together with the Mayor of Slavonski Brod (Mirko Duspara) and the Regional District Commissioner (Damir Mirković) Slavonski Brod: Krempel has opened its new Slitting and Logistics Centre (SLC) in Slavonski Brod An inauguration ceremony was held on November 29 and welcomed employees’ families The facility consolidates Krempel’s European slitting operations into one central hub streamlining processes and improving customer service Large rolls produced at Krempel’s competence centers in Germany and the UK will now be slit and shipped directly to customers from Slavonski Brod After a comprehensive location search in 2023 Krempel chose Slavonski Brod for its strategic location and potential for growth The contract for the 3300-square-meter facility was signed in the spring of this year The site was renovated and transformed into a logistics and slitting hub “We are very pleased that all implementation steps are on schedule and we can further develop the site in the coming months to its full operational status,” Ivan Zgrebec The facility has already begun processing rolls from Krempel’s headquarters in Vaihingen/Enz with additional machinery arriving shortly from Thalheim and Kuppenheim in Germany and Longridge Krempel plans to expand the facility next year with another building adding 1800 sqm to the production area and introducing an in-house cooling warehouse around 15 employees will have started work and a year later there will be around 50 people employed at the site New electricity deal and planned gas pipeline aim to ease Syria’s energy crisis with 400 kV line and 6 million m3 of gas daily from Turkey Christian Bruch visits Baghdad to formalise agreement aimed at potentially adding 14 GW to Iraq’s energy capacity through infrastructure upgrades Xcel Energy will build a 280-km transmission line linking clean energy from southwest Minnesota to over 1 million homes across the Upper Midwest © 2013-2025 | All Rights Reserved MERIT MEDIA INT A Nonprofit, Reader-Supported News Organization Subscribe WhoWhatWhy is partnering with Global Geneva to help expand access to content that will benefit a broader global readership Mladen Vladetić (below) is standing in his old local park It is called the “blue field,” and it is surrounded by grim-looking tenements their outer walls still scarred by shell impacts with great holes and scratches gouged out of them connected by pathways overgrown with moss and weeds you notice a wooden sign and then a concrete plinth with inscriptions on them “In remembrance of the killing of children on this playground,” reads one The other makes a wider point: “Children are only one-third of mankind but they are our whole future!” It was a sunny day in early May in 1992 that Vladetić decided with three of his friends to leave the playground for a change and head out of town on their bicycles to some old quarry pits to go swimming It was while they were there that they heard the sirens a mortar shell came crashing through the trees and detonated in the playground killing three of Vladetić’s friends and wounding several others his parents were beside themselves as they waited for news of their son our parents were screaming and yelling and hitting us and kissing us all at once,” remembered Vladetić “It was an incredible moment of relief and anger Of course there were no mobile phones then and everyone had been wondering where we were.” has done remarkably well to put the war behind him and focus on his future with his partner Antonia But I was to discover that not everybody in Slavonski Brod has been able to move on when I last drove the 120 miles on the deserted trunk road from the Croatian capital southeast to Slavonski Brod on the border with Bosnia the ticket office for the toll system was still working at the Zagreb end when my traveling companion — the famed American writer and satirist P.J O’Rourke — and I turned off for our destination we found that the toll booths at the péage area had been blown to pieces but the price for the locals was high: Croatia was at war even in the dense fog of a damp December evening much as you would expect in any efficient and modern country in the EU Having handed over my Croatian kuna to the clerk in the booth for the first time in nearly three decades the city on the banks of the Sava River was half at peace It was well on its way to becoming one of the most consistently shelled population centers in the tragic tapestry of the modern Balkan Wars thanks to Serb gunners across the river in Bosnia For six months in the spring and summer of 1992 they delivered mortar rounds and rockets on a daily basis into the center of what had been one of old Yugoslavia’s most prosperous places in a bid to terrorize thousands of projectiles landed in the city and in the villages on its outskirts injuring thousands and killing around 300 people It was the biggest loss of children anywhere in the wars that followed the breakup of the old Yugoslavia No one who visited Slavonski Brod in those days will forget what P.J almost smellable silence” during daylight hours as people waited for the next barrage to begin The air would be filled by the mournful wail of air raid sirens and then everyone would wait for the audible “click” of a detonator somewhere across the border People got into the habit of counting to five under their breath and hoping that the next shell wasn’t coming for them A typical eastern bloc mixture of old Austro-Hungarian grandeur and concrete communist brutalism the city would echo to the “crump” of a mortar or rocket landing at random on a road intersection on someone’s house or in the shopping district In those days — well into the Serbo-Croatian War and the developing conflict in Bosnia — Slavonski Brod was a popular spot for visiting journalists and you could still get in and out relatively easily Ours were typical of the itineraries of Western correspondents being sent in to try to understand and report on one of the most complex wars in human history and the only full-scale conflict to stain modern Europe since 1945 I spent a day and a night in Slavonski Brod before moving on to another hotbed of violence at Bihać in Bosnia and then visiting Sarajevo itself and I made a whistle-stop tour of the city the leader of the town council who had had to move his offices out