Diplomacy and Commerce No.6 by DiplomacyandCommerce_Croatia

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June 2018 | ISSUE No. 06 | FREE COPY

9772466380002

H.E. LARS SCHMIDT Ambassador of Sweden

A HELPING HAND

Photo: Goran Hrubi

WE CAN DO WELL TOGETHER

05 THE QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY JUN

AROUND THE WORLD

Celebrations in Zagreb and Vienna page 31 and 32

READY FOR DIGITAL AGE BLAŽENKA DIVLJAK

The Republic of Croatia's Minister of Education

AKUOMA HELEN BOROMISA

President of the International Women's Club Zagreb

COACHES, WHO ARE ALSO LEADERS, LAST LONGER

WE HAVE AN IDEA HOW TO MAKE CROATIA BETTER ANKA MRAK TARITAŠ The Glas political alliance

IMPORTANT ANNIVERSARY

Italy

H.E. KEIJI TAKIGUCHI

Japanese Ambassador to Croatia

ĆIRO BLAŽEVIĆ

Croatian football expert

The 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Croatia and Japan

H.E. ADRIANO CHIODI CIANFARANI Italian ambassador in Croatia

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ED ITO RI AL

CO N T E N T S

PC is the Dirtiest Word Dear readers, Recently, there was a lot of commotion on the social media when a white (Caucasian, European American, whatever you deem appropriate to call her) girl dressed in a traditional Chinese costume for her prom night. Countless Chinese Americans reacted along the lines: “My culture is not your prom dress!” while the Chinese Chinese (those from China) reacted positively like “the Chinese culture is so great and it should be propagated!” The keyword was “cultural appropriation” - i.e. you supposedly should not “appropriate” the other cultures' features in your own expression, since it constitutes an “insult”. Oh, what a lot of rubbish! Without “cultural appropriation” (CA) (opposition to which is, by the way, a purely apartheid racist thought which implies we should “stick to our own kind”) there would be no culture at all. Without “appropriation” of the white country music into Black blues there would be no rock'n'roll as invented by Robert Johnson (the one who sold his soul to the Devil), without “CA” there would be no Elvis, The Beatles or The Rolling Stones and pop and rock music in America and England. Can you honestly tell me that I should not make goulash, fisch-paprikas or play tambouritza in Pannonia because I am a Croat/Serb/Romanian and not Hungarian? We cannot eat burek since it is a cultural appropriation from the Turks? We cannot play reggae or ska since we appropriated it from Jamaica? Yannis Varoufakis cleverly stated that, in the era of social media, we diminish our freedom first by creating “a network version of ourselves”, politically correct, with maximum “likes” and minimum backlash (like the dress backlash), and then, in our real life, we adopt this constructed fake social media image just to be PC-friendly. It seems that PC and CA are the dirtiest words nowadays!

READY FOR DIGITAL AGE BLAŽENKA DIVLJAK

The Republic of Croatia's Minister of Education

WE HAVE AN IDEA HOW TO MAKE CROATIA BETTER

boban@diplomacyandcommerce.hr

NIKICA MILOŠ Editor-in-chief

nikica@diplomacyandcommerce.hr

TANJA BANKOVIĆ Editorial manager

office@diplomacyandcommerce.hr

ILIJA PETROVIĆ INDIGOCHILD Art director

indigochild.ilija@gmail.com

ZORAN CVIJIĆ Advertising manager

marketing@ diplomacyandcommerce.hr

JOVANA MARKOVIĆ Advertising manager

Photos GETTY IMAGES TOMISLAV SMOLJANOVIĆ

NATAŠA NEŠIĆ Advertising manager

Translation SNEŽANA BJELOTOMIĆ

DRAGANA RADOVIĆ Advertising manager RUŽA RISTANOVIĆ Magazine director VANJA KOVAČEV PR&Event support Nord Communications

SVEN DARRER Advertising manager 091 766 5479 091 377 4358

Ambassador of Sweden

NEW MAGIC IN KORČULA DE CANAVELLIS

Reportage

NEM 2018

The Glas political alliance

A HELPING HAND

14 BOBAN SPASOJEVIĆ Executive editor

H.E. LARS SCHMIDT

President of the International Women's Club Zagreb

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WE CAN DO WELL TOGETHER

ANKA MRAK TARITAŠ

AKUOMA HELEN BOROMISA

ROBERT ČOBAN

Director

THE WESTERN QUESTION Politics

IMPORTANT ANNIVERSARY H.E. KEIJI TAKIGUCHI

Japanese Ambassador to Croatia

BROKE PREVIOUS RECORDS WITH THE HIGHEST ATTENDANCE SO FAR

CONSCIOUSLY DELLUSIONAL Politics

COACHES, WHO ARE ALSO LEADERS, LAST LONGER ĆIRO BLAŽEVIĆ

Croatian football expert

WE ARE PROUD OF UMAG DUŠAN KOVAČEVIĆ

Founder of Exit and Sea Star festivals

sven@diplomacyandcommerce.hr

Predstavnik za RH

vanja.communications @gmail.com

ROBERT ČOBAN Director

”Color Media Communications” LTD, 21132 Petrovaradin, Štrosmajerova 3 TIN 107871532 • Matriculation number 20887303 · Phone: +381 21 4897 100 • Fax: +381 21 4897 126 Office: Ilica 49 , 10000 Zagreb • 091 2886677 CIP - Katalogizacija u publikaciji Biblioteke Matice Srpske, Novi Sad 33 Diplomacy & Commerce Novi Sad: Color Media Communications, 2016 - , -33cm Mesečno. ISSN 2466-3808 = Diplomacy & Commerce COBISS.SR-ID 303269895

S A DR’ S S U CCE S S

A Cleric Who Once Tormented America Seems to Have Won Iraq’s Election But the Shia firebrand may not be able to form a government

MUQTADA AL-SADR is a master at tapping Iraqi discontent. The firebrand Shia cleric directed his supporters to attack the American troops who invaded Iraq in 2003. More recently he has led campaigns against corruption and foreign influence. His supporters ransacked government offices in 2016. And in the election on May 12th they gave his nationalist bloc, Sairoun (“Marching to Reform”), the most seats in parliament. Unofficial results put it unexpectedly ahead, with 55 seats. The bloc led by Iraq’s mild-mannered prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, came second, with 51. A coalition led by Hadi al-Amari, the gruff commander of the Iranian-backed Badr Brigades, came third, with 50. The surprising result signals growing discontent with Iraq’s sectarian old guard. But it is unlikely to sweep it away. It may yet take months to determine who has actually won the election. Claims of irregularities need resolving before results are final. Parliament then has to elect a president, who must ask the largest bloc to form a government. Then the real jostling for posts begins. Mr Sadr, who cannot become prime minister because he did not run himself, is in a strong position to be kingmaker. Although his most ardent supporters are Shias in the shantytowns of Baghdad and Basra, he won by broadening his appeal. He joined up with communist and secular parties, wooed Sunnis

by praying in their mosques and published a plan for reconciliation between Islam’s sects. Last year he went to Saudi Arabia to meet Muhammad bin Salman, the Sunni kingdom’s powerful crown prince. His bloc would need to form an inclusive coalition if it is to govern. In a post-election tweet, Mr Sadr named Kurdish, Sunni and Shia parties as potential allies. But he left two staunchly Shia parties with strong ties to Iran off his list: the Badr Brigades, which represents a coalition of Shia militias, and Dawa, a Shia Islamist party led by Nuri al-Maliki, a former prime minister. They could yet spoil his chances.

