5 July 2008.

The overarching goal of this conference, which is organ-ized third year in a row, will be to idenfy ways to maxi -mize the process of Euro-Atlanc integraon, which hasproven to be an eecve catalyst for posive transfor-

maon of internal reforms for the countries of the SEEregion. The conference will provide a unique opportunityfor senior ocials and experts to work towards develop-ing a broader vision for Europe’s future - in light of newstrengths demonstrated by the naons of South East Eu-rope - while devising concrete plans for intensifying theinteracon between EU and NATO member states withcountries from the region, in crical areas of security anddevelopment.

The rst Croaa Summit,which was held in Dubrovnik

in July 2006, ended up by therecognion of the joint decla-raon, which declares a strongdedicaon of the SE Europeancountries to the EU and NATOmembership.The parcipants of the CroaaSummit 2006 agreed that theme of wars and misunderstand-ings was history, and that the fu-ture of European east was in a

polical and economic co-oper-aon without which the processof the enlargement of Europewould not be completed.The hosts of the summit werethe Prime Minister Ivo Sanader,the President of the Republic of Croaa Stjepan Mesić, and thePresident of the Croaan Par-liament Vladimir Šeks. They allpointed out that Croaa’s ac-cessing to the EU and NATO wasof the naonal priority.Since Croaa moved far away

in the Euro integraon theyexpressed the readiness of Za-greb to help other neighbouringcountries which were in dierentphases of the accessing.Similar message could havebeen heard from other summitparcipants: Albanian PM SaliBerish, Montenegrin PM MileĐukanović, Romanian PM CalinPopescu Tariceanu, Chairmanof the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Adnan

Terzić, the President of GeorgiaMihail Saakavil, Foreign Min-isters of several countries andother high funconaries.At the Croaa Summit that wasalso held in Dubrovnik in July of the previous year the heads of states or governments and highfunconaries of several Euro-pean countries as well as therepresentaves of internaonalorganisaons talked about thefuture of South East Europe.The issues of security and stabil-

ity of the SE Europe, the process

of NATO enlargement onto that

region, which was the eld of

many wars and bales in the past,

dominated during the summit

called ̋ Europe’s New South˝ .

The hosts of that tradional in -

ternaonal meeng were Prime

Minister Ivo Sanader and the

Parliament’s President Vladimir

Šeks, in aendance of the presi-

dents of states and governments

of eight SE Europe’s countries,several foreign ministers, NATO

Secretary General Jaap de Hoop

Ssheer, European Council’s Sec -

retary General Terry Davis and

the Assistant of the American

State Secretary Dan Fried.

Since the last Croaa summit,

held half way between the NATO

summit in Riga and the one in Bu-

charest, Croaa and Albania got

an invitaon for the membership

in that organisaon.

The History of Croaa Summit

JULY 2008 | No. 37 7No. 37 | JULY 2008

CROATIA SUMMIT 2008 CROATIA SUMMIT 2008



C roaan Prime Minister IvoSanader ocially visited the

United Kingdom of Great Britainand Northern Ireland, where hemet Brish Prime Minister Gor-don Brown and gave a lecture atthe London School of Economicsand Polical Science.Two prime ministers talked aboutthe impact of the Irish “no” to theLisbon Treaty, and Croaa’s EUentry.Aer the meeng with his Brit-ish counterpart, PM Sanader said

that PM Brown told that therewould be no obstacles to Croaaprovided it does its part of thework in the process of accessionto the European Union.Gordon Brown and I talked as theprime ministers of Great Britainand Croaa and as Europeans. Weemphasized that Ireland wouldnd a way and rafy Lisbon Trea-ty. We both believe in that as Eu-ropeans, said Croaan PM.Regardless of Irish “No” to LisbonTreaty, PM Brown and I remain

opmists when we are talkingabout racaon of Lisbon Treatyand also about Croaa’s accessionto the EU. We didn’t spoke aboutany other alternave, because wedon’t query Croaan membershipto the EU and that was so impor-tant to hear from PM Brown, saidPM Sanader.Great Britain fully supportedCroaa on its path to EU mem-bership. Relaons between GreatBritain and Croaa are very strongand we fully support Croaa’s en-try into the European Union. PMSanader did an excellent job pro-mong Croaan aspiraon for EUmembership, said Brish PrimeMinister.Two ocials adopted a docu-ment on a strategic partnershipbetween their countries, whichprovides for Brish nancial sup-port in the amount of one millionpounds for the implementaonof many projects that will assistCroaa on its path to the EU.They also talked about situaon inthe region, and agreed that withinstrategic partnership they wouldconnue to work on projects inSoutheast Europe. Talking aboutworld’s energy crisis and crisisin food prices, PM Sanader andPM Brown agreed that all, fromEU to world community, have todo more to establish the widestdialogue between producers andconsumers.PM Sanader also gave a lecture atthe London School of Economicsand Polical Science on the sub -

ject “Croaa at the doorstep of the EU and NATO”.

Condoleezza Rice, US Secretary

of State invited Vice Presidentof the Croaan Government andMinister of Family Aairs, WarVeterans and IntergeneraonalSolidarity Jadranka Kosor to ad-dress the United Naon SecurityCouncil on a open debate “Wom-en, peace and security” withespecially emphasis on violenceagainst women during armedconicts.Vice President Kosor in herspeech talked about women whowere vicms of violence duringthe wars in Croaa and Bosniaand Herzegovina in the rst half of 1990s, and that the aggressorused rape as a method of inmi-daon and terror or as an instru-ment of ethnic cleansing.She said that Croaa, a non-permanent member of the Se-curity Council, supported the USiniave that the Security Coun-cil should take concrete steps to

stop violence against women be-ing used as a tacc of war. Shecalled for greater parcipaon of women in UN peace missions, andstressed that Croaa was alreadyacvely implemenng this iniavein some of the 15 missions in whichit was currently parcipang.Vice President Kosor said thatour policy is going in direconof recruing of women in peacemissions, whether as a part of Croaan armed forces or as a part

of Croaan police.Vice President expressed readi-

ness by Croaa to take a proac-ve role in promoon of iniavewhich would base on strength-ening women’s rights in conictsand also strengthening their rolein post-conict peace building.Before the debate, Vice PresidentKosor met with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and talkedabout violence against womenand refreshed their memories of US President George W. Bush’svisit to Croaa in April.

Great Britain fullysupports Croaa on itspath to the EU

Vice President Kosoraddressed UN SecurityCouncil on violence againstwomen during armedconicts

Croaa supported

the US iniavethat the Security

Council should

take concrete

steps to stop

violence against

women being used

as a tacc of war.

JULY 2008 | No. 37 9No. 37 | JULY 2008

PM SANADER IN LONDON WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY



Vice President of the Croaan

Government Đurđa Adlešičwas in Afghanistan where she metAfghan President Hamid Karzai,the Minister of the Environmentand Construcon Prince MustafaZahir, the Minister for Women’sAair Banoo Hassan Gazanfar, vis-ited 11th Croaan military conn-gent, a children day care in Kabul,and Chezh military hospital MedTim Kaia.

During her visit to Children daycare centre aended by childrenof Croaan cizens working there,Vice President Adlešič revealeda memorial and gave a donaonfor the children. This Day carewas renovated on the iniave of Croaan soldiers within humani-tarian acon.

Vice President Adlešič met in Ka-bul with Afghan President HamidKarzai, who thanked Croaa for

its assistance in peace eorts inhis country. They talked abouteconomic cooperaon, and theAfghan President announced thatCroaan business people wouldhave special privileged status.

Vice President Adlešič visited11th Croaan military conngent,and gave them on behalf of theCroaan Prime Minister Ivo Sa-nader the colours of the Croaanfootball team.

Vice President Adlešičin Afghanistan

She also visited the Croaan medicalteam working in the Czech military hos-pital.

Prince Mustafa Zahir, the Minister of the Environment and Construcon,at the meeng with Vice PresidentAdlešič, thanked Croaa for its assist-ance to Afghanistan and congratulatedthe Croaan troops on their work.

She also had a working lunch withCroaan military personnel, withwhom she talked about their work andlife in Afghanistan.

Banoo Hassan Gazanfar, the Minister

of Women’s aairs, informed VicePresident Adlešič about the status of women in Afghanistan, the progressthat had been made in the past fewyears, and measures that were beingtaken to improve the status of women.Vice President Adlešič oered Croaanassistance to the sta of the Ministryso they could get to know the Croaanexperiences in the eld of human rightsand strengthening women posion.

