Category: Latest

Croatian Armed Forces Find Most Prepared Member

The fittest member of the Croatian Armed Forces is Josip Miculinic from Rijeka. Josip, who is a member of the Special Operations Battalion of Delnica, has taken out first place in the national commando course competition titled “First For Croatia” for Croatian Armed Forces members.

Miculinic beat 104 competitors, which included for the first time a female competitor, over the grueling 30 kilometre course with 20 kilograms on their backs and which including a number of challengers such as firing weapons, crossing fortifications, and transferring wounded soldiers.

Miculinc completed the course first in a time of 6 hours and 39 minutes. Second place went to Mario Ilijevic with Dalibor Vondra in third place. (pic: RTL)

UK Confirm Croatian Workers Restrictions

Speculation that British government would impose restrictions on Croatian workers once Croatia becomes a full European Union member state on 1 July was confirmed yesterday (Friday).

Under the transitional restrictions which the British government have introduced, Croatian nationals will be subject to a requirement to obtain work authorization if they intend to work in the UK. The British government want to continue supporting the British economy by attracting the best and most skilled workers from the entire world taking into account not to discriminate against the rights of those people already living in Britain.

Germany, Austria and Holland have already confirmed restrictions for Croatian nationals wishing to work there. Denmark, Finland, Estonia and Lithuania will not impose restrictions whilst France, Portugal, Poland and Slovenia are yet to make an announcement.

Model Of The Week: Mia Belusic

Meet Mia Belusic from Pula on Croatia’s northern Adriatic coast who is this week’s Model of the Week. Mia is on the books at Sonic Models.

Flirting in Croatian – A Vacationer’s Guide Helping Tourists Brush Up Their Operating Skills

Heading to Croatia for your summer holiday and want to make an impression on the local ladies in the local lingo? Then you should not be leaving home without your copy of “Flirting in Croatian – A Vacationer’s Guide”.

No matter what your style – choose from shy, smooth, smart and more – “Flirting in Croatian” will give you the tools to cruise on your trip to Croatia with over 50 prime pickup lines and more, including the most romantic compliments a girl can hope to hear. The accompanying 60-minute audio version, available online in MP3 format with the password provided in the book, allows for plenty of study and repetition, making sure prospective Casanovas can court the ladies with impeccable Croatian accents.

Croatia Week caught up with the book’s authors Yelena Primorac and Laura Lui.

How did the idea come about to write the book?

It all started with our guru – Timothy Ferris. We’d both read his “Four Hour Workweek” (and highly recommend it!) and really wanted to make something, to create a product. We were absolutely thrilled when we each discovered the other had the same ambition. And as soon as we realized it, we agreed to make it happen. “All” we had to do was come up with a product – not too easy, but we were really inspired and are diligent students. Tim would be proud.

We spent about a week brainstorming on our own, then one evening we met in a café in Maksimirska called Dvoriste – we always sit at our “lucky” table when we go back now. Just a few cups of coffee after we sat down, we had the outline to Flirting in Croatian scribbled out on our receipt and other scraps of paper we pulled out of our purses and wallets and pockets.

It was really pretty amazing how smoothly we transitioned from “we should…” to “we’re doing it!”  We highly recommend Dvoriste as a brainstorming hub.

How was research done for the book’s pickup lines?

Months and months of scouring through endless lists of outrageous pick-up lines on the web. We also found some great articles and video clips and discovered a whole underground world of professional and semi-professional pickup artists we had no idea existed – that was a treat to peer into. Did you know there’s a guy called Mystery who organizes super serious workshops where he teaches awkward, geeky guys how to be “smooth” and sexy? By the by, if anybody reading knows how we can get in touch with Mystery, please let us know. His name’s not for nothing but we’d love to send him a copy of our book.

We also consulted our friends. Facebook came in really handy for that – we sent tons of messages asking people we knew everywhere in the world, both guys and girls, for their favourite pickup lines. Not only did we get some really great lines, but we got some really good stories too. Researching for this book was a blast.

Have you been happy with how the book has gone since it was published ?

We’re pretty happy with how the book has been received so far – even during the off season it’s been selling fairly steadily. We’d like to get the word out about it more though – we don’t want people to just stumble upon it at a store and buy it, we’d love for them to hear about it and look for it. But considering we haven’t invested in any advertising, we’re happy.  There’s nothing like it in the market – there are plenty of phrase books and such out there, but there’s never been a language guide for lovelorn tourists…until now.

Any plans to publish other books?

A version for women! Many lines in this one can be used by anyone, but there are exceptions. We’d love to make lines specifically for use by women on men. Plus, we had a lot of fun stereotyping guys in our book with the various personality types – it’s only fair to poke some fun at the fairer sex as well. It could make for some kookier categories. The Spinster, The Married Woman. The Fitness Freak, The Man Eater, The Drama Queen…Anybody readying can feel free to send us suggestions (info@flirtingincroatian.com), we’d love to hear them. Also, we’re planning on translating the book into all possible language combinations. English to German, German to Spanish, Spanish to French…Why should Croatian ladies have all the fun?

We just want to say to all Croatia Week readers out there – please be sure to like us on Facebook. Also, we’d love to hear your favourite lines, for men or women. Be in touch! If you’re looking to buy a copy of the book, check out Algoritam stores throughout Croatia, Ljevak in Zagreb, Algebra in Dubrovnik, and select souvenir shops in Zagreb and along the Adriatic. In the U.S. the book is available online on Amazon and through Heart of Croatia.