MR SADR, WHO CANNOT BECOME PRIME MINISTER BECAUSE HE DID NOT RUN HIMSELF, IS IN A STRONG POSITION TO BE KINGMAKER Mr Amari may have failed to do as well in Iraq as his Iranian-backed counterpart, Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hizbullah, did in Lebanon’s recent election. But he still wields a lot of clout. His Badr forces dominate the interior ministry and fill the ranks of the federal police. He is close to senior Iranians, who have in the past worked behind the scenes to cobble together a government. And he has hedged his bets by

meeting regularly with the American ambassador in Iraq. Mr Amari’s natural ally is Mr Maliki, whose “State of Law” faction inside Dawa fared poorly, winning 25 seats. But Mr Maliki has influence over Mr Abadi, another Dawa stalwart. There are differences. Mr Abadi does not share Mr Maliki’s Shia chauvinism and has canvassed Sunni and Kurdish votes. Remarkably for a Shia, Mr Abadi’s list won Mosul, the Sunni stronghold once controlled by Islamic State (IS). All this means that Mr Abadi may emerge as a swing player. By joining Messrs Amari and Maliki, he could restore the dominance of the fractured Shia house. However, if he teamed up with Mr Sadr’s Sairoun, he could put the country on a path towards less sectarian politics. Both camps suggest they may back Mr Abadi’s bid for a second term. In contrast to previous ballots, the election passed off without serious violence. For the first time since Iraq’s transition to parliamentary democracy in 2005, Sunnis voted in large numbers for Shias. Party leaders of all hues curbed their sectarian barbs. But Iraqis are disenchanted. Only 44% voted, down from 62% in 2014. Their patience will be tested if their votes only perpetuate dysfunctional, corrupt rule. From The Economist, published under licence. The original article, in English, can be found on www.economist.com

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I NTERVIEW

Ready for Digital Age The aim of the reform we are implementing is to align education with the needs of the labour market and to establish a better link between businesses and educational system which is the basis for competitiveness in the era of industry 4.0

BLAŽENKA DIVLJAK The Republic of Croatia's Minister of Education

I am confident that we can create an environment for change by ourselves - says Blaženka Divljak, the Republic of Croatia's Minister of Education, who is in charge of some of the biggest changes in the country's educational system. What are the key goals of curricular reform and how much does the reform respond to the challenges of the country's competitiveness in education?

— In short, the ultimate goal is school for life. Student bags won't be so heavy anymore, they will learn how to think critically and solve problems, and will not focus only on learning facts. We need to prepare for the digital age as we live in the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution. For teachers, the reform means less paperwork, but also new methods of teaching and evaluating students' work. Through comprehensive curricular and structural changes, children and young people are provided with more useful and meaningful education that will enable them to live the modern life, and prepare them for work and the continuation of education. Teachers, education associates and other educational

institutions will play a greater roles and bolster their professionalism, while having a greater autonomy, be engaged in more creative work and have fewer administrative obligations. The aim of the reform we are implementing is to align education with the needs of the labour market and to establish a better link between businesses and educational system which is the basis for competitiveness. Will everything be ready on time for the experimental phase of "School of Life"?

— The implementation of the activities is planned and organized so that everything is ready on time. The competent agencies and

plement this much-needed social change. Furthermore, as a part of "School for Life", an experimental program received additional funds for school equipment and we also have experimental textbooks coming. Eleven publishers will launch 150 sets of experimental textbooks for the first and the fifth grade of elementary school, as well as books for STEM subjects in the seventh grade of elementary school and the first grade of high school. How ready are the institutions ready for this initiative and how prepared are schools, in terms of their staff, to put this experiment into action? How willing are children and their parents to

WE RECEIVE SUPPORTIVE E-MAILS FROM TEACHERS AND PARENTS EVERY DAY. THE MOTIVATION FOR EDUCATIONAL REFORM IS REALLY GREAT domicile and international experts are also involved, in addition to our Ministry. Teacher training began late last year, and I and my team have been visiting schools, getting a lot of positive feedback. Everyone is exciting about "School for Life" starting in autumn. In addition to the support from the European Commission, the state funding and first 150 million kuna from EU funds, for the first time ever, the Ministry of Science and Education has allocated over 200 million kuna for Curricular Reform, which finally sends a clear messageabout the readiness to im-

facilitate this new approach to education?

— We work together with all the agencies in our education system and we are pleased to see just how motivated are all stakeholders to participate in this change. Studies have shown that over 80 percent of parents support the introduction of compulsory computing classes in the 5th and 6th grade of elementary school. Also, more than 70 percent of parents support curricular reform. We receive supportive e-mails from teachers and parents every day. The motivation is really at a high level. Over 3,700 teachers

are involved in training and this is the biggest teacher training programme in the history of Croatia. How compliant are your activities and ideas wiht the European Commission's report on the implementation of structural reforms in Croatia, which includes reform of education, higher learning and science?

— Naturally, our activities are guided by the European Commission's report and recommendations. The report also mentions the projects that the Ministry of Science and Education has launched since my term in the office, and there is still much to be done in education reform, higher learning and science. Having such report is good because we can constantly refer to it. The report also states that certain encouraging steps have been made, and it contains a number of recommendations. We already implemented some of them in the first three months of this year. Also in the report, the European Commission assessed that it was a good thing to initiate the curricular reform, which results were already visible last year. Those who are interested in the Commission's opinions can read the page 53 of the report where the Commission acknowledges the achieved results, and talks about the plans and experimental implementation of curricular reform. Of course, the report refers to what was done last year, but it also states that a part of the required documents has been prepared in accordance with a cer-

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tain methodology and the accepted learning outcomes. The quality education requires high GDP allocations. At this stage, are there any assumptions for the continued implementation of reforms in terms of the economic basis and the government's approval of budgeting for these needs?

— Our goal, to be achieved by 2020, if for science and research to have a 1.4 percent share in the national GDP, which currently stands at 1 percent, considering that the European average is around 2 percent, and the European target is 3 percent of the GDP. We are lagging behind, and personally, I will insist on and fight for the increase in funding for science and research for the next year. In which way is the introduction

IT IS IMPORTANT FOR CHILDREN TO BE MORE IN TOUCH WITH COMPUTING TO BE ABLE TO DEAL WITH THE DIGITAL WORLD, LEARN HOW TO PROGRAMME AND THINK ALGORITHMICALLY. I WANT THEM TO HAVE INTERDISCIPLINARY KNOWLEDGE of computer science in schools systematically organized? What is the ultimate goal here? Will the system produce a highly qualified workforce that is paid adequately high wages?