to one of the nearby villages for the safety of his employees the administrator of the hospital where 10 makeshift operating theaters were working around the clock in the corridors in the basement And we stopped at the Arcade Bar opposite the hospital where was serving stiff drinks and loud rock music to wounded soldiers I hadn’t thought about Slavonski Brod much in the years since It was hardly the epicenter of the wars in the old Yugoslavia a part of the world that will be forever scarred by the horrors of “ethnic cleansing” and the atrocities and massacres that took place in towns such as Srebrenica That was until last summer when I returned to Croatia for the first time since the war having been invited for a week of sailing on the Dalmatian coast it’s a place you probably won’t have heard of,” he said and Mladen Vladetić and I talked at length comparing notes on what had happened in his hometown it turned out that Vladetić knew Ivan Balen — he had played football with his son — and Vinko Barisic was a childhood friend He knew where to find Frano Piplović and he had other ideas about people I should meet if I ever went back Vladetić offered to guide me and translate for me and made it clear I was welcome any time and several months later he posted a video on his page made by the Slavonski Brod tourist board extolling the virtues of the city complete with drone footage of the town and stirring patriotic Croatian music I wanted to know more about what had happened there — I’d been in too much of a rush the first time — and I was curious too about what had happened since the war Slavonski Brod was now part of the Europe we in Britain are leaving It had made the switch not just from peace to war but from Marxism to free market capitalism and from communism to individualism How on earth had its inhabitants handled all of that Vladetić and I are sitting in the upstairs room of a dilapidated townhouse not far from the city center It is the home of an association for relatives of those killed in the city who meet every week to talk together and often cry together about events that destroyed their lives all those years ago breaks down as she recalls the death of her eldest daughter who was hit in the head by shrapnel just a few days before I arrived in the city She was taken to the hospital and died there on the day P.J and I toured the emergency operating rooms in the basement she had been in Germany for a few months and had come back looking for work had suggested they spend the day visiting a friend in a part of town that they considered relatively safe from the bombardment upon their return Melita was mortally wounded by a shell that exploded on the street in front of them “I don’t even like to speak about it with my younger daughter because when it happened it was Ivana who took Melita to the hospital and she has always blamed herself for this because she was the one who said “It was especially bad for Ivana because when she got to the hospital it was she who heard the doctor say that Melita had no chance of survival.” A couple of weeks before the outrage at the “blue field” playground she and her husband were leaving town at the weekend taking their two teenage boys to a place of safety in the countryside when their car suffered a direct hit by a mortar shell Her husband was severely injured in the explosion and has been an invalid ever since while both boys were very seriously injured but physically But even now it is hard to talk about it because it brings back the memories,” said Rosandić in a tired voice without much variation in tone “The worst experience for me as a mother was watching my child in hospital on a respirator for 42 days and not being able to help.” Rosandić is angry at the way the town authorities took many months to order the permanent evacuation of schoolchildren — in the end 13,000 were sent out — and at the failure of the government to compensate her and her family for their injuries and loss of livelihood What grieves her most is the failure of the Croatian government to make any effort to bring the Serbs who mutilated her children and husband to justice But she holds no grudges against ordinary Serbs who were her neighbors a few of whom still share their daily lives with her in Slavonski Brod (They now represent about 4 percent of the city’s population down from 12 percent before the war.) “I don’t hate anybody ‘Forgive me,’ and I told him he was not to blame We had a perfectly normal life with the Serbs here who were not shooting at us and I don’t blame them for what happened.” It is easy to get obsessed with the past in Slavonski Brod The damage to the buildings reminds you of what went on there as do the many monuments around the city especially to the children who were killed But most of its residents are trying to focus on what many hope is Croatia’s bright new future as the EU’s newest member state The journey from war to the European Union has been far from easy The conflict exerted a profound and lasting shock on the newly independent nation and on Slavonski Brod from being one of Yugoslavia’s most prosperous towns to one of Croatia’s poorest Almost all the old state-owned conglomerates in the city — including Duro Daković the vast heavy engineering works — collapsed or dwindled and unemployment skyrocketed in the postwar years to up to 50 percent in a city of 50,000 people the town had to accommodate up to 20,000 refugees from the fighting in Bosnia while losing thousands of its most talented people who left for jobs in Zagreb or in Germany and Austria who now lives near Stuttgart where he works as an artist and as a manager for Hugo Boss he told me on the phone: “It is not the same town as it was before because all the good people You may think that the advent of the free market could be only a good thing for places like Slavonski Brod but people have made the transition slowly but alongside it came its ever-present Balkan stablemate — rampant corruption bemoans the rape of the Croatian economy by its new capitalist class “There is hope and a bright future for one part of Croatia — for those who are corrupt and have stolen money,” said Piplović who became a Croatian consul in Banja Luka in Bosnia after the war “They have all the best companies and the best land and they have the