She also met Major General Hans-Loth-ar Domrose, the Commander of theInternaonal Security Assistance Force(ISAF), who informed her about currentoperaon in Afghanistan

During her visit to Afghanistan Vice Pres-ident Adlešič also met Croaan businesspeople who live and work in Afghani -stan.

People of Afghanistan thanked Croaa for its assistanceand congratulated the Croaan troops on their work

JULY 2008 | No. 37 11No. 37 | JULY 2008

VICE PRESIDENT ADLEŠIĆ IN AFGANISTAN VICE PRESIDENT ADLEŠIĆ IN AFGANISTAN



ClosercooperaonbetweenCroaa andTurkey inthe processof the EUaccession

T

urkish President AbdullahGül ocially visited the Re-

public of Croaa where he metwith Croaan President StjepanMesić, Croaan Prime MinisterIvo Sanader and Croaan Parlia-ment Speaker Luka Bebić.Aer talks with his Turkish coun-terpart President Mesić said thatCroaa appreciates the supportTurkey gave it at the me whenit was struggling for its independ-ence and when it applied formembership of the UN SecurityCouncil, as well as in its talks onadmission to NATO. Croaa ex-pects closer cooperaon withTurkey in the economy and inthe ght against organized crime,Croaan President said.Turkish President Gül said thatCroaa and Turkey started talkson EU membership approximate-ly at the same me, but Croaais making faster progress. He alsosaid that EU membership is a

strategic goal for Turkey, but thepace of progress is not the samefor all at all stages of the process.The process of integraon with

the EU is more dicult for bigcountries with large populaons,but Turkey is working hard andbelieves that it will make it, saidTurkish President.President Mesić said that Croaaconsidered Turkey a part of Eu-rope, its culture and economy,and that it expected Turkey tomake progress on the road toEU membership in keeping withits adopon of EU standards andcriteriaPrime Minister Sanader met withTurkish President on a work-ing lunch. They talked about bi-lateral relaons between twocountries and closer economiccooperaon, especially about in-creasing involvement of Croaancompanies in Turkey’s infrastruc-tural projects. President Gül em-phasized big interest of Turkishpartners for Croaan shipbuild-ing, especially in the eld of con -

strucon of smallvessels.Turkish PresidentGül and CroaanParliament Speak-er Luka Bebićtalked about thecloser cooperaonbetween Croaaand Turkey, espe-cially in the proc-ess of accession tothe EU.

Croaa is a“successstory”

Prime Minister Ivo Sanaderheld talks with Jan Figel,

European Commissioner forEducaon, Training, Culture andYouth about the current state of Croaa’s EU entry talks and thecountry’s priories in the comingperiod. They exchange views onthe situaon regarding the ra-caon of the Lisbon Treaty and

agreed that it should not have animpact on the course of Croaa’snegoaons and admission tothe EU.Commissioner Figel emphasizedthat Croaa was a success storywhich served as an encourage-ment to all countries in this re-gion, and expressed support forthe further course of the coun-try’s integraon with the EU.

The Chairman of the FrenchSenate Delegaon to the

European Union Hubert Haenelvisited Zagreb where he metwith Prime Minister Ivo Sanader,Croaan President Stjepan Mesićand Minister of Foreign Aairsand European Integraon GordanJandroković.PM Sanader and Senator Haenelagreed that bilateral cooperaonwas exceponal good. French

Senator emphasized that the re-sult of the Irish referendum onthe Lisbon Treaty would not inu -ence Croaa’s negoaons withthe European Union. He also re-peated that France strongly sup-ports Croaa’s EU candidacy andhe expected the negoaons tobe completed as scheduled.PM Sanader thanked Sena-tor Haenel on the support andstressed that Croaa expected tomake signicant progress duringFrance’s six-month chairmanshipof the EU. He also said that Croaa

is ready to connue implement-ing the necessary reforms.During the meeng with CroaanPresident, Senator Haenel onceagain stressed that Ireland’s “no”to the Lisbon Treaty would haveno polical or illegal impact onCroaa’s accession to the EU.He said that the forthcoming ac-cession of Croaa to the EU is of vital importance to Croaa andEurope, but also to whole region,

because Croaa is a model to oth-er countries in the region.President Mesić said that it wasin Croaa’s interest to cooperatewith EU instuons at all levelsand with all EU member statesbecause the achievement of Croaa’s strategic goal dependedon them.Senator Haenel also held talkswith Croaan Minister of ForeignAairs and European IntegraonGordan Jandroković, about issuesrelang to Croaa’s EU member-ship bid.

Zagreb is awelcomepartnerin theEuropeanUnion

Croaan Prime Minister Ivo Sa-nader was in Vienna for the

2008 EURO soccer Croaa-Turkeyquarternal, and also held talkswith Austrian Vice Chancellor Wil-helm Molterer.PM Sanader and Vice Chancel-lor Molterer talked about theCroaa’s accession to the Europe-an Union, impact of the Irish “No”to the Lisbon Treaty, Croaan-Austrian relaons, and closer eco -nomic cooperaon, especially inthe me of tourist season.They said that Croaa have to

fulll its binding in the process of accession to the European Union,and in that period European Un-ion will nd out a resoluon forovercome actual situaon.Vice Chancellor reiterated that hiscountry supported Croaa’s Eu-ropean membership bid. He saidthat Zagreb is a welcome partnerin the European Union, the soon-er, the beer, and the Austrianpolicians and people are forthat.

NEWS FLASH NEWS FLASH

France strongly supportsCroaa’s EU candidacy

JULY 2008 | No. 37 13No. 37 | JULY 2008



Croaan Prime Minister Ivo Sa-nader aended the European

People’s Party Meeng in Brussels.Aer the meeng, PM Sanader saidthat EPP strongly believes that cur-rent problems arising from the nega-ve outcome of the Irish referendumcannot and will not reect on Croaa

by jeopardizing its admission to theEU, aer we do our share of the job,complete negoaons and hold areferendum on EU membership.EPP leaders adopted a joint state-ment saying that the result of theIrish referendum is not expected tohave any aect on Croaa’s accessiontalks. Quite the country, successfulaccession talks with Croaa send animportant message that the policy of enlargement is connuing on the ba-sis of rm and precise criteria whichguarantee a candidate country’s fullpreparedness for EU membership.In joint statement the EPP voiced sat-isfacon with the connued progressof the accession talks with Croaaand support for eorts aimed atcompleng them during the term of the current EC.The EPP called on all pares involvedto step up their work so that the talkswere completed as soon as possible.It said that Croaa was expected tomeet all criteria set by EuropeanCommission President Barrosso bythe end of June. If it does so, the EPPwill request the European Commis-sion to prepare a tentave calendarfor the compleon of technical nego-aons with Croaa in 2009. The EPPis condent that Croaa will soon bethe EU’s 28th member, to the benetof all Croaan cizens and the enreEU.

GoodrelaonsbetweenCroaa andIsrael

V ice President of the CroaanGovernment Đurđa Adlešič

visited Israel where she metwith Israeli Deputy Prime Minis-ter Haim Ramon, Minister of In-terior Meir Sheetrit and visitedYad Vashem Museum.

Talking with Israeli Interior Min-ister Sheetrit whose Ministrycovers public administraon andlocal and regional government,Vice President Adlešič informedMinister about of ongoing re-forms in public administraon inCroaa. Two ocials agreed tocooperate in the eld of trainingexpert teams.Minister Sheetrit informed Vice

President Adlešič of the ongoingreforms in Israel in the area of local and regional governmentunits and also oered CroaaIsrael’s technical expert assist-ance in that sec tor.During her visit to Israel, VicePresident Adlešič held talks withIsraeli Deputy Prime MinisterHaim Ramon about bilateral co-operaon, especially economi-cal, and agreed even thoughthe cooperaon is good; thereare sll enough places for itsexpansion. They agreed to endadjustment and soon signing/

racaon of Agreement aboutcooperaon in ght against illic-it tracking in drugs and othercriminal acvity. Vice Presidentinvited Israeli Deputy PrimeMinister to visit Croaa, whichhe accepted.Vice President Adlešič also visit-ed Yad Vashem memorial centrewhere she laid a wreath and re-kindled the eternal ame.