— It is important for children to be more in touch with computing to be able to deal with the digital world, learn how to programme and think algorithmically. I want them to have interdisciplinary knowledge. I want computer classes not to serve the purpose of only getting grades, but for technology to be interdisciplinaryly incorporated into all school subjects. It is not

our goal for students only to be able to recognize computer hardware or learn about floppies. The ultimate goal is not to just learn about facts, but to apply what they have learned and to have children equipped to deal with the digital age. At this point, we have 26 million kuna available for IT equipment and we will provide equipment for all the primary schools that we did not do last year, during the first phase of equipment provision. Therefore, everyone will have the same conditions for introduction of compulsory computing classes. Also, teacher training is ongoing.

Is there a danger of Croatia producing qualified workforce for predominantly foreign companies?

— We need to ensure that young people are able to live quality life in Croatia. That's what matters! We need to implement concrete activities that will create new jobs. We got over 373 million kuna from EU funds, which enabled 101 young scientists to stay in Croatia together with their families and build their career here. There is also "Career Development Project for Young Researchers - Training for New Doctors of Science", which budget is 81 million kuna. During the project implementation over the next five years, funds will be allocated towards the employment of 154 young researchers and doctoral candidates in scientific organizations in the Republic of Croatia.

WE HAVE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT ARE BEING OPENED TO US How much is the domestic economy ready to absorb new competencies and use it to raise its innovation capacity? — Given that we are in final negotiations regarding our membership in CERN, the world's largest research lab, we were recently recently visited by the CERN's five-member Expert Mission who assessed our capacity and conditions for potential membership. They were extremely pleased with what they saw and I am very proud of that. They were also impressed with how many innovative solutions, companies and individuals we have in Croatia. We also received a lot of good suggestions. I am

confident that their report will be positive and that we will conclude this process by the end of this year, that is, we are going to sign a CERN accession agreement next year. This is a huge opportunity for us. Associated membership in CERN means the exchange of scientific knowledge and educational programmes, as well as 500 million euros annually for Croatian high-tech companies. In that respect, I am delighted and I am confident that we, our scientists, our innovators and our entrepreneurs will use this opportunity. I often underline that there is no given opportunity for change, bu that we create it ourselves.

I NTERVIEW

We Have an Idea How to Make Croatia Better We want to show that there is a serious opposition in Croatia and a serious political alternative that can act against populism and rightist radicalism

ANKA MRAK TARITAŠ The Glas political alliance

We are committed to Croatia that respects the equality of all its citizens, fosters creativity and entrepreneurship, and supports the weak and disenchanted“ says Anka Mrak Taritaš, the head of the political alliance Glas (Civic Liberal Aliance). „The main reason why Glas, IDS and the Pametno political party came together in the so-called Amsterdam Coalition, are the ideas of freedom and the right of every individual to live in a free and open society“, says our interlocutor. The Coalition members agreed on a joint participation in three elections – European, presidential and parliamentary. What novelties is this alliance bringing to the Croatian political stage?

— Our three parties, assembled under a new liberal platform, want to offer hope and the freedom of

choice in a civil, liberal, open and tolerant Croatia. We want to offer optimism to our citizens and highlight that there are people on the political scene who have an idea about how to make Croatia better. There is a vacuum in the Croatian voting space for liberal-democratic political content and we want to

it, is not just Croatia's problem. This is a serious problem faced by Europe and the countries with a much greater democratic tradition than us. The elections in France and the Netherlands have shown that liberal parties, thanks to their election victory, have stopped the growing trend of populism and the right-wing radicalism in their respective countries. The Liberals are actually a defence line against growing populism in Europe. Traditional left and right parties are no longer able to play that role. This problem needs to be taken seriously as the situation in Italy shows that the trend continues to exist. Furthermore, we can see that Poland and Hungary already have the

CROATIA IS INCREASINGLY MISSING THE BASIC VALUES OF LIBERAL DEMOCRACY THAT THE MODERN EUROPE RESTS ON fill it. We want to show that there is a serious opposition in Croatia and a serious political alternative that can act against populism and rightist radicalism You have joined forces on an idea of a consistent defence of liberal values and representation of a decent and civil Croatia. Is there room for these ideas today considering that in a number of democracies with a much longer tradition such values take back seat to populism that attracts more voters?

— Populism, as you yourself said

so-called non-liberal democracies which took over from democracy only as a mechanism for the majority to form a government. Once that is done, they use it mostly to abolish the fundamental values of liberal democracy, to overthrow the rights of minorities and other basic human and civil rights, to overturn the reproductive rights of women, freedom of the media and so on. You have announced a big campaign for European elections as of autum. What kind of Croatia would you like to see in the EU?

— Our three parties have assem-

bled around the idea of freedom and the rights of every individual to live in a free and open society, in a well-regulated country that respects the equality of all its citizens, encourages creativity and entrepreneurship, and, when required, can support the weak and disenchanted. I want to see that kind of Croatia. What is also important is what kind of Europe do we want? The European Union is awash with problems and we want more of Europe and more of common European policies. We want to seriously participate in the reform of the European Union. The European Union needs a stronger integration in terms of common foreign and defence policy, and in the economic sense, Europe must become a much more serious global player, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the US, Russia and China. What European values do we lack in Croatia?

— There are ongoing retrograde processes in the Croatian society, and the values that we thought we had mastered and that we would not have to discuss again have now come into question. What we can see in the making is a crawling conservative revolution that jeopardizes the values such as equality of all citizens, individual freedom and the right of women to decide what to do with their own bodies. Also, anti-fascism, as the civilizational heritage that modern Europe rests on, is endangered here. In short, Croatia lacks the fundamental values of liberal democracy.

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You said that as a coalition you „want to be a smart and reasonable voice for Croatia". In what segments do we need ideas that are different to today's?

— Croatia needs serious reforms in a number of areas, but above all, we need to reform science and education, state and local self-government and we need a serious tax reform. Unfortunately, the education reform, that was led by Boris Jokic during the time of the left-centre coalition government, fell through with the appointment of the new government. In order to make Croatia competitive in every respect, we must educate for the future and develop knowledge and skills for the professions that are just coming. We have to teach critical thinking, instead of just mechanically memorizing unnecessary facts. We need to make state administration more efficient and accessible to citizens and businesses, and reduce the number of counties, cities and municipalities by reforming local and regional self-government. Regarding the tax system reform, Croatia is one of the countries with the highest tax burden in the European Union, and the services provided by the state do not match the paid taxes. I think we need a serious tax relief on labour costs and to unburden businesses in terms of unnecessary parafiscal charges.