power But they have a huge problem — a lot of people are emigrating Looking back to the days when he ran the council Piplović thinks of the war and the collapse of the communist economy as a “historic crash” when everything fell apart “There were huge consequences for the people,” he said and the consequences are still felt today.” But not everyone views the glass as half-empty in Slavonski Brod EU membership is starting to make an impact something many believe is helping to mitigate the ever-present and deadly tendency among people in this part of the Balkans to look backward to injustices of the past instead of forward says Croatia is taking time to learn how to use European structural and social funding But he believes the business and political classes are slowly coming to understand that all EU monies have to be accounted for and kickbacks are a thing of the past when it comes to EU grants “People cannot get payoffs and that is one of the reasons why we do not write enough European-funded projects,” he said cigarette in hand over coffee in the Arcade Bar we are using only about half the EU money that is available and in Slavonski Brod only about 5 percent of the money.” He gave examples of local investment schemes that could attract substantial funding but which have stalled because the people running them lost interest once they realized there was no prospect of taking money off the top and he fervently believes that EU membership is helping to reform Croatian business and public life “The best thing about entering the EU is that Brussels forced us to reform things that we should have done ourselves but that we hadn’t — first of all Bašić also believes the EU can help ensure that the Balkan Wars remain a ghost only of the past While many in Slavonski Brod would not welcome Serbia’s possible accession to the Union he thinks it can be an insurance policy against any further outbreak of violence in the region “It would be the final touch that we have never had for hundreds of years,” he said “It will protect the Balkans from another Serbian aggression Many Serbs who were our enemies have not changed That would bring them prosperity — more money means less talk about nationality My final encounter was with Ivan Balen who was not just the hospital administrator during the war but is also a gastroenterologist and a professor of internal medicine A charming man who chain-smoked when I met him in 1992 he has returned to his old habit in retirement after a 15-year hiatus He was fascinated when I showed him P.J.’s article about our visit to the city in a January 1993 edition of Rolling Stone in which he was quoted as saying: “Everything is sad and terrible.” Balen lived for three days at a time in the hospital basement organizing the treatment of more than 6,000 wounded people in 1992 about 30 percent of whom were from the city Balen spoke quietly but firmly about a period in his life of which he is justly proud He was amazed at the way ordinary people coped with the stress of being under attack “Most people were incredibly brave and handled it quite easily given the situation they were in,” he said But it is incredible how 90 percent of the people just adapted to it you can’t believe how strong they were and how they got through it and then returned to normal life afterward.” The current president of the local football team Balen says he would never like to go through the experience of war in Slavonski Brod ever again he feels hopeful about the future for his hometown but we are still cooking in the Balkan pot,” he said Related front page panorama photo credit: Adapted by WhoWhatWhy from Bracodbk / Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 3.0) Croatia and Republika Srpska signed a protocol on cooperation under which Bosanski Brod refinery will… , 0 The cooperation agreement was signed the last day of October The agreement will enable the gasification of oil refinery in Bosanski Brod and contribute to the improvement of air quality in Croatia’s near-by municipality of Slavonski Brod the Croatian energy ministry said in a statement The old oil refinery in Bosanski Brod was sold to the Russian company Zarubezhneft in 2007 and put into operation the old processing line of crude oil with the capacity of 1.2 million metric tons per year Since 2010 constant exceeding levels of air pollutant emissions have been measured in Slavonski Brod Slavonski Brod was ranked by the Environmental Protection Agency as the city with the worst air quality in Croatia in 2013, Environmental Justice Atlas reported local and national authorities of Slavonski brod organized numerous protests since then Be the first one to comment on this article 28 April 2025 - Private businesses from the EU and the Western Balkans are invited to express interest in investing in the region 21 April 2025 - Existing geothermal wells alone can enable Turkey to become one of the world's major producers of lithium 18 April 2025 - The capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina has developed a register of air-polluting emissions and an information system to track pollutants 16 April 2025 - Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Đedović Handanović started her third term while new Minister of Environmental Protection Sara Pavkov is the cabinet's youngest member © CENTER FOR PROMOTION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2008-2020 website developed by ogitive Slavonski Brod and ten other towns — A street named after Mile Budak (1889–1945), chief ideologue and minister of education for Croatia’s fascist Ustasha party, which systematically murdered hundreds of thousands of Jews (Many thanks to Rory Yeomans for his invaluable guidance on Croatia.) For an overview of Ustasha’s brutality, which stands out even in the scope of WWII, see this academic paper Donji Dolac — A statue of Branimir Jelić (1905–1972) A peripatetic Ustasha member and close associate of the genocidal Ante Pavelić Jelić traveled the West working as an Ustasha propagandist among the Croatian diaspora in the U.S like many Eastern European Nazi collaborators branded himself and exiled Ustasha members as warriors against Communism Below, a neo-Nazi march in support of Donald Trump featuring Ustasha flag and shield Note: the entry below was added during the January 