Ministry of For-eign Aairs

and European Inte-graon and the Em-bassy of the UnitedKingdom of GreatBritain and North-ern Ireland to theRepublic of Croaa

jointly organised a

seminar for Croaan journalists who dealwith the EU issues,entled “Croaaon the Path to theEU: The next steps”,which took placein Opaja, on Sat-urday, June 14th,2008.There were about40 parcipants atthe seminar, including Minister of Foreign Aairs and European Inte-graon Gordan Jandroković, Am-bassador of the United Kingdomof Great Britain and NorthernIreland to the Republic of CroaaH.E. Sir John Ramsden, Chief Ne-goator in Croaa’s AccessionTalks with the EU AmbassadorVladimir Drobnjak, Vicepresidentof Croaan Parliament and Chair-man of the European IntegraonCommiee of Croaan Parliament

mr. sc. Neven Mimica, spokespeo-ple and journalists from almost allmedia houses who deal with theEU issues. The day before semi-nar, Mayor of Opaja dr. sc. AmirMuzur hosted a dinner for all par-cipants, and he also addressedthe parcipants at the beginningof the seminar.This seminar was taking placeunder the Chatham House Rule,which is used throughout theworld to encourage openness and

the sharing of informaon and asan aid for free discussion. Aim of this seminar was to provide ac-tual informaon about accessionprocess of the Republic of Croaato European Union, by encourag-ing informal discussion between

journalists, spokespeople andpolical leaders about the nextsteps as regards Croaa’s acces-sion to the EU. This also includedthe negoaons and the prepara-ons for the referendum. Anothermain target of the seminar was

development of communicaonatudes between all polical andmedia subjects which are in eve-ryday use of EU issues, Croaanaccession processes and other re-lated issues.Reering to Irish referendumMinister Gordan Jandrokovic saidthat Croaa should not fear it’soutcome, recalling that the EUhad similar experiences with theMaastricht and Nice treaes. Hesaid that Croaan Governement

respect the decision of Irish vot-

ers, and was sorry about it, but

also that nothing would slow

down Croaa’s road to the EU. He

underlined that Croaa must car-

ry out the tasks it had set itself for

the next 12 months or so, voicing

condence that in the meanme

the EU would nd a model ena -

bling Croaa to join.

Seminar, the third of this kind, and

for the rst me jointly organised

by the Ministry of Foreign Aairs

and European Integraon and the

Embassy of the United Kingdom

of Great Britain and Northern Ire-

land to the Republic of Croaa,

provided opportunies for useful

professional exchanges. It includ-

ed dierent presentaons, panel

discussions and working groups,

and the high level quality of pro-

gramme was conrmed by all par-

cipants.

“Croaa on the Path to theEU: The next steps”

EPP condentthat Croaa willbe the 28th EUmember soon

JULY 2008 | No. 37 15No. 37 | JULY 2008

SEMINAR: CROATIA ON THE PATH TO THE EUNEWS FLASH



The sixth meeng of the Acces-sion Conference with Croaa

at ministerial level was held inLuxembourg, following the startof accession negoaons on 3October 2005. The European Un-ion delegaon was headed byDimitrij Rupel, Slovenia’s ForeignMinister and current President of the GAERC Council. The Croaandelegaon was led by GordanJandroković, Minister of ForeignAairs and European Integraon.

The Accession Conferenceopened negoaons on two newchapters: Chapter 2 - Freedom of Movement for Workers and Chap -ter 19 - Social Policy and Employ-ment.On the basis of the negoangposion of Croaa for the twochapters, the EU has closely ex-amined Croaa’s general stateof preparedness in the two ar-eas. Taking into account Croaa’s

present state of preparaons -and the assurances that Croaawill connue to make progressin the alignment with and imple-mentaon of the acquis - the EUunderlined the main issues re-garding the closing benchmarksto be met by Croaa.

To close the Freedom of Move-ment for Workers Chapter, Croaawill have to prove that it has theappropriate administrave struc-

tures to implement legislaon inthis area, parcularly in the eldof co-ordinaon of social securitysystems, by the me of accession.The EU and Croaa also consid-ered proposals for transional ar-rangements concerning freedomof movement of workers. Further-more, the European Union under-lined that it would devote parcu-lar aenon to the monitoring of all specic issues menoned in itscommon posion, in the view of

ensuring Croaa’s administravecapacity and its capacity to abol-ish any discriminatory measurestowards EU migrant workers.

To close the Social Policy and Em-ployment Chapter, Croaa mustmeet two benchmarks, amend theLabour Act and the OccupaonalSafety and Health Act in order toalign its legislaon in the elds of labour and health and safety atwork laws with the acquis, adopt

the an-discriminaon act andthe new Gender Equality Act inorder to align its legislaon in theelds of an-discriminaon andequal opportunies with the ac-quis.

Minister Gordan Jandroković saidthat with two more negoangchapters being opened in Luxem-bourg Croaa has been encour-aged by the overall gure of twen -ty opened and two provisionally

closed chapters, and will count onthe connuous support from theCommission and the EU MemberStates in the order of keeping agood pace of negoaons, includ-ing the ecient processing of rel-evant documents and benchmarkvericaon.

Therefore, the Minister under-lined Croaa’s main objecves forthe forthcoming period which areto open the remaining chaptersand provisionally close as many

chapters as possible by the endof 2008, nong that Croaa paysequal aenon to both qualityand speed of negoaons, and isdetermined to vigorously pursuethe necessary internal reforms inorder to meet the required condi-ons in relevant chapters.The Minister emphasised that no-table progress has been achievedin meeng the closing bench-marks in a number of chaptersand Croaa is looking forwardto their swi provisional closure,nong that Croaa hopes that

the construcve dialogue and co-operaon with the Commission’sexperts will facilitate the realisa-on of this goal.

He expressed certainty thatCroaa’s success in aaining thispace would be in the mutual inter-est of Croaa and the EU, whichwould not only provide Croaa,as well as the other SAP countrieswith a vital incenve for furtherreforms, but it would also havestrategic importance for the EU

and the connuaon of its en-largement process.

Minister Jandroković said thatthe Republic of Croaa will con-nue its ongoing reforms as wellas accession negoaons with aclear objecve – to complete thenegoaons before the end of the present European Commis-sion’s term of oce. Based onthe overall accomplishments andprogress achieved, he concludedthat our accession negoaonscould proceed in an ecient and

rapid manner, expecng signi-cant progress in negoaons onall chapters during the upcomingFrench Presidency.

The EU emphasized that Croaashould demonstrate a sasfactorytrack record of progress in sengup adequate administrave struc-tures and enforcement capacity.Croaa should also demonstratethat all appropriate administravestructures will be in place in goodme to enable it to implement cor-

rectly the acquis in these elds bythe me of accession. The EU willclosely monitor Croaa’s progressin these two chapters throughoutthe negoaons. The EuropeanCommission has said on severaloccasions that 2008 will be a de-cisive year for Croaan accessionnegoaons, all chapters can beopened by the end of the year if Croaa meets the necessary re-quirements, and negoaons canbe completed before the end of the present Commission’s term in2009.

Negoaons on twonew chapters opened inLuxembourg

Croaa’s main objecves for the forthcoming period are toopen the remaining chapters and provisionally close as manychapters as possible by the end of 2008

JULY 2008 | No. 37 17No. 37 | JULY 2008

ACCESSION CONFERENCE ACCESSION CONFERENCE



Tourism is one of the most im-portant Croaan economic

branches.We want to oer our tourists arang of aracons which upgrade

compeveness of a selecteddesnaon, but we need a co-op-eraon of all the factors – from aprivate sector, hotel-managers tolocal communies, tourist boardsand the Government.Although in the past years tour-ism has recorded exceponal re -sults, have all the potenals of theCroaan tourism been used? Inthe course of another tourist sea-son we talked about this with theMinister of Tourism Damir Bajs.

How considerable signicance

do the Government and the Min-

istry of Tourism give to tourism

and foreign tourists?

The Republic of Croaa, actuallythe Ministry of Tourism under-takes all the measures and acvi-es in order for Croaa to keep itshigh reputaon of a safe, arac -ve, hospitable and ecologically

aware country with recognisabletourist product on the interna-onal tourist market.To begin with, it is good to men-on that in the structure of anoverall tourist ow in Croaa, formany years, some 85% of guestsare foreign tourists, so that over-all acvies of the Croaan Gov -ernment in tourism are directedmainly onto foreign tourists andtheir stay in Croaa.Therefore, we can unpretenous-

ly claim that Croaa is the des-naon of mainly foreign touristsand congruous with that a greatsignicance is given to them.In the Government Program for

the period from 2008 to 2011 theGovernment of Croaa has putforward its standpoint about theCroaan tourism as a strategicbranch of the Croaan economy.In this structure the Governmentagain formed an independentMinistry of Tourism by which itaddionally conrmed the im-portance of tourism in the overallCroaan economy.The government brings in theProgram on Preparing and imple-menng acvies for the touristyear, which denes the acviesand measures necessary for thequality of the arrangement of thetourist year, as well as the holdersof those acvies and measures.It also set up the Commiee for

the Co-ordinaon of Acviesand Monitoring of preparaonof Tourist Year which meets peri-odically to analyse executed tasksand to dene further ones.