Although, you had made it to the second round of the mayoral elections in Zagreb, the electorate has decided to elect a longtime mayor for the sixth time. Did this bother you or encourage you in terms of the electorate you are trying to reach? What

from victory. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that my team and I were alone in the second round so we could not win. Our own party, HNS had negotatied a coalition with HDZ at the national level which ruined the chances of our success in Zagreb. Our peers from SDP have

CROATIA NEEDS SERIOUS REFORMS IN A NUMBER OF AREAS, BUT ABOVE ALL WE NEED TO REFORM SCIENCE AND EDUCATION, STATE AND LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT, AS WELL AS A SERIOUS TAX REFORM did you learn when it comes to an effective campaign?

— I have no objections to the entire campaign which I did with my team. In the end, and regardless of the result, I'm proud of everything we've done. It's no small feat to start with only 5% of the electoral support and end just a step away

been experiencing internal problems for a long time which could be seen in the campaign. On the other side of the spectrum, there was a candidate with the available campaign budget of almost HRK 16 billion who used his function as a mayor in every aspect of the campaign. That battle was not equal

NEVER SAY NEVER The media have been speculating that you could be a new candidate for the presidential election when that time comes, and that you did not confirm or deny this possibility. What would have to happen for you to agree to run for president? — I must admit that I do not think about presidential candidacy, but that I also did not definitively eliminate this possibility because I have learned that political circumstances can always be surprising. It is difficult now to say which circumstances would have to align in order for me to run for president, but never say never.

from the get go and my result, despite everything, is something that I can be happy with. Nobody has ever come that close to beating the current mayor. What would Zagreb still need to do to improve the quality of life of its citizens and what are the biggest problems that you would solve differently than the current government?

— Zagreb chronically misses transparency in management. Everything is concentrated in the hands of one man, the mayor, and he has the last say. There is this notion that mayor is giving out or donating things, but that is actually the budget money and the services that the city simply has to provide to its citizens. There have been no serious infrastructural projects in the city in the last 17 years, and the mayor creates the impression that he works a lot which he is very vocal about. In Zagreb alone, 30,000 citizens or 10,000 households do not have sewage. We are talking about the population that is the size of Koprivnica or Daruvar. Money is used to build a fountain and carry out cosmetic touches in the city, or for the mayor to travel to Rome 62 times, while the citizens do not have the basic utility infrastructure. Zagreb needs to be seriously reset and I'm so sorry that we will have to wait three years to do this.

NATIONAL DAYS

ARRI VALS & D EPAR T UR E S

July

IGOR ŠEHANOVIĆ

Leaving his position at the helm of Liburnia Riviera Hotel

The Hotel's Supervisory Board has given its approval to the conclusion of the Agreement on the Termination of the Contract on the Appointment of the Chairman of the Managing Board of the Company, from 1st October, 2011, with Mr. Igor Šehanović. The Agreement on Termination of the aforementioned contract, stipulates the disbursement of a bonus to Igor

CANADA

Šehanović by no later than 30th June, 2018. On 15th June, 2018, the company's Supervisory Board also made a decision to replace Mr. Igor Šehanović, in his position of the Chairman of the Managing Board, effective as of 30th June, 2018, and appoint the former member of the Managing Board, Mr. Giorgio Cadum from Poreč as the new Chairman of the Managing Board.

Canada Day

BELARUS

Independence Day

UNITED STATES Independence Day

ALGERIA

DRAGAN MUNJIZA

Independence Day

Member of Managing Board of Lonia Company

VENEZUELA

while Munjiza will repalce Rino Jaram as Managing Board member. Lonia, a big retail company with headquarters in Kutina, has an annual revenue of 700 million kuna and a retail network of 249 shops, with 60 shops located in Zagreb and Zagreb County. The company has close to 1,200 employees.

Photo: Davor Puklavec, Pixell

Following a decision made by the company's proprietor, Dragan Munjiza, consultant, manager, entrepreneur and the former Chairman of Konzum's Managing Board, has been appointed member of the Managing Board of the Lonia Company. Frane Jaram is now the Chairman of the Managing Board,

BORIS BATELIĆ

New President of the Split branch of Matica Hrvatska

Chairman of Optima Telekom's Managing Board

Mr. Kalilić has been appointed the new president of the Split branch of Matica Hrvatska for the next four years. Marin Kaporelo (lawyer, musician and director of Glazbena Mladež)

ARGENTINA

Independence Day

MONTENEGRO Independence Day

JOŠKO KALILIĆ

FRANCE

Photo: Žarko Bašić, Pixell

has been apointed Vice President and a member of the Managing Board, while Professor Mihaela Lovrić, the long-standing Secretary General of the branch and a volunteer, was appointed the Managing Board Secretary. The former President of the branch, Trpimir Jurkić (head of drama at Split's National Theatre, actor and director) presented a report the branch's activities in the last four years of his term in the office, noting that the branch operated successfully despite its unfavourable financial situation.

Independence Day

Until 1st May, 2018, Boris Batelić served as Member of the Managing Board and Chief Executive of User Experience in Croatian Telecom. He spent his entire career in Croatian Telecom, where

he has been working since 1999. Prior to his appointment of a member of the Managing Board of Croatian Telecom, Batelić had been engaged in business development and sales to key business users, he was the director of the Technical Services Sector, and worked in user experience management. He graduated from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing in Zagreb and the Cotrugli Business School, also in Zagreb.

Bastille Day

BELGIUM National Day

EGYPT

National Day

PERU

National Day

MOROCCO National Day

RALF BLOMBERG new President of GermanCroatian Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Ralf Blomberg was appointed the new President of the Chamber, along with 16 new members of the board, at the regular assembly meeting of the members of the German-Croatian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

NOW! only

399KN per year!

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I NTERVIEW

A Helping Hand

As a community helping international families living in Croatia we created a social platform which enables them to tap into a big network of information from finding their new homes to dealing with everyday challenges of living in a foreign country

AKUOMA HELEN BOROMISA President of the International Women's Club Zagreb

The International Women's Club Zagreb (IWCZ) is an organization with the long tradition, but its secret of longevity lies in being new and different every day and making each event memorable for its members. Managing a club which gathers women from around the globe requires the management and the members to nurture a culture of tolerance, multiculturalist approach and openness to the members’ needs. While charity events are the most important part of the Club’s activities, new members are also forming new kinds of networking. Hence, IWCZ has recently added a business programme to its activities in response to the needs of professional women expatriates. Akuoma Helen Boromisa, President of the International Women's Club Zagreb and a businesswoman herself, talks with pride about the organization, which was and still is the first address to which women expats turn to during their stay in Croatia. “We offer great social support to our members and their families”, says Ms Boromisa. This year, you are celebrating 25 years of IWCZ. Which events did you organize in celebration of

the anniversary?