2022 project update Bjelovar – This town has a street named for Julije Makanec (1904–1945) philosopher and politician who was Bjelovar’s mayor in 1941 Makanec served as Ustasha minister of education and head of education for the Ustasha Youth – the organization devoted to training and indoctrinating new generations of supporters aged 7 to 21 (such groups are a staple of fascist regimes including those in Germany and Italy.) Above right the photo of an Ustasha Youth march in the April 10 “Future bearers of Croatian greatness salute their sovereign,” is the headline For Ustasha monuments outside of Croatia, see the Bosnia and Herzegovina and Australia sections see Rory Yeomans in The Routledge Handbook of Balkan and Southeast European History Lev Golinkin is a regular contributor to the Forward whose work has also appeared in The New York Times I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward American Jews need independent news they can trust At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S rising antisemitism and polarized discourse This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up Copyright © 2025 The Forward Association Croatia — A bus swerved off a highway and crashed in Croatia early Sunday after the driver apparently fell asleep killing 10 people and injuring at least 44 others — some of them seriously near the town of Slavonski Brod on the highway between the Croatian capital of Zagreb and the Serbian border a key artery over the summer due to tourists and workers coming home from Western Europe Police said the bus had Kosovo license plates and was traveling from Frankfurt Officials said the bus was carrying 67 passengers The 44 injured were transferred to local hospitals Slavonski Brod hospital chief Josip Samardzic said eight people had serious injuries Authorities said the bus driver was detained after he apparently lost control of the vehicle after briefly falling asleep “He said he fell asleep for a moment,” local deputy prosecutor Slavko Pranjic said Police said the bus slid off the road into the grass before flipping on its side told state HRT television that “something burst.” Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic expressed “sadness and grief” and extended his condolences to the victims’ relatives and the people of Kosovo Croatian President Zoran Milanovic also expressed condolences and wished a speedy recovery to the injured who cut short her stay in Tokyo at the Olympic Games because of the crash extended her sorrow in a message on Facebook and declared Monday a national day of mourning in Kosovo we are close to the families who lost their loved ones in this tragedy,” Osmani said “It is an indescribable pain and a great loss.” Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said “this is a tragic day for our country and for our people.” He arrived in Croatia later Sunday and visited the injured in the hospital with Croatia’s prime minister “We are here to be with our citizens,” Kurti said “Hundreds of citizens who live outside Kosovo they come to Kosovo and our economy depends on this.” Traffic on the highway was halted for hours before the bus was removed and one lane was reopened Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below Gifts processed in this system are tax deductible Get breaking news delivered to your inbox as it happens © Copyright 2025, The Spokesman-Review | Community Guidelines | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy Total Croatia News the name of famous writer Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić (1874 – 1938) is kept permanently alive on the streets of Slavonski Brod Famed as an author of children’s literature her fairytales drew on Slavic mythology and have been compared to the work of Hans Christian Andersen Statue of Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić in Slavonski Brod This beloved, adopted daughter of the city also lends her name to Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić Theatre and Concert Hall Slavonski Brod (here) The venue is the largest and most prestigious performance space in Brod Posavina County and is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2022 the opening performance in Slavonski Brod’s new theatre was made by the esteemed Croatian National Theatre Osijek to mark the beginning of the special anniversary year Croatian National Theatre Osijek will return on the very same evening Croatian National Theatre Osijek perform ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ © Kristijan Cimer they will perform one of William Shakespeare’s most popular and widely performed plays – A Midsummer Night’s Dream Shakespeare’s fantastical play takes place in a world filled with fairies Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić Theatre and Concert Hall Slavonski Brod The Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić Theatre and Concert Hall Slavonski Brod opened on 29 January 1972 its dedication to Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić happened over two decades into its life The theatre has only been named after Slavonski Brod’s most famous writer since 1994 the theatre had been dedicated to Valpovo-born Đuro Salaj one of the founders of the Communist Party in Yugoslavia In addition to organizing theatre and music performances the venue plays an integral part in three of Slavonski Brod’s most important and most popular annual manifestations – Dance Days In The World of Fairytales and Brod’s Music Summer One of the theatre’s most popular assets is its ability to hold outdoor performances They take place in the courtyard immediately outside Held every April – around the birthday of Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić – the In The World of Fairytales festival (here) celebrates the life and work of the famous author it’s not only the theatre that’s named after Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić – so too is one of the schools Children from Slavonski Brod and from nearby play a huge role in the festival Up to 5000 of them attend performances of the writer’s works at the Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić Theatre and Concert Hall Slavonski Brod The festival also features a street parade with costumed characters from fairy tales by Brlić-Mažuranić In The