The Ministry of Tourism as thepart of the Croaan Governmentis planning funds in the StateBudget for the implementaonof supporng program by allo-cang state incenves and out-right grants in the aim of creangnew developmental leap of theoverall Croaan tourism, system-acally direcng onto inclusionof land areas that are, by now,insuciently used for tourism.

How important are the tourist

trade earnings for the growth of

the Croaan GDP?

Foreign-exchange earnings of

tourism in 2007 was EUR 6,7 bil-lion which presents an increaseof 7% related to 2006, and thatamount in the relaon to the over-all Croaan GDP is some 18% . Soit can be concluded that the in-uence of tourism on the overallCroaan economy is extremelyhigh and signicant.

Even though you do not come

from a tourist line of business,

on the occasion of your appoint-

ment as the Minister of Tourism

your thriving for joining con-

nental and marime, i.e. ˝blue˝

and ˝green˝ Croaa was empha-

sised. What are you going to do?

It is necessary to include rural tour-ism in the overall development of the Croaan tourism and econo-my. That is very important factorin preserving identy, tradionand customs of rural areas. Such

acvity protects the environment,strengthens authenc tradionaland ecological producon andhelps in the development of thoseareas on the grounds of a sus-tainable development, as statedin the report. Recently, fourteenCroaan counes, many units of local self-government and variousinstuons signed the Declaraonon Rural Development, which willfor sure contribute in the develop-ment of this tourist branch.

Have you by now, in a relavely

short period, managed to real-

ise any concrete project in that

eld?

A few days ago Agricultural Co-operave ˝Lovinac˝ , within the6th in a row manifestaon Likain focus, opened a shop and atasng of tradional products of Lika ˝Pola-pola˝, named aer atradional Lika’s specialty madeof potatoes. The project was real-ised with the support of the Min-

istry of Tourism, municipality of Lovinac and the funds provided bythe UN Developmental Programfrom the donaon of the Gov-ernment of the Netherlands. Theobject is intended for the tasngand selling of local products thatpresent a long-me gastronomicand cultural tradion of Lika , like:baking potato halves, cheese andsour milk, home-made brandiesand liqueurs of medicinal herbs,herbal tea, honey, etc. The prod-ucts of sociees, cooperaves

and family agricultural farms arerepresented.It is expected that this will enrichthe tourist oer and strengthenthe producon and selling of Li -ka’s products. The project is HRK400 000 worth, out of that HRK150 000 was allocated by the Min-istry of Tourism and HRK 250 000by the UNDP within its project of a local development.

Some Mediterranean countries:

Spain, Italy, Greece and Morocco

have sent a request to UNESCO

for the Mediterranean food to

be included into the list of the

World Heritage. Is such an inia-

ve present in Croaa?

The Croaan Cooks Society atits congress, that was held inVarždinske Toplice in the middleof June, under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Tourism, recom-mended that this Governmentand the Ministry should join therequest of the Mediterraneancountries. Besides that, the centralevent of the congress, which wasaended by more than 200 chefsfrom the whole of Croaa, wasthe presentaon of the Croaanbook ˝Croaan Culinary Herit-age˝, accompanied by the showof tradional dishes from all overCroaa, which can be found in thebook. The book is the ending of the rst phase of the ˝Heritage˝project which was implementedby Croaan Cooks Society on the

local level for the past few years.All the counes cooks’ sociees,aer meengs and discussions,dened a list of some thirty tra-dional dishes of their area, andbrought it to the Societ y.The rst book consists of threerecipes from each county, andall the dishes were prepared bythe cooks’ sociees and pho-tographed it the cabinet of theCroaan Cooks Society Academyin Trakošćan.

Unforgeableholidays in Croaa

Damir BajsMinister of Tourism

JULY 2008 | No. 37 19No. 37 | JULY 2008

INTERVIEW WITH DAMIR BAJS INTERVIEW WITH DAMIR BAJS



Aer the promoon of the bookthere came the display of tradi-onal dishes presented by thechefs from almost all the parts of Croaa.

We are aware of the fact that if

we want our guests to be con-

tent, we have to oer many vari-

ous programs, except for the sun

and sea. Even though we cannot

compare our cultural tradion

with the countries with longer

cultural tradions, what can

Croaa oer?

We must create a good tourist

program and that is not easy. In

geographic, climac and culturalterms Croaa is a diverse coun-try which does not allow the rec-ognion of one tourist productwhich could represent the wholeof Croaa. Cultural diversity isrichness which must be used. Inthis respect, Istria is going to oera dierent tourist product thanDalmaa or connental Croaa,which is suggested in the newstrategic-adversing plan of theCroaan tourism. Clusterizaon

of tourist Croaa of this kind willfollow the European trends instanding out the cultural diver-sity of parcular regions. Even asupercial analysis of Croaanpast reveals richness that we pos-sess. Six localies on the list of theWorld Heritage tell their storiesby themselves. Besides that, Du-brovnik Summer Fesval or SplitSummer have existed for morethan a century.The Ministry of Tourism, in alli-

ance with tourist trends of theWorld Tourism Organisaon, hascreated the plans for the Croaantourism with the development of cultural tourism as one of possibleCroaan tourist products.

What are the most important

tasks of the Ministry of Tourism?

The most important task is de -nitely the prolongaon of a tour-ist season since the average oc-cupancy of tourist capacies isunder sixty days. The state is go-ing to invest HRK 7,1 million intoinfrastructural projects these

days, out of which HRK 3,6 mil-

lion will be invested into buildingnew objects, and HRK 1,4 millionfor the renewal of the old ones.Besides that, the Ministry is plan-ning to strengthen the connentaltourism, as a supplement to mari-me tourism, not to its detriment.We will consider the enlargementof loan lines which would ensurebeer preparing of a season aswell as an overwhelming of a pe-riod with the lowest cash ow.

Recently, Slovenia has introducedvignees for its motorways and

state roads. Concerning the fact

that a great number of tourists

come to Croaa by road, out of

which 2/3 through Slovenia, the

introducon of vignees for sure

inuences the compeveness.What can the Ministry of Tourism

and the Croaan Naonal Tour-

ist Board do in order to reduce a

negave impact of the Slovenian

procedure?

Slovenia holds its right to in-troduce vignees, but equallyCroaa has the right to protect itsinterests, i.e. the compevenessof the Croaan tourism. Throughthe branch of the Croaan Na-onal Tourist Board abroad theMinistry of Tourism is going to in-form tourists on alternave roadways through Slovenia. Last year,almost 10 million vehicles withsome 32 million passengers en-tered Croaa across the Slovenian

–Croaan border. Out of thatnumber 11 million passengersentered Croaa across the stateborders Macelj and Bregana. The

alternave way, as proposed by

the Croaan Automobile Club, isby local roads from Zagreb-Celje-Dravograd, which take somethree hours and forty minutes for184 km of roads, Zagreb- Macelj -Ptuj - Šenlj and Zagreb - Macelj- Maribor - Šenlj.On the route Rijeka-Trieste thereare no problems with vignees,and if one goes to Pula fromTrieste he can avoid paying bydriving from Kopar along the seatoward the Lazaret crossing, in-

stead of driving toward Škojestate crossing.Unfortunately, the menonedroutes cannot be recommendedfrom the safety and conveniencestandpoint; it is just a piece of informaon about possible al-ternave to the paying of a vi-gnee.Sll, we believe that the touristswill come in great number andspend unforgeable summerholidays in Croaa.