McDonald’s Croatia Opens Doors Behind The Scenes

As part of their quality and transparency campaign McDonald’s restaurants in Croatia have opened up their doors this week to give the public a behind the scenes look at how the restaurant operates – from how it selects and prepares its food, to what goes on in the crew room, to how it deals with its waste.

McDonald’s Open Days have started in 15 of McDonald’s 20 restaurants in Croatia with visitors receiving a orgainsed tour and an opportunity to have all their curiosities answered.

“In McDonald’s we always listen to our customers and we want to answer all questions they have about our food and our business. McDonald’s Open Days is organised as part of our campaign regarding quality and transparency where we want our customers and the public to be informed about McDonald’s high quality standards, answer concerns about the health and safety of our food, the business organisation and involvement in the community in which we operate. All interested visitors have an opportunity to see what it looks like on “the other side of the counter,” said Pavel Pavlicek from Globalna hrana, who hold the McDonald’s franchise in Croatia.

McDonald’s have been operating in Croatia for the last 17 years and now have 20 restaurants and 8 McCafe’s. Over 32,000 people visit McDonald’s in Croatia daily. McDonald’s open days run until 19 May.

Children Of Dugo Selo Learn Team Work And Logics Wth Professor Figi

Last Monday (April 29) humanitarian magic act show Professor Figi, organized by the ADHD & Me Association (ADHD I JA) was held for the children at the Arcus square in Croatian town of Dugo Selo near Zagreb.

Professor Figi, performed by Mr. Carl Leskošek, is one quite unusual professor.  His magic tool is an old purple book of magic that he inherited 400 years ago from his great-grandfather Figić. But since the professors’ eyes are not serving him well any more, he cannot seem to find the words that are necessary for his magic.  That is where professor’s problems begin, as his tricks don’t always turn out quite as they should. Luckily, he is always surrounded by a bunch of children, who are willing to help him. In return they learn how to work as a team, how to act in a community and how to think logically.

Professor Figi has performed around 50 times in 2013 in schools and kindergartens troughout Croatia. It was very well received by the children as well as teachers and parents. The idea to show Professor Figi to children with ADHD occurred after it received positive critiques by experts in the fields of pedagogy and psychology.


Croatia Gets First Investors Guide

Croatia now has its first publication guide to help foreign and domestic investors. ‘Made in Croatia – Investor’s guide to manufacturing and logistics’ was presented on Tuesday in the Croatian capital Zagreb, making it the first publication of its kind.

The publication is the result of a collaboration between the Agency for Investment and Competitiveness and KPMG-Croatia, Jones Lang LaSalle and Antal International. The purpose of the guide is to present Croatia as a desirable investment destination, as well as to emphasize the benefits of investments in Croatia and will detail all relevant information foreign and domestic investors need to know about investing in Croatia, including important procedures and project grants. The guide is focused on the sectors of manufacturing industry and logistics as drivers of further development of the Croatian economy.

Luka Modric Gets Child Number Two

Real Madrid’s Croatian playmaker Luka Modric (27) has become a father for the second time after his wife Vanja (30) gave birth on Thursday to a baby girl in Croatia.

Modric flew from Madrid to the Croatian capital Zagreb on Thursday to be with Vanja and returned on Saturday to play the last 15 minutes against cross town rivals Atletico, reported Spanish media.

Vanja and Luka, who tied the knot in May 2010, already have a son, two and a half-year old Ivan.

Croatia Go To The Polls On Sunday

Croatia will go to the polls this Sunday (14 April) when it holds its first-ever European Parliament elections. The nation will elect 12 MEP’s who will represent Croatia in Brussels for one year, before the number of MEP’s gets cut to 11 after the next elections in 2014.


Voters for the first time in Croatia will be able to vote for individual candidates instead of party lists, a system which is also expected to be applied to local elections in future in Croatia.

President of the leading opposition party the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) says Croatia’s representatives in Brussels need to be “true Croats” who are “patriotic”, eluding to the current government whom they criticise for not having Croatia’s interests at heart.

“Croatia did not deserve a government that doesn’t care about the homeland, the war veterans don’t deserve that, that is not what 15,000 gave up their lives for,” said HDZ President Tomislav Karamarko at a pre-election rally in Split.

Croats will elect its European MEP’s from 336 candidates from 40 political parties. 61% of candidates on the list are men with the average age of the candidates being 46. The youngest candidate is 22-years-old and the oldest is 80-years-old.

Canadian Croat Behind Bieber’s Batbike

A Canadian Croat is behind teenage pop-singer Justin Bieber’s pimped up personalised motorbike which he received last month for his 19th birthday from his father.


Sinisa Sean Mance, who is the director of Flat Out Industries in Toronto spoke to Tportal about how he got involved in creating the “batbike”.

“I met Justin Bieber and Justin’s father two years ago at a humanitarian event and our company received an order not long after to produce a unique skateboard for Justin’s Christmas present. His father then decided to get his a motorbike for his birthday since Justin is a big fan of bikes,” said Mance, before adding.

“It was really beautiful to work on such a motor because the MV Agusta F3 is one of the nicest in the world. We added a lot of nice details too. We added the 3D Batmobile logo, JB initials and Justin’s favourite number 6,” said Mance.

Mance, who says his mother was born in Zadar and father in the Croatian capital Zagreb, says that he likes to visit Croatia at least every two years.