World of Fairytales festival Slavonski Brod The Children’s Theatre Company Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić (founded in 1980) has been operating under the auspices of the Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić Theatre and Concert Hall Slavonski Brod since 2007 the company and theatre have strived to preserve and perform some of the lesser-known works by the writer Some of Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić’s stories are today out of print Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić Theatre and Concert Hall Slavonski Brod will revisit some of the same plays performed at the venue in its very first year Croatian National Theatre Osijek appeared at the theatre no less than three times in that debut year so you should expect their return to the stage in Slavonski Brod later in 2022 Croatian National Theatre Osijek perform William Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ from 19.30 on 29 January at Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić Theatre and Concert Hall Slavonski Brod For more information about Slavonski Brod and Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić, look here To keep up with happenings in Slavonski Brod, bookmark TCN’s pages here and website in this browser for the next time I comment This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon We help you navigate a myriad of possibilities Sign up for our newsletter for the best of the city By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions. Croatia The city of Slavonski Brod is extending its museum dedicated to the tambura - the only one of its kind in the world - with a new multimedia centre called 'House of Tambura' is a string instrument used to play folk music They're mostly played in Slavonia and Vojvodina The instrument developed from lutes called 'tanbur' brought to southeast Europe by people from the Ottoman Empire in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries A tambura usually has between four and six strings which can be strung with picks made of wood The length of the entire instrument is most often between 45 and 115 cm although smaller and larger versions can be used sizes and functions fall within the tambura family such as the dangubica, samica, berde Tamburas are a frequent accompaniment to vocals and dancing. Tambura players are included in folk dance and song ensembles such as National Folk Dance Ensemble of Croatia LADO. Leader of LADO ethnochoreographer and professor Zvonimir Ljevaković was born in the Slavonian village of Litik in which the tambura is important part of tradition and society The tambura tradition is an important part of the region's identity - it's played at every affair including festivals The city's new museum expansion will feature a multimedia center tambura workshop included, and its full name is 'House of Tambura: Slavonian Musical Fairy Tale' What makes the museum and its new extension even more special is that they are located in the famous Slavonski Brod Fortress Construction on the Slavonski Brod Fortress lasted over 60 years and began in 1751 when the city nearly bordered the expanding Ottoman Empire The fortress was built under the leadership of Habsburg Monarchy statesman Eugene of Savoy to accommodate 5000 soldiers across two square kilometres Although made to withstand a forty five-day siege the Slavonski Brod Fortress was never attacked Construction of the EU-paid 'House of Tambura' project This feature is part of Time Out Croatia's commitment to support businesses, commerce and non-profit organisations during the period of social distancing. facebooktwitterinstagramAbout us Lauren Simmonds 2024 – An extremely unimpressive record has been set by Slavonski Brod in Eastern Croatia as the sky above it is apparently the most polluted in the entire EU As Poslovni Dnevnik writes an analysis by the European Environmental Agency showed that the sky above Slavonski Brod is the most polluted in the European Union and that it is full of dangerous floating PM2.5 particles Slavonski Brod was in “the purple” an extremely concerning eleven times No one can say for sure why there is such a concentration of dangerous particles in the air above Slavonski Brod Just across the Sava River in Bosanski Brod sits an oil refinery and that refinery was considered to be the cause of all pollution problems in Slavonski Brod that particular refinery has apparently not been operating for a long time “I can’t say that it’s definitely not in function but I have information that it isn’t,” said the mayor of Slavonski Brod The other widely held assumption is that 40 percent of the pollution in Slavonski Brod comes from across the border in Bosnia and Herzegovina and another big factor is the immediate proximity of the motorway In order to reduce these very worrying levels of pollution Slavonski Brod has installed gas in kindergartens and schools which is why locals have been sending letters expressing their concerns to government bodies for decades The Council of Ministers of BiH still can’t agree to start bilateral talks with Croatia and Serbia on projects for gas interconnections Photo: Project_Manager / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode 0 said it didn’t reach the consensus that would allow it to negotiate with Croatia on a preliminary draft of a planned agreement to build the South Interconnection of BiH and Croatia The gas pipeline would run from Zagvozd in Croatia through BiH’s border town of Posušje to Novi Travnik and Travnik with one additional section that would go to Mostar There was also no consensus on the proposition for talks with Serbia on a preliminary draft agreement for the construction of the New Eastern Interconnection of BiH and Serbia from the northeastern border through Bijeljina capital Banja Luka and Prijedor to Novi Grad which is located on the border with Croatia in the northeast The General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers of BiH will reveal further steps and necessary actions as soon as possible Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Staša Košarac earlier claimed that the deal would be reached as soon as the Government of FBiH formally approves it Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Staša Košarac earlier claimed