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Books on Croatia
REPUBLICAN REFERENCE
Area (sq.km)
56,542
Population
4,496,869
Capital
Zagreb
Currency
Kuna
President
Stipe Mesic
Private sector
% of GDP
55%
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Update No: 105- (30/01/06)
Gotovina got
A great breakthrough has occurred for the Croatians. The Croatian general, Ante
Gotovina, responsible for the worst war crimes in the terrible times of 1991-95,
with the break-up of Yugoslavia, has been apprehended in the Canary Islands and
sent to The Hague, where he will be in the same plight as Milosevic.
This was the prime requirement of the West for admitting Croatia to its inner
counsels. It will now probably be made an EU member forthwith, probably next
year. But there are still problems to clear.
Balkan war crimes raid roils Croatia again
The issue of war crimes committed as Yugoslavia fell apart during the Balkan
wars of the 1990s continues to roil Croatian society.
The latest episode involves an apparent attempt by the authorities to prevent
the circulation of a video of Croatian President Stjepan Mesic's confidential
testimony to the special international court. On January 9th, the Zagreb branch
of the Croatian Disabled War Veterans Association slammed a raid on its offices
by police looking for the video, urging that those involved should be identified
and punished.
According to the association, police raided their offices with a warrant to
prevent journalist Domagoj Margetic from showing the video. The association's
Zagreb branch head, Ivan Pandza, told HINA news agency that he did not know who
summoned the police and that neither Interior Minister Dragan Jocic nor the
chief of police answered his inquiries. Margetic and Pandza were arrested and
subsequently released.
An estimated 300,000 died in the 1991-2001 Balkan conflict as millions were
forced from their homes in the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II.
The killings and forcible displacement -- dubbed "ethnic cleansing" --
were the first conflicts since 1945 to have been formally judged genocide,
leading to the creation in 1993 in The Hague of the International Tribunal for
the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International
Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991,
or ICTY.
Croatia's most important trading partner is now the European Union, which it
hopes to join. As the government pursues its membership application it has
attempted to quash potentially embarrassing political fallout in the media, such
as the public showing of the videotape of the Mesic testimony.
But at this time of year everybody is aware of the cold. Energy supplies are
all-important.
In Astana, capital of Kazakstan, where President Nazarbayev was being
re-inaugurated, Victor Yushchenko, president of Ukraine, met with Croatian
President Stjepan Mesic on January 10th. They agreed to construct a
transportation route via the Balkan countries, the President's press service
said.
The President also said Ukraine was going to hold talks with Croatia to jointly
adapt to EU standards. Since Ukraine transits Russian gas for Croatia,
Yushchenko said he was satisfied with successful Ukrainian-Russian gas talks on
January 5th.
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AVIATION
Low-cost airline sets up London - Croatia link
Thanks to a deal made with Wizz Air, starting March 27th, flights from Zagreb to
London will be available for as little as 15 Euro. In addition, travellers HAD
until January 31st to purchase tickets at an exclusive promotional price of five
Euro while supplies last, New Europe reported.
Initially, flights will be offered four times weekly. Wizz Air's Director of
Corporative Communications, Natasa Kazmer, said that this move will have a
tremendous effect on this summer's tourism in Croatia and will
"particularly show a growth in the number of guests and tourists from Great
Britain, and will develop business relations." The 15 Euro tickets can
already be reserved via the airlines' website, while the number of promotional
tickets was limited. Wizz Air is the second and smaller international airline to
make such a deal with Croatia, with German Wings already offering low-cost
travel to and from various European destinations. As for Serbia, last February,
there were no Serbian institutions willing to accept or even answer to the offer
given by the popular and low-cost Ryan Airlines for flights from Belgrade and
Nis airports to international destinations.
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BANKING
Unicredito to sell Croatian bank
UniCredito, the Italian bank, is to sell Splitska Banka, which is owned by HVB,
one of two banks it owns in Croatia following the merger with Germany's HVB
according to market sources. Splitska Banka, which has assets worth 3.1 billion
Euro, could fetch as much as 750 million Euro, people familiar with the
operation said. The Croatian central bank on January 3rd asked UniCredito to
spin off one of the two subsidiaries, as their combined market share would reach
35 per cent, New Europe reported.
UniCredito would keep Zagrebacka Banka, the bigger of the two with a market
share of 25 per cent. The 15 billion Euro take-over of HVB has also presented
UniCredito with antitrust problems in Poland, although the merger has been
cleared in other eastern European countries. The Polish authorities want
UniCredito to sell HVB's subsidiary Bank BPH, since the Italian group already
owns Bank Pekao in Poland. The Croatian authorities have insisted UniCredito
sell one of its two subsidiaries as a whole, dismissing an offer to spin off
parts of its combined banking business in the country. The Croatian central bank
is also insisting that Splitska Banka cannot be sold to any of the other six
leading banks in the country, which makes a takeover by a foreign bank more
likely. The authorities in Zagreb also require UniCredito to sell its minority
stake in one of two local building societies. UniCredito declined to comment.
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FOREIGN AID
Croatia, Azerbaijan join mission in Afghanistan
Croatia and Azerbaijan will join the Lithuanian-led NATO provincial
reconstruction team (PRT) in western Afghanistan in the year 2006, the
Lithuanian Defence Minister, Gediminas Kirkilas, said on January 4th, New Europe
reported.
"We have an agreement with Croatia that it will send some 10-12 mine
clearance specialists, while Azerbaijan will contribute six to eight military
doctors to the team," Gediminas Kirkilas said. "It is expected that
they will join the mission in the first half of 2006," he added. Other
countries could also join the Lithuanian-led PRT this year, Kirkilas said.
"We made an offer to Ukraine to join the team and are in negotiations with
some Western European countries." The NATO and US military have established
a number of PRTs across Afghanistan. They are composed of military and civilian
personnel whose main focus is security and reconstruction work.
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