— On 11th May, we celebrated the 25th anniversary of International Women's Club Zagreb (IWCZ) with a fabulous Gala Ball at the Crystal Ballroom of the Westin Hotel. Considering that we are a very renowned social club with members from 61 countries, the Gala Ball, as expected, was colorful with spectacular ambience. Awards were given to the members who have been in the club for over 20 years. Also, a special award was presented to the members with outstanding and dedicated contribution to the IWCZ. Following the decision by the club’s General Assembly, which comprises of 250 women, the Ladies were this year’s award recipient. The popular Croatian opera singer, Antonella Malis sang a special repertoire on the occasion to much delight of the audience. The

ship without boundaries. What does the organization such as the International Women's Club Zagreb offer to foreign women living in the city?

— I like to say that IWCZ is a nucleus for social networking for foreing women living in Croatia. We have become a community helping international families living in Croatia by creating a social platform which enables them to tap into a

IWCZ IS A NUCLEUS FOR SOCIAL NETWORKING FOR FOREIGN WOMEN LIVING IN CROATIA atmosphere was kickstarted by Jan Tominic, a young sax player from the Ferdo Livadic Music School in Samobor. He is nominated to represent Croatia at this year's Eurovision classical music competition in Edinburgh. The event’s programme was deliberately designed to make each member feel special and appreciated for just being a part of the club, and, I have to say, it turned out perfectly. That was a night to remember as we celebrated friend-

big network of information - from finding their new homes, schools for kids, Medicare, business opportunities, special foods and products to discovering the local culture and generally, dealing with everyday challenges of living in a foreign country. IWCZ offers a great social support to its members and their families. How did the IWCZ programme evolve over the years, and what are your priorities today?

— IWCZ was launched in 1993 primarily as a charitable group to cater to the needs that were prevalent in the local communities across Croatia at the time. Over the years, IWCZ has evolved and has incorporated a social aspect to cater to social needs of its members and make their stay in Croatia a memorable one. The quest for women empowerment globally has given rise to more women heading international businesses and diplomatic missions abroad. IWCZ has recently added a business programme to its activity in response to the needs of the professional women expatriates. However, IWCZ’s utmost priority is charity work. Our popular Christmas bazaar remains our biggest event each year. We have raised over 6 million kunas, with the full amount distributed to charitable organizations across Croatia. On top of that, we have at least three charity events per month. Our charities are focused on women, children, the sick and the elderly. Currently, we are preparing for IWCZ’s next Christmas Bazaar,

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which is coming up in the first week of December. We would like to invite general public to this event as it offers a rare opportunity to interact with the ambassadors and hear first-hand accounts of their country and cultures, as well as experience a 5-hour global culinary journey presented at each of the country’s booths. A club year lasts from September to June. Looking back, how successful was the previous period for IWCZ?

— I can confidently say that the 2017-2018 club year, which officially ends on 30th June, is a big success. We have set a new record in the number of members, as well as a higher number of different nationals and diplomats as our members. However, the most important achievement is our cultural exchange initiative where we play hosts to ambassadors at our general meetings. The ambassadors are given the opportunity to present to us their countries and cultures, and draw a parallel with Croatian culture where possible. Sometimes, we incorporate fashion shows into these general meetings, where IWCZ members model tradi-

tional clothing from the country of the guest ambassador. Bearing in mind that you have over 258 members from over 60 nations how challenging is to develop activities which will cater to the interests, habits and time schedule of all members?

— It is impossible to satisfy everyone's taste and needs in one go, therefore we strive to diversify our activities. Our activity coordinators work very hard to create

You have the Master of Business Administration from the University of Wales, United Kingdom, B.Sc. in Biochemistry, Diploma in Computer Science, and other certifications, which make you more than qualified for the prominent position of the President of the International Women's Club Zagreb. How much has your business experience helped you in managing the Club activities?

— My business experience in multicultural environment has

IWCZ’S UTMOST PRIORITY IS CHARITY WORK, WHILE OUR POPULAR CHRISTMAS BAZAAR REMAINS OUR BIGGEST EVENT EACH YEAR programmes that will attract a wider interest. Also, our members can introduce and with the Board’s approval, lead a weekly activity of a specific interest group. That way every member can find an activity of interest or introduce one, and in doing so, we are able to satisfy even the smallest interest groups. We are very aware and sensitive to the multicultural aspect of our membership, and therefore take due diligence to steer clear of political issues.

definitely come in very handy in presiding over the IWCZ Board. Coupled with my multidisciplinary qualifications, I am able to comfortably function in a wider spectrum. In a dynamic, multicultural organization such as IWCZ, it is very important that the President is well informed in order to be able to relate to diverse stakeholders - local communities, governmental institutions, diplomatic institutions and of

course, the members. Since IWCZ is a fully registered non-profit organization, the President owes it to the club to see that its affairs are conducted in a professional manner despite the fact that the board positions are voluntary. The club’s aim is to make the members’ stay in Croatia a memorable and enriching experience. What were, so far, the most moving experiences from the perspective of your members?

— As the President, it is my responsibility to ensure that every event is a memorable one for all the participants. So, each day we create pockets of memorable moments through our activities and programmes. For example, when we visit beneficiaries of our charity work to see how they have put our donation to use, getting to see how much difference we make in the life of our beneficiaries are memories that stay forever with us. I would also say that the Silver Jubilee Gala Ball was a memorable one based on the feedback I received. For that one evening, we got together with families and friends to celebrate and honour one another.

HIDDEN GEMS IN CROATIA IWCZ offers its members a variety of activities and events, including guided tours, and day trips to local vineyards and breweries, culinary classes and tastings. Which of the hidden tourism gems would you suggest that international visitors should see in Zagreb and Croatia? — There are so many attractions in Zagreb perfect

for visitors and tourists to see, so it is rather difficult to name a favourite one. I would rather suggest a complete experience like the Advent in Zagreb, and a visit to the Plitvice Lakes National Park in winter. The ice tunnel during Advent in Zagreb and the frozen waterfalls of the Plitvice Lakes are spectacular hidden gems.