that the representatives of the Republic of Srpska and the Federation of BiH, the two entities that make up BiH, have agreed to build gas interconnections both with Serbia and Croatia only a formal approval from the Federation of BiH is still needed to close the deal FBiH is developing the southern interconnection project in cooperation with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) It is worth an estimated EUR 100 million and it would be 180 kilometers long The Republic of Srpska and Croatia have recently built a gas pipeline between the border towns of Bosanski Brod and Slavonski Brod BiH’s central government was opposed to the project as it wasn’t consulted The country already has an interconnection with Serbia in Zvornik 20 January 2025 - The EU's Green and Social Deal must ensure a fair and equitable green transition balancing climate action with social protections for vulnerable groups , 13 January 2025 - Amid a looming gas shortage in Europe Russia said it prevented an attack on TurkStream infrastructure by downing nine Ukrainian drones 10 January 2025 - President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić said new US sanctions would force Russia's Gazprom Neft to urgently exit ownership over NIS 03 January 2025 - The price of pipeline gas in Europe surged 5% on a weekly basis after Ukraine shut down the pipeline system carrying Russian gas to Slovakia “The tamburitza is the instrument of Croats Serbs and Hungarians and I don’t know of any other people that found themselves in it the President of the Republic Zoran Milanović stated at the opening of The Tamburitza House – A Slavonian Musical Note Fairy Tale in Slavonski Brod He highlighted that today the tamburitza connects all Croatian emigrants around the world even Croatian emigrants from the islands who never took the tamburitza along but accepted it and embraced it in faraway countries where they settled “The tamburitza defined and redefined cultural Croatia in the diaspora The Croatian identity was put under the common denominator of tamburitza and today you can hear it in areas where the descendants of people who weren’t familiar with the tamburitza live” reminding that Croatian emigrants in Australia Since the total value of the project of The Tamburitza House is 3.6 million euros 85 percent of that money co-financed by the European Union’s European Regional Development Fund and the remaining 15 percent of the funds provided by the city budget President Milanović said that this is a lot of money that was well used for a beautiful place and space “It’s not important that it’s a lot of money but what is important is that you used it for a good cause It’s unlikely that even richer cities than Slavonski Brod would have enough money for such an institution if it weren’t for the European funds This one is excellent and I congratulate you” He concluded that The Tamburitza House is “one of the contributions in developing and preserving identity and self-respect” Prior to the opening ceremony President Milanović accompanied by the mayor of Slavonski Brod Mirko Duspara the director of the art gallery of Slavonski Brod Romana Tekić and the manager of The Tamburitza House Ira Panthy toured the Interpretation Centre of The Tamburitza House located in the renovated part of the baroque fortress in Slavonski Brod Alongside President Milanović was the Adviser to the President for Human Rights and Civil Society Melita Mulić and the Special Adviser to the President for Culture Zdravko Zima PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Tomislav Bušljeta Horvat said that the authorities of that eastern city on the Sava River across the city of Brod in neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina had sent the Economy and Sustainable Development Ministry an action plan for the improvement of air quality six times and that the ministry returned the report six times because the measures envisaged were not good He noted that ministry officials in January had meetings with representatives of Slavonski Brod and Zagreb to instruct them how those actions plan should look Following talks with the competent authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina about which Slavonski Brod authorities had been complaining for years Horvat said that some progress had been made We no longer have the degree of emissions and pollution as before he said in response to HDZ MP Miro Totgergeli and Social Democrats MP Marina Opačak Bilić stressing that Slavonski Brod has a number of problems that pollution there increases in the winter due to traffic and people using wood for heating causes hydrogen sulfide emissions that do not come from the neighboring country Horvat explained that action plans to improve air quality are adopted only by those agglomerations which are found to exceed the annual average of allowed particle pollution confirming that those who put forward a plan must also ensure funds for its implementation He also noted that air in most of Croatia was of top quality while in some urban centers it was below that category Vesna Vučemilović of the Croatian Sovereignists cited data from the European Environment Agency saying that the quality of air in Croatia gives cause for concern It is estimated that every year there are more than 5,000 premature deaths due to poor air quality For more, check out our politics section. The worst situation is in eastern Europe where coal continues to be the main source of energy The most polluted air was registered in Nowy Sacz in Poland where the biannual average of fine particulate matter on an area of fewer than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) which are considered to be damaging to health amounted to 27.3 micrograms per cubic meter Cremone in Italy ranked second with 25.9 micrograms PM2.5 per cubic meter and Slavonski Brod ranked third with 25.7 micrograms PM2.5 per cubic meter Three cities with the cleanest air in Europe were Umea in Sweden (3.7) This year’s PM2.5 average in Zagreb amounted to 15.8 micrograms per cubic meter which means the air is of poor quality and presents a moderate health risk EEA analyzed data for 323 European cities in 2019 and 2020 and determined that only 127 had a PM2.5 level below the limits recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) Exposure