Dingač wine has become a sta-tus and a religious symbol,

the holly liquid, based on a tradi-on of wine producon at theseareas. Microclimate and micro re-lief were crucial for the making of quality, and the wine sort plavacmali which has been called ˝theblood of earth˝ in Dalmaa, dueto its resistance to draught and of Rubin red colour, has provided thebest eects to Dingač.This is just one out of 22 prod-

ucts of fourteen islands’ produc-ers which are labelled as ˝TheCroaan Island Product˝, whichwas for the rst me allocated bythe minister of the Sea, Transportand Infrastructure Božidar Ka-lmeta at the end of the last year.This sign can be used for a prod-uct produced on the island whichpossesses overachieving quality,the one which meets legal provi-sions on security, environmentaland consumers’ protecon, andthe one which can please theneeds of consumers by its wholecharacteriscs.This year the Ministry of the Sea,Transport and Infrastructure willalso allocate this sign, and a pub-lic call is being in process which isgoing to be opened ll the end of October. This symbol is allocatedto the islands’ producers for thepurpose of the development of is-lands’ producon through the lev-

el of recognion and strengthen-ing of compeveness of islands’products on the market.The intenon is to encourage theislanders on the development of quality ecological products, andby their promoon once again agreat care for our islands has beenproved. Last year the state invest-ed HRK 1,3 million into the islands,while in the past four years HRK 5billion was invested into the de-velopment of the islands. An

important gureis that every htourist who comesto our country vis-its one of our 1244islands.This label can beallocated to tradi-onal and innova-ve products whichcame about as theresult of an island’stradion, research

and developmentwork, innovaonsand invenons. Inaddion, the prod-ucts have to meetlegal provisions onsecurity, environmental and con-sumers’ protecon, health protec-on, and by its whole characteris-cs (content, design, ecologicalcriteria…) please the expressed orassumed needs of consumers, aswell as the requests establishedby norms or specicaons whichensure a level of quality.

The label ˝Croaan Island Prod-uct˝ can be used by islands’ pro-ducers, actually a corporaon anda natural person – the tradesmenwho live on the islands, who per-

form their acvies on the islandswith the objecve of promongand beer placing of the islands’products on the market.The procedure of geng right forthe sign is free, and when it comesto the producer who already pos-sesses some of the exisng signsof quality and authencity, theprocedure of vericaon is notnecessary.The aim of presenng the symbolis the protecon of agricultural

products and groceries, and otherauthenc islands’ products, thesupport of the development of island producon and liing thelevel of island products’ qual-ity, as well as the promoon of the Croaan islands as specialand aided part of the Republic of Croaa with the objecve of pro-moon of high quality productson the domesc as well as on theforeign market.The European Union pays a spe-cial signicance to the produconof tradional products, and on theCroaan islands there is a greatnumber of original, high qualityproducts which could become asignicant export brand. We be -lieve that a small, but strong ˝club

of quality˝ will eventually growand develop into a dominantstrength which will impose theculture of quality at all the seg-ments of the Croaan market.Let’s menon some of twenty-two products that are marked by˝Croaan Island Product˝: goldenVrbnik žlahna wine, Plavac Hvarwine, Pelješac wine, Pag lace, Pagcheese, exquisite soaps Brač, shcans Sardi, Torkul- extra virgin ol -ive oil………

Foreign-exchange earnings of tourism in 2007 was EUR 6,7

billion which presents an increase of 7% related to 2006, and

that amount in the relaon to the overall Croaan GDP is some

18% . So it can be concluded that the inuence of tourism on

the overall Croaan economy is extremely high and signicant.

˝Croaan island product̋

JULY 2008 | No. 37 21No. 37 | JULY 2008

INTERVIEW WITH DAMIR BAJS NEW LABEL FOR ISLAND TRADITION



The Ministry of Jusce and the

State Geodec Administra-

on presented the noveles in

informave campaign of the Na-

onal Real Property Registraonand Cadastre Program ̋ Organised

Land˝.

The Croaan system of registra-

on of real property and its tles

is based on two registers – a ca-

dastre and a land register. In the

cadastre the property is describedaccording to their technical char-

acteriscs. The cadastral gures

about property (cadastral lots) arethe basis for the establishment,renovaon, management andmaintenance of land registers.Land registers include the data

about cadastral lots, found ac-cording a cadastre, together withthe data about the holders of theright on cadastral lots.

The Croaan system of registra-on of real property and its tleshas mulple tasks, among themthe most important are the estab-lishment of safety in the legal traf-c of property and the proteconof rights signed in the registers.Being such, a cadastre and a landregister are one of the basic regis-ters that the law-respecng soci-ety rests on.Many European countries joineda cadastre and a land register intoa unique register which is led byone instuon. Tradionally, asin many central-European coun-tries (Austria, Germany, etc.) theCroaan model of registraon of real property and its tles is not

instuonally combined. TheRepublic of Croaa combines acadastre and a land register, sup-ported with the loan by the In-ternaonal Bank for Renewal andDevelopment, through the com-mon informaon system of landregisters and cadastres.

Overall acvies of the Ministryof Jusce and the State GeodecAdministraon are enclosed bythe Naonal Real Property Reg-

Organised land

Ministry of Jusce and the State Geodec Administraon presentedthe noveles in informave campaign of the Naonal Program

istraon and Cadastre Program˝Organised Land˝. That programwas evaluated the most success-ful project of SE Europe by theWorld Bank.

Minister of Jusce, Ana Lovrin,and the manager of the State Ge-odec Administraon Prof dr. sc.Željko Bačić presented the novel-es in the informave campaignof the Naonal Program ˝Organ-ised Land˝. On that occasion a

joint brochure about a cadastreand land registers, the publica-on intended for the public, waspresented. The brochure, whichis going to be available at everyland-register and cadastral of-ces in Croaa, but also by thedistribuon through the dailynewspapers, brings much usefulinformaon with the simpliedexplanaon of the terms and theprocedure of the system of regis-traon of real property and its -tles. Addionally, the cizens willbe able to get the leaets of theMinistry of Jusce about the mostfrequent types of registraon of deeds at all land-registry oces.

With the aim of providing relevantinformaon and the acceleraonof dealing with land-registry mat-ters, the info-phone of the Min-istry of Jusce has ocially beenput into operaon; there the ci -zens will get service informaonabout land registers.

The info-phone will not oer le -gal pieces of advice concerningthe fact that without the insightinto documentaon the validityof informaon is quesonable,and at the same me there areauthorised persons for legal ad-vising (lawyers, notaries public,court appointed experts). In otherwords, by dialling 062 72 72 73the cizens, with the lowest tar-i (28 lipas/min), will nd out thestatus of their maer, the amount

of proper taris, obtain help insearching land registers on the in-

ternet, get addresses and contactinformaon of a certain land-reg-

ister oce, but will also nd outwhich documents they need to

hand out to the court concerningtheir maer.

A special pilot-project of free legalaid was announced, for the ci-

zens of law-income in the processof registraon of property rights

and realising other real rights ontheir real properes.

The project, of extreme impor-

tance for both the Ministry of Jusce and the cizens, was cre-

ated with the aim of helping so-cially the most sensive group of

cizens by providing ecacioussupport in obtaining ownerships’

rights or other real rights. Thisproject does not include the serv-

ice of represenng cizens beforecourts and other state bodies,but refers to service like studying

legal dimension of certain issue,providing oral and wrien legal

advice, procuring necessary doc-umentaon and alike.

Presented products are made

with the desire of approachingthe cizens and their needs. Thebrochure has been printed in one

million samples as we want to getto every holder of right on prop-

erty, and we also paid aenon

for certain quanty of samples tobe distributed to our emigrantsvia consular branches, in order

them to be informed about that,as they quite oen meet with adilemma in contact with us during

the arrangement of cadastral andland-register condion.

For more informaon on ˝Or-

ganised Land˝ go to www.ured- jenazemlja.hr

The jointbrochureabout thecadastre andland registersintended forthe public will

be availableat all the landregistry andcadastraloces; Infophone waspresented tothe cizens,which wouldprovide serviceinformaonabout land

registers, aswell as the pilotproject of freelegal aid for thecizens of lowincome.