PO LI TI C S

Text: ŽELIMIR MARAŠ

The Western Question How to win over the working class again?

eral minds turn from that to this right-wing rhetorics? It is easy to say that Morrissey is like “a weird uncle we all love but who always says something terrible from time to time”, to quote Moby. This is something deeper, that coincides with the shift in the political allegiance of working class. BLAME IT ON THE SOCIAL DEMOCRATS

Before every huge disaster come hints and signs. Before fascism came protofascism. In this increasingly intolerent world, we have only few bright spots to focus on. And in the end, the bitter question is, what's wrong with our world that we were reduced to populism? ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A LEFTIST REBELLION

When we were young, we had heros that exemplified the freedom of thought. The Smiths dared exclaim “The Queen is Dead” and “Margaret on the Gillotine”. Eduard Limonov took the post-Socialist countries by storm in 1992 with his book “It's Me, Eddie” which got transleted and published after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Limonov was a naturalist, rebel, bisexual, despising both the Soviet environment of censorship and the American consumerist anti-high-culture establishment. Morrissey was a rebel with a cause, leftist and the champion of working class Britain, sexually ambivalent, blatant in his showing of emotions. And we had Brigitte Bardot, the champion of the French sexual liberation in the 1960s, our teenage wet dream. And that was it! We were rebels together with the other leftist rebels. THE 1990S AND THE U-TURN

All of a sudden, a few years later, Morrissey's controversial

album “defending” the National Front members came out, but nobody cared too much, since he defended all sorts of hooligans and underdogs all the time. Limov was seen as firing at Sarajevo together with the Bosnian Serb Army, and Bardot stepped out as a defender of animals but staunchly against immigration, especially

When Margaret Thatcher came to power, she championed the rich in her attempt to revive the rotten British economy from the 1970s under the Labour. At the same time, Jimmy Carter (universally acclaimed as the best American president around the world) got replaced by Ronald Reagan. Thatcherism and Reaganism, as well as neoliberalism, took over. But it was natural they would do so. The trouble came after that! When Bill Clinton came to power

THE EX-LEFTISTS HAVE TURNED RIGHT AND THE EX-RIGHT WING IS TURNING LEFT. TO QUOTE BOWIE: “I'M AFRAID OF THE WORLD” from Maghreb. Morrissey also came out as bisexual, veg(etari)an, animal rights defender, but a clear hater of immigration, longing for Britain from the 1970s and the 1980s. Limonov further supported all the possible secessions and paramilitaries in the post-Soviet area and even got convicted for terrorism. Morrissey showed his support of „For Britain“ (the right wing anti-immigration party), opponent of Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, and so on. The world was baffled. Why and how did all of this happen? How the lib-

in 1993 and Tony Blair in 1997, everyone expected the reversal of the neoliberal agenda to the classical social democratic agenda, defending the empowerished working class. But they did little! On the contrary, they cemented neoliberalism, together with Gerhard Schröder in Germany, calling it “the Third Way”. When the disenfranchised masses finally, after Gordon Brown and even Barack Obama (a mixed-raced US president), realised that the Labour and Democrats don't actually support them, but the liberal elites of Wall

Street and London City, they rebelled with populism. We can see the result of it – Trump and Brexit! IT IS EASY TO MAKE SOCIAL CHANGES

The world today is politically overcorrect, respecting all the social changes, like introduciong the same-sex marriages, or immigration, but also defending “big money”. Even the laws regulating same-sex marriages are driven by government mercantilism - “pink pound”, “pink dollar”, “pink euro” and even “pink dinar” are strong enough that it is convenient to have LBGTQ money siding with the government and not the opposition. This is why the conservatives, like Tories, supported it. It is unfortunately all about money, even the women rights. They are rich enough now. Black lives matter? Well, they will matter when the liberal elites see them as rich enough and worth defending and even incorporating. Until then, well, too bad! And the rebellions keep piling up with some strange alliances being formed. At the same timem, you can e rebel against immigration and champion sexual freedoms (Morrissey and Bardot) or vice versa, or whatever combination you deem appropriate. The ex-leftists have turned right and the ex-right wing is turning left. Mira Furlan said recently that the today's young Americans are far more conservative than her grandmother in the 1940s. How, on earth, did the West come to this? The most powerful are the most responsible. Could life ever be same again? To quote Bowie: “I'm afraid of the world.”

IS ISLAMIC EXTREMISM A NEW PUNK? Islamic extremism is yet another rebellion against the West, just like a child who believed their parents and the parents (West) betrayed them. The world is full of angry people – some are angry because of their poverty, some because of the immigrants, some are for or against sexual minorities.

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I NTERVIEW

Important Anniversary The 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Croatia and Japan gives a lot of opportunities for further deepening of the bilateral, economic and cultural ties between our two countries

H.E. KEIJI TAKIGUCHI Japanese Ambassador to Croatia

Japan recognized Croatia as an independent state in March 1992 when Croatia joined the United Nations and this year – 2018 - is the year that marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between two countries which took place in March 1993, reminds H.E. Keiji Takiguchi, Japanese Ambassador to Croatia 1. What are the key achievements of the bilateral relations between Croatia and Japan in the last twenty-five years?

— Japan shares fundamental values and principles such as freedom, democracy, the rule of law and human rights with Croatia and the two countries are closely cooperating both bilaterally and multilaterally. We have been actively holding high-level exchanges, for example, the Croatian President's visit to Japan and Japan's imperial family members’ visits to Croatia. Also, Japan contributed to reconstruction of Croatia after the Homeland War by providing economic assistance. On the other hand, in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, Croatia kindly extended heart-warming support to Japan such as inviting Japanese children to stay

in Croatia. And now, the holy Mass commemorating the victims takes place at the Cathedral in Zagreb every year. There is a strong and special bond between Japan and Croatia. How is this anniversary going to be marked?

— To observe this 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations, our Embassy is planning various events throughout the year. Recently, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary, we conducted a survey regarding the Croatian people’s interests in Japan and the Japanese culture. Interestingly, the majority of them answered that they were interested in the Japa-

understanding of Japan. This autumn, Japan is assigned as a partner country to Varaždin Baroque Evenings on the occasion of the 25th anniversary. Many famous Japanese baroque musicians will come to Varaždin. In addition, on October 13th, in cooperation with various local Japan-related bodies, we are going to hold the Japan Day at the Mimara Museum, where we will

I AM CONFIDENT THAT THERE IS A STRONG AND SPECIAL BOND BETWEEN JAPAN AND CROATIA nese “way of living”. Based on these surveys, we are trying to organize events to meet their interests, and to further familiarize the Croatian people with the Japanese culture, particularly in a way that participants can actually experience it first-hand. For example, in March we held the Japan Week where we had daily lectures and workshops on tea ceremony, “ikebana” or the Japanese flower arrangements, the Japanese food, martial arts etc., and participants could enjoy and experience the Japanese culture first-hand. I do hope that the Croatian people will broaden their

present the Japanese culture in a comprehensive manner. We regularly announce such events on our Embassy’s official website and Facebook page, so I would like to kindly invite you to follow us. www.hr.emb-japan.go.jp/ itprtop_hr/index.html How would you rate the current external trade between the two countries, and the current situation with the Japanese investments in Croatia?

