Full Coverage: Croatia

31.10.2005 Velika Gorica, Rovinj and Split joined Mursko Sredisce and Varazdin and banned the circuses with animal performances. Prijatelji zivotinja (Friends of Animals) association invites the other Croatian cities and townships to eliminate the unethical practice of torture of animals.

27.10.2005 The public image of swans as inspiration for numerous works of art, as an avian symbol of freedom, has been so tarnished after the media brouhaha over the avian flue that the animal lovers (which we believe we are) simply had to react. By Antun Bradascevic, for ALERT online environmental Magazine.

27.10.2005 After the successful completion of the two-year MediaNet programme, initiated by ZaMirNET association, the project will continue through the “Resource Centres Network”.

26.10.2005 The Commission for Assessment of Druzba Adrija Project Environmental Study rejected the study as incomplete and decided that it could not enter into public debate procedure. The decision was adopted after several hours of debate.

24.10.2005 Croatia continued with the downwards trend in terms of its ranking on the Transparency Interantional Corruption perception index. Since 2001, when it registered an average rating of 3.9 points, Croatia has fallen to 3.4 points in the 2005 Report.

21.10.2005 An activist of Zelena Akcija environmental association was accused on misdemeanour charges of “...obstruction of normal traffic”, for his part as coordinator of the action “Yellow Lane Reserved for Trams”, held on May 3, 2005.

20.10.2005 The Zagreb Film Festival offered its support to the “Roma Inclusion Decade 2005-2015” initiative and included a dedicated “The Wheel” programe to the Programme of the Festival.

18.10.2005 The ZUM association started the project for establishment of a Youth City Council in Vodnjan, with the aim to instigate positive change and concrete results in the local community, and enable the youth to present publicly their problems and provide an opportunity to fight for their demands.

18.10.2005 The Government of the Republic of Croatia signed an agreement for a World Bank Loan of 68 million EUR on October 17, 2005.

17.10.2005 The Third Zagreb Film Festival will open its programme today, with “Dimmer” by Talmage Cooley (the film made the short-list of eight documentaries that will yield the five Oscar Nominees; and “Crossing the Bridge: the Sound of Istanbul”, documentary debut by Fatih Akin, the winner of the “Felix” for Best European Film and “Golden Bear” at 2004 Berlin Festival, for his “Head-On” feature.

14.10.2005 The Ministry of Science, Education and Sports (MZOS) and Pero Lucin, University Professor and head of the Working Group that will discuss with the EU representatives the issues related to areas of education, science and culture, presented the plan of activities and members of the Negotiation Team.

13.10.2005 Zelena Akcija publishes the “Moniroting of Environmental Legislation” bulletin, with the intention to provide easily understandable information to the citizens on the process of Croatian approximation to the European Union in the field of environmental protection.

12.10.2005 The National Civil Society Foundation, in cooperation with the European Citizens Action Service from Brussels, organized an international conference “EU-Croatia – Strengthening of Civil Society Dialogue, on September 30, at the Journalists Club in Zagreb.

11.10.2005 The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Miklos Haraszti, has asked the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to release Croatian journalist Josip Jovic.

10.10.2005 Zelena Akcija Environmental Association questions both the contents and the procedure for adoption of Waste Management Strategy, prepared without the participation of the experts community and the general public debate, and was available for outside comments and review only at the point of its entry into Sabor (Croatian Parliament) procedure.

07.10.2005 The public increasingly raises new questions about the Bologna Process? What changes does it bring about? Do we really need it? Are we ahead or lagging behind the other countries? Dragan Primorac, Croatian Minister of Education comments on the importance of the Bologna Process. Originally published in Vjesnik daily.

07.10.2005 Marijan Suljic, former Chancellor of Zagreb University, writes about his view of the current and past reforms of higher education in Croatia. Originally published in Vjesnik daily.

06.10.2005 Due to the Bologna Process and increased university admissions quotas, some schools will have to work in several shifts and, for the first time in history, lectures will be schedules for 22:00 hours and on weekends. The faculties and universities in Croatia got a role for which they are not properly prepared, neither in terms of finances nor in terms of necessary personnel.

05.10.2005 The latest book by William F. Engdahl Seeds of Destruction: The Geopolitics of Genetically Modified Food and the Global Empire, was promoted before about 400 invitees, On October 4, at the Sheraton Hotel in Zagreb.

04.10.2005 The accession negotiations for Croatian membership in the European Union were officially declared open at the bilateral EU-Croatia conference, held yesterday in Luxembourg.