JULY 2008 | No. 37 23No. 37 | JULY 2008

ORGANISED LAND ORGANISED LAND



Construcon works at themotorway secon Đakovo-

Osijek, 32,5 km long, are beingcarried out according to the an-cipated dynamics and are to becompleted in the rst quarter of the following year, and in that waywill contribute to the trac safetyand will shorten the travel fromZagreb to Osijek for even 40 min-utes. This was announced by theMinister of the Sea, Transport andInfrastructure Božidar Kalmetaaer he had visited the seconat the motorway A5 Beli Manas-r-Osijek-Svilaj on 5 May, wherethe works around HRK 2,1 billionworth are being in process.This motorway of the total lengthof 88km is divided into ve sec -ons, out of which 23 km longsecon Đakovo-Sredanci was put

into operaon last year. The dy-namics of the construcon of theremaining 33 km of the motorwayfrom Osijek to the Hungarian bor-der and from Sredanci to the bor-der with Bosnia and Herzegovinawill be determined by the newfour-year Program of Construc-on and Maintenance of PublicRoads 2009-2011, which is in thephase of preparaon.Minister stopped at one out of ve archaeological sites on the

motorway trace because of whichthe construcon of this part of ˝Slavonika˝ was rescheduled forthree to four months.The archaeological works are infull swing and will be nished bythe end of June on four localies,and the biggest one, near Čepin,will be completed by the end of August.Out of total 28 objects the works

are being done on 14 of them atthis secon, and three the biggest

– Jošava viaduct (266m), Hrasnkabridge (176m) and Topolina bridge(131m) are in the nal phase of construcon, while the works onthe trace also include excavaonwork, drainage, causeways androadway structure.Speaking of this important pan-European trac corridor that

Minister Kalmetavisited motorwaysecon Đakovo-Osijek and railway line

Vinkovci-Osijek

stretches from Budapest via Osi- jek and Sarajevo to the Ploče portKalmeta pointed out that ourneighbours Hungarians wouldconstruct the motorway on theV.c. corridor two years later,while, on the other hand, Bosniaand Herzegovina sll does nothave a clear vision of the motor-way construcon.Minister also toured HRK 90 mil-lion worth works on the renova-on of 33 km long railway lineVinkovci-Osijek travelling by railto the bridge on Bobotski canal.He promised that the trains weregoing to operate on that railway,which held a signicant impor-tance for passenger and goodstransport before the HomelandWar, at the end of the year, andthat the terminals would be com-pleted next year.The transport on this railway wascut in the summer of 1991 be-cause of the war, but before theHomeland War there was an in-tense transport carried out alongthis railway.

This railway was the most usedone in the former state which isproved by the fact that annually 4164 passenger trains (11,4 daily),4 178 goods trains ( 11,5 daily),6,94 million tones of goods and585 230 passengers were operat-ing.Aer the renewal of the railway,the travel from Vinkovci to Osi-

jek, with stopping at a terminaland casual stops, will last some40 minutes, in comparison to thepresent travelling me of 55 min-utes. The price of the cket wouldbe lower in relaon to bus trans-port.Minister Kalmeta said that, ac-cording to the Naonal Programof Railways Infrastructure for theperiod from 2008 to 2012, HRK714 million would be investedinto the railway in the far easterncounty. He announced that theworks on the renovaon of Vink-ovci-Tovarnik line would start insummer. The Republic of Croaagot EUR 28 million from the ISPAEuropean programme, while the

remaining EUR 47 million will benanced from the state budgetfor this project.Moreover, the works on themodernisaon of the railway onthe V.c. corridor EUR 100 millionworth, which started last year, arebeing in the process and will benished in three years’ me.

Aer the renewal of the railway, the travelfrom Vinkovci to

Osijek, with stoppingat a terminal and

casual stops, will last

some 40 minutes, in

comparison to the

present travelling

me of 55 minutes.The price of the

cket would be lowerin relaon to bustransport.

JULY 2008 | No. 37 25No. 37 | JULY 2008

MOTORWAY AND RAILWAY MOTORWAY AND RAILWAY



The Velebit Mountain is thelargest mountain in Croaa

covering the whole of 2274 km2.Because of its natural resourcesthe Velebit Mountain becamerecognized as world biosphere re-serve by UNESCO in 1978. In 1981.it was given the status of NaturePark. There are 2 naonal parks

within the boundaries of this Na-ture Park: Paklenica and NorthernVelebit.From Vratnik to the Zrmanja Riv-er, stretches in length of 145 km.Its highest peak is Vaganski vrhwith the height of 1757 m. TheVelebit Mountain stretches in agentle arch from the northwestto the southeast. It is situated ap-proximately between 16 and 14degrees of eastern geographiclongitude. The northern borderof the Velebit Mountain lies inthe vicinity of the town Senj andthe southern at the spring of theriver Zrmanja. The eastern borderfollows the circumference of themountain through the Lika pla-teau and the western follows thecoastline of Adriac Sea.The Velebit Mountain is situatedat the point of contact of two ba-sic climac areas – the Mediterra -nean and the Alpine-Dinaric. This

is the area in which air formaonsare coming from the connentand from the Adriac Sea col-lide. For that reason the climateof the region varies drascally atsmall distances, ranging from thesub-Mediterranean climate inthe Velebit channel to mountainclimate of the top strip of the Ve-lebit and the connental climateof the plateau of Lika. The climateis harsher in the northwest thanin the southeast.

Owning to its landscape diversi-es the Velebit Mountain stretch-es through three landscape re-gions of the Republic of Croaa.The western edge of the VelebitMountain enters the Kvarner-Velebit region spreading alongthe coast of the Adriac sea.From the aspect of landscape the

mountain is here characterizedby rocky ground. From this pointthe mountainous framework pro-vides unique views to the AdriacSea. With its eastern edge it pen-etrates partly into the landscaperegion of Lika where it dominatesas a bulwark covered by forests.The top strip of the Velebit Moun-tain consists of the greatestssegment of the mountain space.This zone is characterized by the

high-mountainous relief and tran-sional vegetaon features. Theextreme wealth of karst „sculp-tures“ and rock formaon (barelimestone peaks) connuallyalternang with small woodedvalleys and open mountain grass-lands, including the lack of forestsin the top belt of the southern

part of the Velebit Mountain, aremajor landscape features of thehighest Velebit zone.

The Velebit Mountain is a const-uent part of the high karst strip of Dinaric carbonate plaorm which,along the coastline, borders onthe Adriac carbonate plaormand together they form a tetonicunit of Outer Dinarides. The Ve-lebit Mountain has a characteris-

Nature park Velebit

c morphology of underground.Hips, canyons, elds, cracks,caves, pits and other variees of karst forms developed under theinuence of endogenous and ex-ogenous forces-primarily tecton-ics and water-give a special charmto the Velebit Mountain.In the area of the Velebit Moun-tain various type of habitat maybe found. According to CORINEclassicaon, there are 89 dier-

ent habitat types in thearea of the Velebit Moun-tain, which is about 70% of all habitat types found inCroaa. The main habitattypes are: various foresthabitats, stony and karstslopes overgrown bush-es and thicket, highlandmeadows and pastures,dry grasslands and grass-lands of rocky grounds,mountain grasslands,

rocks and screes, rivers,moors, caves and under-ground.The ora is enormouslyrich; there have beenfound around 2700 spe-cies of plants of whicheven 78 are said to befound nowhere else in theworld. The great numberendemic plant species likeDegenia velebica, Sibireacroaca, Campanula ve-

lebica, Campanula fenestrellata,Primula kitaibeliana, Dianthusvelebicus and others have themost signicance.The animal world is also quitediverse from species connectedwith habitats (like large canivoresand bats) to endemic species inthe underground and waters.

Aquac cave fauna (invertbrates):Congeria cf. Kusceri, Croatobran-chus mestrovi, Eunapius subter-ranensBueries: Maculinea rebeli, Ma-culinea arion, Erebia gorge ssp.VaganaFreshwater sh: Leuciscus il-lirycus, Salmo trua zrmanjensis,Barbus plebejus, Padogobius mar-tensiiAmphibians: Proteus anguinus,Salamandra atra, Triturus carnifex,Triturus alpestrisReples: Vipera ursini, Podarcis

milisellensis, Coluber gemonen-sis, Natrix natrixBirds: Aquila chrysaetos, Gypsfulvus, Falco peregrinus, Strixuralensis, Circaetus gallicus,Tetrao urogallus, Buteo buteo,Sia europaea,Parus aterMammals: Ursus arctos, Canislupus, Linx linx, Dinaromysbogdanovi, Mioxus glis Martesmartes, Meles meles, Felis silves-tris, Myos capaccini, Rupicaprarupicapra, Sus scrofa.

Crveni likovac(The Garland Flower),Daphne Cneorum L.