— In terms of the economic relations, and despite Japan being the 3rd largest economy in the world, it unfortunately ranks only 42nd in

terms of trading with Croatia. According to Japan’s statistics, the total trade volume between Japan and Croatia was 17 billion yen (about 940 million kuna) at its peak (2007). But, during the global economic crisis in the late 2000s, this volume halved. Since then, it has been on the track of recovery, and the trade volume in 2017 reached 13 billion yen (about 720 million kuna). On the other hand, I have to say that the number of investments by the Japanese companies in Croatia is very low. We can single out Kali Tuna and Yazaki Zagreb as successful investors. Kali Tuna is a major tuna farming company in Croatia and owned in 2015 by J-Trading Inc. To develop new markets other than Japan, it has started processing tuna in cooperation with a Croatian company. The company has a valuable contribution to local employment and also to the Croatian economy. Yazaki set up a research base in Zagreb for development of wire harnesses for cars in 1999. It employs qualified engineers from the University of Zagreb. Needless to say, this kind of centre can contribute to resolving the “demographic” problems in Croatia. On the back of such success-

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ful examples, I believe, it is very important for Japanese companies to obtain information about potential and advantages of the business environment in Croatia. To this end, our Embassy is going to organize a Business Mission composed of Japanese companies in cooperation with Ministry of Economy and the Croatian Chamber of Economy in early June. What is the key to understanding the Japanese economy so that, in the future, Croatian business people will not have futile attempts at marketing their goods in Japan?

— Our Prime Minister Mr. Abe has been tackling sluggish economy by his “Abenomics” policy package. The latest statistics show that the GDP growth in 2017 was 1.7% and that the unemployment rate in 2017 was 2.8%. A lot of foreign companies also consider Japanese economy positive and are fascinated by the potential of its market. Croatian tuna, which accounts for nearly 70% of the Croatian exports to Japan, has become popular in Japan because of its high quality. Indeed, Japanese people place great importance on quality. If you could cater to this, you might develop a big business, just like the Croatian tuna did. It is also important for Croatian producers to meet the needs of Japanese sides and to make efforts to finely adjust them. For example, Croatian wines and olive oil are also of high quality, but there are cases where Croatian producers have missed out on the opportunities to export them, because they could not offer their products at large scale, as requested by Japanese importers. In Croatia, I have heard that there is a plan to establish a brand as “products with high quality but with small quantity”. I do hope that satisfying the needs of Japanese importers, such as the Croatian product brand, could be popular in the Japanese market. Tourism is a major business in Croatia. In terms of tourism, how popular is Croatia in Japan?

— Croatia has become very popu-

lar among the Japanese people as a beautiful country to visit, especially thanks to TV programmes, the Internet or magazines. In March, a popular TV programme was broadcast in Japan, where a Japanese woman, who used to be a newscaster, visited Croatia to emulate her private trip to this country she went on earlier. At the end of the programme, she made a comment that, if she was

mean for Croatia?

— Japan and the EU are important global partners which share fundamental values and principles. Based on such relations, these two economies started negotiations under the auspices of the Japan-EU EPA, and the earliest possible time they are able to officially sign it would be this summer. The EPA’s aim is to inspire and encourage trade and investments between

I AM DETERMINED TO MAKE MORE CROATIAN PEOPLE RECOGNIZE AND UNDERSTAND JAPAN AND JAPANESE CULTURE THROUGH CULTURAL EVENTS

invested there some decades ago have got older. Taking the EPA into account, some Japanese companies might consider new investments in renewing their facilities in other countries, including Croatia, in order to make them more profitable and of course, where the investment climate is better. To take this opportunity, I believe that the Croatian side should put in effort to attract Japanese companies. For example, other countries have prepared brochures not only in English but also in the Japanese language. I do hope that such PR efforts will be considered by Croatia too. Bearing in mind that the two countries have not concluded a double taxation agreement, how big are the current obstacles, and is there any indication that they could be removed in the near future?

asked to recommend which country to visit among many countries that she had been to, she would absolutely pick Croatia, because of its beauty, kindness of Croatian people, and everything in Croatia that is worth visiting. Professor Motoshige Itoh gave an important lecture on the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) last year. What does this Agreement

the two economies by eliminating barriers or regulations. You might wonder how can the economic relations between Japan and Croatia improve once EPA bolsters the relations between Japan and EU? Some 90% of investments in Central and Eastern Europe by Japanese companies are made in 5 countries, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. However, the facilities

— This is a very timely question. There is no Tax Convention between Japan and Croatia, but to prepare for the future, we recognize that such tax arrangements will be necessary. In fact, the tax authorities of the two countries had already conducted negotiations about the Tax Convention and in principle, reached an agreement this March. This includes provisions for eliminating international double taxation and preventing tax evasion and avoidance. After the internal procedures are completed, the Convention will be signed and enter into force after the approval process in both countries is finalized. In terms of bilateral agreements, the Japanese and Croatian aviation authorities are currently negotiating with the view of drafting the Air Service Agreement. Finally, Japan is a candidate for the EXPO in 2025, with the topic “Designing Future Society for Our Lives”. Our aim is to design future vision of sustainable economy and society where human beings can continue to enjoy their lives while making the most of their potential. I would deeply appreciate if Croatia gives its valuable support to Japan. Hvala!

DECORATION FOR THE MAYOR OF BIOGRAD NA MORU The Government of Japan has recently decided to confer a decoration on Mr. Ivan Knez, Mayor of Biograd na Moru, for his contribution toward promoting understanding of Japan in Croatia and regional exchanges between the two countries. The Mayor

initiated a ceremony commemorating victims of the atomic bombs thrown on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which is held in Biograd na Moru every August. The Embassy of Japan would like to express its deepest gratitude and congratulations to the Mayor.

I NTERVIEW

We Can do Well Together I am proud of the fact that I have known this country since its re-birth and that I have witnessed its important progress. I believe that Croatia has fantastic development opportunities for its society and economy, amplified by the opportunities offered by the Single Market

H.E. LARS SCHMIDT Ambassador of Sweden

It is not that common that an ambassador gets to know a country in which he will later serve, as a child, then live in the country during the hardest period in its recent history, and then witness the re-birth of the country and its successful accession into the European family. H.E. Mr. Lars Schmidt, Ambassador of Sweden in Croatia, has witnessed all these moments. Additionally, and under his watch, the already good relations between his home country and Croatia became better than ever before. At the end of his tenure in Zagreb, he shared with the readers of Diplomacy and Commerce his memories about the fan-

tastic changes Croatia went through, recent developments in the diplomatic relations between Sweden and Croatia and his personal impressions of the country and its people. At present, Sweden and Croatia cooperate within the

tia is very diverse, and there is something for everyone – not only on the coastline during summer. There is so much more to explore.” How will you remember your days in Croatia?

THE SUCCESSFUL LONG-TERM COOPERATION BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES IS EMBODIED IN ERICSSON NIKOLA TESLA, WHICH HOLDS A STRATEGIC VALUE IN OUR ECONOMIC RELATIONS NOW AND IN THE FUTURE EU system in numerous fields, and contacts between officials and citizens of the two countries have been rapidly developing. “The most important thing is to keep talking to each other because we can do well together in many areas”, says H.E. Mr. Lars Schmidt. The ambassador has a very special message for his compatriots, who are just starting to discover Croatia: “Croa-

— During the homeland war, I was here as a member of the UN forces and later, in Brussels, I followed the negotiation process and the interim period until EU and Croatian leaders signed the accession treaty and Croatia became an EU member. I am proud of the fact that I have known this country since its re-birth and that I have witnessed its important progress.