to fine particulate matter cause more than 400,000 premature deaths per annum in Europe The EEA data indicates that the biannual average is only available for those cities that are regularly monitored and do not include all European cities EEA notes that the lockdown due to the pandemic resulted in a decrease in the level of nitrogen dioxide released from diesel motors but the level of particulate matter remained high The level of nitrogen dioxide fell by 60% in some cities due to the lockdown in April 2020 while the reduction in the particulate matter was less dramatic – with the level of coarse particulate matter (PM10) falling between 20% and 30% in April 2020 Even though the quality of air improved significantly last year air pollution remains to be stubbornly high in many cities in Europe EEA Executive Director Hans Bruyninckx said For the latest news about Zagreb, click here Nineteen years of stork romance between Malena and Klepetan in the Slavonian village of Brodski Varoš (near Slavonski Brod), has sadly come to a tragic end. As Index.hr reports Malena passed away after failing to eat for eleven days ”I tried to feed her but it didn’t work,” said Stjepan Vokić a former janitor who found Malena 28 years ago and Malena was injured (her wing had been shot) so Vokić rescued her As Malena couldn’t travel due to her injured wing she could only rely on Vokić to help her through tough winter months and the couple gave life to 66 small storks and their occasional long-distance romance indeed grew into true love and not just a summer fling closing her eyes while on the lap of one of Vokić’s friends and dying The romance of Klepetan and Malena was followed globally and many Croatians mourned when the news broke out I buried her in her favourite place where she always waited for him,” said Vokić He added that he would wait for Klepetan and welcome him to his place if he decides to return next year Stjepan Vokić who rescued and took care of Malena The 19-year romance of Klepetan and Malena couldn’t have gone unnoticed for us here at TCN Klepetan returned every year (sooner or later), and in 2019, many feared that the love story had concluded with Klepetan’s death “Four of them (birds) came and began making some very sad noises You know how they say that birds die singing,” Vokić sadly said in 2019 However, it was, fortunately, a false alarm, as Klepetan returned in 2020 was much happier than the famous literary tragedy as she was happily in love and the 66 kids of Malena and Klepetan raise the stork count in Croatia adding to Croatia’s bird population and general biodiversity Storks are beloved guests at Lonjsko Polje. Learn more on our TC page.  For more about animals in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page The Center celebrated its new openings with an all-day entertainment program for visitors on the 5th of October The festivities included a stand/up performance by Željko Pervan animators and a magician’s show for children Fashion lovers can now shop the latest collections by Sinsay a globally popular brand owned by LPP Group The offer was also enhanced with the retail chains Mana which are known for their affordable prices The Center’s sports offer was complemented with a new Intersport store New additions also include the German retailer of household goods TEDI and a Bubamara children’s store Contact us: info@rli.uk.com The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović visited today the Đuro Đaković Special Vehicles Company in Slavonski Brod currently the only manufacturer of armoured fighting vehicles in Croatia “This is important for the Croatian military and the Croatian economy This knowledge is hard to acquire and easy to lose that they are investing and that production is continuing,” President Milanović told reporters after meeting with the company’s management and touring the production line Speaking of US-made Bradley Fighting Vehicles President Milanović said it was hard to understand why it had taken Croatia so long to decide and accept this offer “Now this process is running its course and that’s good,” he underscored “The project with the Bradleys must be well-negotiated They must know what they are doing and they must know the processes and labour costs who they have available and whether these people are capable of doing the job They had failed before because of the laziness and corruption of the political management and someone should answer for that,” said President Milanović replying to a journalist’s question on whether he got the impression that Đuro Đaković would be successfully restructured and whether the Bradley project would help During his visit to the Đuro Đaković Special Vehicles Company President Milanović held a meeting with the Management Board and toured the company’s production line headed by the President of the Group’s Management Board Hrvoje Kekez The Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces Lieutenant General Siniša Jurković Adviser to the President of the Republic for Defence and National Security Dragan Lozančić and Special Adviser to the President of the Republic for the Economy Velibor Mačkić visited the joint stock company Đuro Đaković Special Vehicles alongside President Milanović.      The residents of Slavonski Brod take their pollution protest directly to the capital three bus loads of protresters arrived in Zagreb residents of the still burdened Slavonski Brod have brought their protest to Croatia’s capital Ivana Somolčić Jerković of ”Brodske mame” ([Slavonski] Brod mothers) gave a speech while protesters yelled for parliament members to step out chanting ”Izađite van!” (Come outside!) demanding one of the parliament members to step out to listen to their list of demands with the recent water crisis leaving residents furious announcing civil disobedience if progress is soon not made protesters were certain government officials would not add to tensions by not showing up it was announced that the prime minister was prepared to see four representatives they entered the building and were met by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković the Minister of Environmental Resources and Energy they were prestended with a book of local childrens letters and drawings requesting clean air The implementation of the