This some 30 metres high evergreen shrubcan be found in high-land and mountain-

ous areas of Croaa. It grows on high-land,thermal grasslands above the dolomitesurface and in the forests of black pine. It isseen in Rijeka and Vinodol, around Ogulin, atPlitvice Lakes, Risnjak, Samobor and Žumberakmountains and Velebit, but because of its verydecorave appearance it is oen used in hor-culture. It blooms during May and June withthe owers on the top of the branches, of fra-

grant pink to deep rose colour, rarely is com -pletely white, of pleasant scent, gathered in adensely bulrushes. The fruit is of a broad beanshape, of reddish- brown colour. The seeds areclosed inside the receptacle unl it matures.It spreads out by ants, who, aer taking themto an ant-hill, prepare them for ripening. Thegerminaon of the seeds is possible only aerthey had been exposed to frost previously. TheGarland Flower is extremely poisonous plant,especially for the mammals. The sciencname of this species is ̋ cneorum˝, originangfrom the Greek word ˝knao˝ which means toscratch or to scrape, due to its sharp, burningtaste it leaves in the mouth.Unfortunately, because of the loss of its naturalhabitat caused by overgrowing of grasslands,the Garland Flower is today endangered spe-cies in Croaa and is included in the Red Bookof Endangered Flora, and is strictly protectedby the Law on Environmental Protecon.

Text and photo by: Vida Posavec Vukelić

JULY 2008 | No. 37 27No. 37 | JULY 2008

NATURE PARK NATURE PARK



Dubrovnik is a historic city onthe Adriac Sea coast. It is

situated in the extreme south of Croaa, and is one of the mostaracve tourist desnaons,a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva County. Du-brovnik is the city of unique po-lical and cultural history and theworld famous monumental herit-age and beauty.With a professional guidance youwill get acquainted with a part of rich Dubrovnik history preservedin a unique architecture of astone city which was included inthe UNESCO list of World HeritageSites in 1979.It emits with the Mediterraneanand ancient cultures and invitesyou to nd out the unique city inits enrety.

Dubrovnik is posioned in thevalley at the foot of Srđ hill pro-tected from the south-west byLapad high ground and a smallerreef with the oldest part of Du-brovnik. The city centre and itsmain street is famous Stradunwhich joins opposite city gates:Ploče on the east and Pile on thewest. South-east from the old cityof Dubrovnik there is a tourist sitePloče, Lapad on the west and Gruž

on the north-west side, which isat the same me a port and themain marime centre. The basiceconomy includes tourism andmarime aairs.

During the turbulent history thisplace was the common ground of bales of many sovereignes andmarime forces: Byzanne Em-pire, Saracens, Croats, Normans,Veneans, small princedoms andkingdoms, Hungarian-Croaanreign, Roman-German Empire,Ooman Empire, Habsburg andNapoleonic Empire. On such adividing line the small town likeDubrovnik managed to ght forthe full form of self-governmentby polical art, so it for centuriesoperated as neutral, independentstate – Dubrovnik Republic. In the

Middle Ages Dubrovnik Republicwas the only rival to Venice on theeastern part of the Adriac. Sup-ported by its wealth and skilleddiplomacy, the city achieved aremarkable level of development,parcularly during the 15th and16th centuries. Dubrovnik wasthe centre of the development of primarily the Croaan languageand literature, home to many no-table poets, playwrights, painters,mathemacians, physicists and

other scholars.In the recent history Dubrovnikis the centre of modern culturaland tourist events: the city of theSummer Fesval – internaonalretrospecve of superior achieve-ments of musical-dramac crea-vity, the city of museums andgalleries. These values have cre-ated from Dubrovnik a place thatoers a rich selecon of diverseexperiences and excitements,but also a full relaxaon in silent,tranquilising environment of mildMediterranean climate and won-derful marime landscapes.The whole of Dubrovnik area isfamous for lively landscapes, richMediterranean vegetaon, mildclimate and interesng smallerselements. Good trac connec-ons by land and sea ensure the

organisaon of short or long trips.One of your desnaons duringthe visit to Dubrovnik denitelyshould be the Ela (the Elaphiislands).Ela is the group of Dubrovnikislands, 26 km long, posioned inthe local waters north-west fromDubrovnik. It consists of eightislands (Lopud, Koločep, Šipan,Daksa, Jakljan, Tajan, Olipa, Ruda),ve islets (St Andrew, Mišnjak,Kosmeč, Goleč, Crkvine), a few

DUBROVNIK -the treasury of cultural and historical

monuments

Photo by SXCJULY 2008 | No. 37 29No. 37 | JULY 2008

CROATIAN CITIES CROATIAN CITIES



rocks and reefs forming the south -ernmost Adriac group of islands.The islands are covered with char-acterisc evergreen vegetaonand pose an aesthec experienceon the entrance to the city of Du-brovnik from the north-west side.The islands preserve valuablecultural-historical heritage whichresisted the war destrucons androbberies, since living on the is-lands was oen more secure thanon land. Due to all of that we cansay that the area of Ela is en -nobled by both material and spir-itual culture of the old Dubrovnik,with a signicant contribuon

by nave populaon, seafarersand merchants. The islands of Koločep, Lopud and Šipan are theonly inhabited islands.ŠIPAN is the largest island of theEla group called also Jelenskiotoci (Deer Archipelago). Thereare two places on the island –Šipanska luka and Suđurad. In

the period of Dubrovnik Republicthe squires and the rich used tobuild summer houses for pleas-ant shelter during summer hotspell. There are many small vovechurches and chapels, as for manycenturies many seafarers lived onthe island. The whole island is cov-ered with the Mediterranean veg-etaon, once there was over 350000 olive trees. Today the islandis inhabited by some 450 persons,mostly older populaon and chil-dren. Except for the olives thereare quite enough wine grapes, or-anges, mandarins, gs, pomegran-ates and carob. The people are

interested in tourism and shery,and agriculture in lesser degree.LOPUD is the island with the townof the same name and a smallport. Second in size of the Elaphiislands, Lopud is located betweenKoločep and Šipan, because of what it was called Insula Media.Lush evergreen vegetaon and a

warm Mediterranean climate witha great number of sunny days,beauful swimming beaches havemade Lopud a prominent touristdesnaon. The very selementis situated in the middle of a widebay with a wide gravel beach.Stone houses are surrounded byplanted palms, cypresses, citrusfruits, and the gardens with sub-tropical herbs. Accommodaon isavailable in private rooms, apart-ments and two hotels. Lopud is atranquil island, therefore is a fa-vourable place if you like to relaxin silence and natural landscape.The vicinity of Dubrovnik and the

accessibility of the city by sea en-sure the guests of Lopud to enjoyin cultural-entertainment eventsof the Dubrovnik Summer. On thesouth coast of the island there is apopular beach – Šunj. Just one kil-ometre far away from the place of Lopud a walk to Šunj leads throughthe heart of the island, beside the

cemetery interesng for historicmonuments. On the hill over thebeach there is a chapel of L ady of Šunj, containing a valuable collec-on of art pieces.The best possible relaxaon inDubrovnik is on an islet in its im -mediate vicinity – on the island of Koločep. Even though Koločep ad-ministravely belongs to the city of Dubrovnik there is no urban noise,no stress nor cars. Two small set-

tlements – Gornje and Donje Seloare situated along two sand bays,which link a windy promenade 3km long. There are some ten kilo-metres of other paths and loggingroads. Koločep is one of the mostindented Croaan islands withnumerous hidden coves; there isalso the Blue Cave which can beapproached by swimming. Un-like many other Adriac islandsKoločep abounds in ferle soil andwater, it is full of various plants

and loy trees. Crystal clear bluesea surrounds the island. From theancient mes Koločep has beenknown for sh and corals, sll to-day there is a marked shing areawhich abounds in lobsters andspiny lobsters. The people of theisland tradionally spend eveninghours shing on the jey. .The school of tradional knowl-edge and skills oers educavevisits to the island’s families that

nourish tradional skills like bran-dy producon, night shing in atradional way or milking goatsfor the producon of cheese andyoghurt.This text, of course, covers onlya smaller part of what makes Du -brovnik special, unique, irresist-ible. Come to Dubrovnik – the cityof thousand-year-old tradionwhere everyone can nd oneself and discover why it is nicknamedthe Pearl of the Adriac.

The whole of

Dubrovnik area is

famous for lively

landscapes, rich

Mediterranean

vegetaon, mild

climate and interesng

smaller selements.

Good tracconnecons by land

and sea ensure the

organisaon of short or

long trips. One of your

desnaons during

the visit to Dubrovnik

denitely should be the

Ela islands

C

Photo by SXC

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CROATIAN CITIES CROATIAN CITIES



BOWLINGCroaan bowlers thebest in Europe

New conrmaon of an ex-ceponal quality of Croaan

sport came from the neighbour-ing Hungary! At the 10th IBSAEuropean Championships for theblind and visually impaired bowl-ers, that was held from 10 to 15June 2008 in the capital of Hun-gary Budapest, by 3890 knockeddown pins the Croaan bowlersrecorded the shiniest gold suc-cess, the European champions!

