Croatia

DUBROVNIK, Croatia (AP) — Beaches along Croatia’s Adriatic Sea coastline are swarming with people. Guided tours are fully booked, restaurants are packed and sailboats were chartered well in advance.

Summer tourism has exceeded even the most optimistic expectations in Croatia this year. Once fearful that the coronavirus pandemic would discourage people from traveling, Croatia’s tourism industry was caught by surprise.

ZAGREB, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- Croatia's tourism results almost reached the 2019 level in July and August, and booking for September also looks promising, Croatian Minister of Tourism Nikolina Brnjac said on Wednesday.

"The number of tourists and overnight stays is around 90 percent of summer months in 2019," Brnjac told the national news agency Hina.

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — A major European Union-funded bridge built by a Chinese company has been connected over the Adriatic Sea, linking two swaths of the Croatian coastline that are divided by a small stretch of Bosnia’s territory.

The China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) in 2018 won an international bid to construct a 2.4-kilometer (1.5-mile) long bridge. The 420-million-euro ($500 million) construction is 85% financed by the EU and is a rare Chinese project in Europe that went through a regular bidding process.

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — A bus swerved off a highway and crashed in Croatia early Sunday, killing 10 people and injuring at least 45 others — some of them seriously, authorities said.

The crash happened at around 6 a.m. (0400 GMT; 12 a.m. EDT) near the town of Slavonski Brod on the highway between the capital, Zagreb, and the Serbian border.

Photos from the scene showed the bus on the side in the grass near the edge of the road. Firefighters and rescuers could be seen around the bus while traffic on the highway was halted.

ZAGREB, July 21 (Reuters) - Croatia will impose obligatory COVID-19 tests for visitors coming from Britain, Russia and Cyprus from July 26, the state health institute said on Wednesday.

"Due to the worsening of the epidemiological situation in the United Kingdom, Cyprus and Russia, as an additional measure for people arriving from those countries, a negative (COVID-19) test will be required regardless of whether they are vaccinated or have already had the disease," the statement said.

Tehran, IRNA – Croatian President Zoran Milanović congratulated Iran's president-elect Ebrahim Raisi on his victory in Iran's 13th Presidential election.

In his message, Milanović congratulated Raisi on his own and Croatian people and government's behalf.

He hoped that Iran and Croatia would further strengthen their ties during Raisi's term.

Milanović also wished prosperity for Iranian people and government.

ZAGREB, July 8 (Xinhua) -- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said here on Thursday that her institution had approved Croatia's recovery and resilience plan.

"This is a great plan, which has the largest share of GDP (gross domestic product) compared to all other EU member states and is very ambitious," she said while attending a session of the Croatian government.

The plan balances investment and reforms in the economy, administration and health care. Von der Leyen especially praised Croatia for earmarking 20 percent of the funds to digitalization.

ZAGREB, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Croatia on Wednesday reaffirmed its support for North Macedonia's European integration.

Croatian President Zoran Milanovic and Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic met with visiting North Macedonia President Stevo Pendarovski and they both stressed strong support for opening European Union (EU) accession negotiations with North Macedonia as soon as possible.

Milanovic said at a press conference that North Macedonia's accession to the EU will not be easy and that a lot of effort and friendly help is needed.

ROVINJ, Croatia (AP) — Sun loungers are out, beach bars are open and rave music is pumping. Hotels and restaurants are greeting visitors hoping to get a head start on summer after more than a year of coronavirus lockdowns and travel restrictions.

Croatia has widely reopened its stunning Adriatic coastline for foreign tourists, becoming one of the first European countries to drop most of its pandemic measures. Now, the ability of people to go there depends on each country’s travel rules.

ZAGREB, May 18. /TASS/: North Macedonia has announced its plans to expel a Russian diplomat, North Macedonia’s news portal MKD reported on Tuesday.

"[North Macedonia’s] foreign ministry has confirmed reports [about the expulsion] and said that in line with article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations it has been decided to declare a diplomat from the Russian embassy persona non grata in North Macedonia," it said.