the constitutions outlined in Article 70 which outlines the fundamental right to access clean air and water A study on the effects of air pollution on health in Slavonski Brod Open and transparent communication with residents receiving a monthly report An outlined plan of when and how modernisation and gasification of the oil refinery will occur A plan by June on how the government will finance treatments and equip facilities to help with the treatment of illnesses that can be linked to air pollution A detailed strategy on how the government intends to motivate young people and families to remain in Slavonski Brod Grant the city special state care status until the pollution issues are resolved Use Janaf profits to purchase an apartment in Zagreb where families of children receiving treatment in Zagreb can be accommodated Detailed documentation on how the government will defend itself in the lawsuit against the citizens of Slavonski Brod the prime minister will have a detailed response sent on Tuesday The difference being that tensions have never been so high and the ”Brodske mame” initiative insist that they won’t back down.  grandparents and other residents to welcome Maja Bonačić after her three day journey from the island of Korčula to Slavonski Brod psychologist and founder of non-profit organisation “Oblačić” arrived at 3:30pm much to the delight of the children awaiting her arrival Whilst parents awaited eagerly to thank her for her huge efforts the children of Korčula sent the children of Slavonski Brod a jar of “fresh air” to show their support and concern for the problem the city is facing regarding the pollution caused by the oil refinery The fairies from the organisation ‘Vilin put” accepted the symbolic gift and shared it with all of the children The event was organised by a number of non-profit organisations and Facebook group, mums from Slavonski Brod there have been 200 days where air pollution was measured to be alarmingly high Obviously even children have recognised this to be an important issue, which is showing to be detrimental to the residents of Slavonski Brod with three teens undergoing treatment in Zagreb for malignant diseases Statistics show Slavonski Brod has the most children diagnosed with malignant disease in Croatia this is causing great concern amongst residents a concern shared by children, although not as concerning for Croatia’s politicians even eight years on still have no action plan, Slavonski Brod has five of its own residents as representatives in Parliament none of whom have taken a firm stance on the issue The Kosovo-registered bus with 67 passengers and two drivers on board eastern Croatia, at 6.20 am on Sunday as a result of which nine passengers and the driver who was resting were killed Kosovo's Prime Minister Kurti flew into Slavonski Brod on Sunday evening aboard a Croatian army helicopter deployed in Kosovo as part of the KFOR peacekeeping mission He was welcomed by Croatian Prime Minister Plenković who had visited the injured passengers earlier in the day "I am glad that the prime minister of Kosovo promptly arrived in Croatia," Plenković said Kurti said that this was a hard day for the people of Kosovo extending his condolences to the families and friends of those killed and wishing a speedy recovery to those injured Kurti thanked Plenković for the assistance provided by the Croatian government as well as the doctors at the Slavonski Brod hospital where the majority of the injured passengers are being treated "I visited all the patients and I want to thank the hospital's directors and all staff who are looking after the patients," Kurti said He was accompanied by Kosovo's foreign minister health minister and presidential chief of staff The two prime ministers also visited the passengers who were not injured who are accommodated in a boarding house in Slavonski Brod Plenković reiterated that Croatia would provide all the necessary assistance Kurti said that Monday would be a day of mourning in Kosovo The Croatian police and prosecutors have opened an investigation confirming that the driver has been arrested after admitting that he fell asleep for a moment “Work is progressing and in the near future Croatia will have a strategic quantity of armoured fighting vehicles which in an unwanted war can mean the difference between life and death for those who fight namely the infantrymen,” the President of the Republic Zoran Milanović said today after visiting the production facilities of the company Đuro Đaković Special Vehicles in Slavonski Brod commenting on the importance of the ongoing overhaul of Bradley Fighting Vehicles and they are also the owners of a world-famous truck manufacturer Since the Croatian Army lacks hundreds of trucks of all types it makes sense to discuss cooperation with a renowned global company such as this one which here in Slavonski Brod is the owner of Đuro Đaković where Croatian armoured vehicles are overhauled and Patria (military vehicles) are manufactured,” said President Milanović emphasizing that today he visited the company Đuro Đaković above all because of its role in the Bradley Fighting Vehicle overhaul project I forced Plenković to marginalize and push aside Banožić but I prefer that those 90 military vehicles are in Croatia they save lives and they will cost us less than a million euros per piece Only a crazy or irresponsible person can calculate and play with something like that,” said President Milanović after visiting the facility where Bradley Fighting Vehicles are being equipped President Milanović engaged in discussions with the management team of Đuro Đaković Special Vehicles d.d. including President Pavel Maroušek and Management Board members Goran Matanić the trade union commissioner for the Đuro Đaković Group and Đuro Đaković Special Vehicles d.d. regarding the company’s military programme and its ongoing cooperation with the Croatian Army President Milanović was accompanied by Ivica Olujić Adviser to the President of the Republic for Defense Catch your first glimpses of fall foliage while getting active at this cross country cycling event at Slavonski Brod's lovely Lake Petnja.RECOMMENDED: More great sports events in Croatia where you can join in Your browser is out of date. 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