The second place and silvermedal was won by Poland, whileRomania was the third. Thechampions in the team compe-on are: Stjepan Đunđek (582pins), Ivan Kombol (489), StankoJerković (695), Ivan Pček (686),Mirko Štajduhar (718) and ZlatkoVučenović (736).In the women compeon Croaawon the h place.

Sll, this was not the end of Croaa’s triumph. Even the bestas a team on 13 June 2008 there

was another challenge ahead thebowlers – test of strength in indi-vidual performance.Twenty-four hours later therewere four new successes, fournew medals!

Ružica Markašić stepped on thepedestal by knocking down 1422pins. A step lower, on the sec-ond place, was German Seinfertwith 1399 pins, and the third wasSlovene Frast with 1382 pins. Forthe second me on that Saturdaythere came great news from Bu-dapest.Our naonal player Stjepan

Đunđek, in the category of blindbowlers, becomes the championof Europe with 1200 pins. Aerdouble celebraon on 14 June,the gold medals of Ruža Markešićand Stjepan Đunđek, there camethe third gold for Croaa. Namely,Stanko Jerković wins the Europe-an silver medal by knocking down1393 pins.

The 10th IBSA European Cham-pionships for the blind and visu-ally impaired bowlers ends witha new medal for Croaa. ZlatkoVučenović from Rijeka, in the cat-egory of visually impaired bowl-

ers, wins a bronze medal with1450 pins. We can boast and saythat the Croaan collecon start-ing from the gold medal in men’steam compeon, gold medalof Ruža Markašić and StjepanĐunđek, silver medal of StankoJerković and bronze medal of Zlatko Vučenović is more than

just an extraordinary success of this European Championships toremember!

Congratulaons for this great suc-cess were sent by the President of the Croaan Government dr.sc.Ivo Sanader, Vice-President of the

Croaan Government and Min-ister of Family, Veterans’ Aairsand Intergeneraonal SolidarityJadranka Kosor and Minister of Science, Educaon and Sport Prof dr. sc. Dragan Primorac.

BASKETBALLCroaan basketballplayers on the way toAthens

Even though the regular bas-ketball season is far behind us

the lovers of this aracve sportwill enjoy this summer. CroaanNaonal Team went to Athensfor the qualicaons tournament,from 14 to 20 July, for the Olym-pics in Beijing.During the preparing, a currentdesnaon of Selce has drawn

famous basketball names that willplay for Croaa in Greece and tryto ght for the come back ontothe world scene aer twelve yearsof absence.

The Olympic Sport Hall OAK is theplace of collision of twelve teamsdivided into four groups of threenaonal teams. In the Draw Pro -cedure Croaa was arranged inthe group D, with Cameroon andPuerto Rico. The Cameroonians,

as the great unknown, shouldnot be a problem, but quite dan-gerous Puerto Ricans wake thememory of fantasc winning over

the American dream team at theOlympics in Athens.

Therefore, individual training ses-sions, good shape, taccs are partof everyday life and dedicatedwork at the preparing session inSelce. The selector Jasmin Repešatogether with his professionalteam, coaches Dražen Anzulovićand Tomislav Mijatović, has madea list of eighteen the best whowill play, although the nal selec-

on of twelve players is about tobe made.

It is important to menon,Croaan Naonal Team will go toAthens seven days before the pre-Olympic tournament, since it willperform at Acropolis Cup, withthe rivals from Brazil, Australiaand Greece. Besides those threematches, Croaa plays prepar-ing games against Slovenia, Iranand Australia at the World Cupin Crikvenica and Otočac. Thereis nothing else but to wish all thebest and success at the compe -ons that are coming!

ATHLETICSUnstoppableBlanka Vlašić

It is so amazing how Blanka eas -ily accomplishes success aer

success. Unstoppable, fearlessand simply the best, with her topresults, she has realised a strongdominance in one of the most at-tracve athlec disciplines – thehigh jump. To support this wewill menon new Blanka’s wins.In only three days Blanka addedtwo other gold medals to her richmedal collecon.

SPORT NEWS FLASH SPORT NEWS FLASH

Photo by Marin Sušić

JULY 2008 | No. 37 33No. 37 | JULY 2008



Her 27th win in a row she ac-complished on 12 June at theInternaonal Athlecs Meengin Ostrava by jumping over 205cm. This is at the same me thehighest jump of this season in theworld. But, for our world cham-pion there was no break! Threedays later on 15 June she recordsnew win – new gold medal!At the EAA Premium Meengin Žukovski, near Moscow, ourBlanka jumps over 203 cm atrst try. This was the jubilee of the 50th Znamensky memorial,it rained heavily, the surface wasslippery, but she sll managed to

win gold medal! Svetlana Radzivilfrom Uzbekistan and JekatarinaSavčenko from Russia won thesecond and the third place by

jumping over 193 cm.

Very early our Blanka connuedalone. She jumped over 196 cmat the rst, and over two metresat the second try. Aer having

jumped over 203 cm, 206 cm wastoo high. Our heroine has ledher the 28th win, and we can forsure say that is not the end….Our Blanka Vlašić is simply un -stoppable!

FOOTBALLCroaan heartbeats for you…

We can describe the monthof June in one word – foot -

ball! Three weeks of excitement,euphoria, tears, suspense, hope,three weeks of rule of football,three weeks with our wholeheart for our team! Everythinggoes round the EURO 2008! Theencounter of sixteen the bestEuropean football teams havearacted the line of supporterswho are coming to Vienna everyday. Croaa proudly follows each

mach of our team, remembersevery success …

Let’s remind - the rst match withAustria of group B ended up withCroaa’s winning with the result1:0, Modrić took a penalty kickin the 4th minute of the match.Although that was quite uncon-vincing performance of our teamthere was no doubt about theirquality and bigger capacity. Andit was so!

Croaa bet Germany with 2:1,with the goals scored by Srnaand Olić. Concerning the resultbetween Austria and Polan d(1:1),our team seized 6 points, twowins, and a cket for the quar-ternals already aer the secondmatch.From the very beginning of thematch Croaa was very ambi-ous, dynamic, lot of running,desire for winning, they re-ally thrilled everyone with theirperformance. Great triumph of Croaa was not distracted bythe score of Podolski in the 79thminute . For these reasons wecan say with right that the Ger-man naonal team was constant-ly a step behind the Croats.

At the third match of the Champi-onships against Poland, our play-ers, in more relaxed approachand B team, record the third win-ning with 1:0, the goal scored byIvan Klasnić. As the best team in

the group, with no defeats wewent on! Faithful Croaan fanswere once again the 12th playerof Bilić’s team. The stadium inKlagenfurt was lled with cheersand singing…. ll the encounterwith Turkey. Shock and misbe-lieving followed with silence fromthe Croaan side of stands.Considered as potenally dan-

gerous rivals capable of beat-ing everyone we sll believedthat our players were going to

give us a great match. We weredominant, great ball possession,aacks, chances, boldness, de-sire….Sll, somemes the well knownmaer of luck is needed, that ob -viously slipped from our hands.The match was quite hard, noscores in the regular 90 minutesof the match, then extra me of 30 minutes –the game of nerves,suspense..Then Klasnić scored in the 119thminute! Euphoria overwhelmedeveryone, but lasted quite short;there came a turnover- in the lastsecond of the 122nd minute Tur-key scored. The scorer for Turkeywas Semih. The match ended in adraw (1:1). In those moments, theTurks felt morally high which re -ected during the penalty kicks.Turkey won with 4:1 over Croaa,which led them to the semi nalswith Germany.

There is no place for tears anddisappointment even though ourteam said goodbye to the Euro-pean Championship. The playersgave their best! The EURO 2008is the proof of great atmospherewhich prevailed among our na-onal team players for the wholemonth from Rovinj all the wayto Vienna. And when it was thehardest, when they cried andwhen we celebrated, they weretogether. There is nothing elsefor us to do, but to thank themfor those twenty days which

Croaa was proud of!New challenges are expected al-ready in the autumn, so no headdown! We are to play at the qual-icaons for the World Champi-onships 2010., new winning, newcelebraons!We have a generaon of theplayers which everyone couldenvy on.Therefore, the song from standssll reverberates and the Croaanheart sll beats for you….

SPORT NEWS FLASH SPORT NEWS FLASH

Photos by FaH

JULY 2008 | No. 37



Documents

Croatia in Focus, br. 37, July/August 2008