I believe that Croatia has fantastic development opportunities for its society and economy, amplified by the opportunities offered by the Single Market. What were the most important bilateral activities that improved the relations between Sweden and Croatia during your mandate?

— I am proud to say that the bilateral relationship between Croatia and Sweden has never been so good, with the rapidly developing contacts between our officials and citizens. We had an exchange of state visits, with President Grabar-Kitarović visiting Sweden in 2017. Gripen’s comprehensive offer, which Sweden presented in the procurement of combat planes, was also one of the milestones, as well as focusing on innovation and entrepreneurship. Croatia is a hit tourist destination for the Swedes in 2018. According to the relevant surveys

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and the current sales figures, Croatian destinations are recording a boost in sales. This is a continuation of the positive trends noted during 2017 when there were 312,000 arrivals and 1.7 million overnight stays of the Swedish tourists, which, compared to 2016, was a 16% increase in arrivals and 13% in overnight stays. A direct flight between Zagreb and Stockholm was re-established as a useful addition to charter flights that link Croatia and Sweden during the tourist season, but also very useful for business people travelling to either country. How did Croatia’s membership in the EU affect the bilateral cooperation between the two countries?

couraging to see such a strong economic exchange between the two countries which is very cutting-edge as well, and involves innovative companies. Over 50 Swedish companies in Croatia employ 5,000 people and generate close to 500 million euros in annual turnover. The successful long-term cooperation between the two countries is embodied in Ericsson Nikola Tesla, which

and trade relations between our countries, as well as a mechanism for sharing knowledge, standards and ideas. What would you recommend to the Croatian policy makers when it comes to future cooperation with Sweden?

— Croatian decision makers, just like ours, consider the future of their citizens as a priority. In terms

mend to your fellow citizens to see?

— I first came to Croatia with my parents when I was a child and the country looked just like my neighbourhood, not very far from where I came. Then I was here during the homeland war, and moved to Croatia with my family in 2013. All in all, Croatia has gone through tremendous changes over a relatively short period of time.

CROATIA IS A HIT TOURIST DESTINATION FOR THE SWEDES IN 2018. THIS IS NOT SURPRISING. CROATIAN HOSPITALITY IS AN EXPORT COMMODITY!

You have entered the EU which increased your export to the EU member states and created an opportunity for your citizens to travel more, and study and work abroad. You built a great road in-

of Sweden, we are experienced in having an open economy where change is a positive factor. Change cannot be stopped, and the state must support those people who are negatively affected by specific events such as a factory closing. Training, supporting SMEs or similar measures need to be put in place. I hope that Croatian politicians will continue to boost free trade.

frastructure, re-established the very successful tourism industry and you remain wonderful and welcoming people. Croatian hospitality is an export commodity!

— Even before Croatia formally became an EU member, Croatia and Sweden were prepared for legal harmonisation while creating opportunities for trade and economic cooperation. Now, we are cooperating in numerous fields within the EU system, and Croatia is our important partner. There is much that we agree on but there are differences as well. The most important thing is to keep talking to each other because we can do well together in many areas. The EU is about finding common ground and moving forward together, as a union, with shared responsibility. How would you rate the cooperation between the two countries in the security area? What topics are in focus at the moment?

— Croatia and Sweden have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on defence cooperation, and we are working together both bilaterally and multilaterally. There is also a close cooperation on other aspects of security, such as counterterrorism and organised crime. What would you single out when it comes to external trade and investment opportunities?

— In general, I think it is en-

holds a strategic value in our economic relations now and in the future. The value of the Swedish exports to Croatia last year was 126.5 million euros, while the Croatian exports to Sweden amounted to 113.5 million euros. This year, we established the Swedish Business Club with a goal of bringing together the promotion of Sweden and Swedish companies under one roof, and with the focus on the Swedish values. We hope that the Club will also act as a two–way channel for bolstering commercial

How has your image of Croatia changed since you first came here? What would you recom-

— I would recommend to the Swedes coming here not to spend all their time on the beach, but to investigate the interesting history you can see in this country, and the beautiful nature in other parts of the country other than the coast. Croatia is very diverse, and there is something for everyone – not only on the coastline, in summer. There is so much more to explore.

WE HAVE MORE SIMILARITIES THAN DIFFERENCES What do you see as major similarities and differences between Croats and Swedes? — The long history of bilateral relations, the very successful and well-integrated Croatian diaspora in Sweden and the friendship between our countries shows that there are more similarities than differences. We perceive Croatians as a well-educated,

talkative and friendly nation, which I can confirm from my own experience too. We often agree in foreign relations matters but sometimes we are on other sides of the table. However, our diversity should not be a source of division among us, but rather it should enable us to enrich each other. I like Croatian curiosity, so use it!

H E L P IN G T H E P O O R

How Ethiopia is Building a Social Safety-Net If it succeeds, it could be a model for national welfare systems in poor countries

TSIDE ZEWIDE has lived in the shadow of the national palace in Addis Ababa for more than fifty years. Since her husband died four years ago the 73 year-old has cared for three orphans, the grandchildren of her late sister, alone in a rundown government-owned shack. She has no pension, and, until recently, had no income. “I relied on the kindness of my neighbours,” she sighs. Last year Mrs Zewide’s fortunes changed. She and some 80 of her neighbours rise at dawn to sweep the streets of the Ethiopian capital for three hours a day. For this she is paid 1,200 Ethiopian birr ($44) a month, a fifth of which she must put away in savings. “It’s good for me psychologically,” says. “It keeps me busy, and now at least I can tell people I have a job.” Her teammates nod in agreement. They are participants in Ethiopia’s Urban Productive Safety Net Project, which launched in 2017 and is among the largest social programmes in sub-Saharan Africa (outside South Africa) designed specifically for urban areas. About 400,000 poor Ethiopians in 11 cities are already enrolled, and the government hopes it will eventually help 4.7m people in almost 1,000 towns. Beneficiaries are selected by a neighbourhood committee which chooses the poorest or most vulnerable. In addition to the paid work, they are also giving training. Those who want to start their own businesses are given grants. Safety-nets in one form or another have proliferated across Africa in recent years. Spending on them in sub-Saharan Africa now amounts to about 1.5% of GDP (see chart). In Tanzania 10% of the population is covered by its safety-net (though at a cost of just 0.3% of GDP). Most schemes in Africa are focused on rural people and many are temporary, often implemented by donors in response to natural disasters or conflict. Few are designed to help households manage the private misfortunes—like illness or the death of a family member—that can tip them into destitution. And very few are designed to reduce the chronic unemployment that has taken root in many African cities. Ethiopia’s programme is a step towards building a national social-security system that will, in time, replace a hotch-potch of small ones. It builds on Ethiopia’s flagship rural safety-net, which is the largest of its kind on the continent and covers some 10m poor people in the countryside. The government has

committed $150m to fund the new scheme and the World Bank has stumped up the remaining $300m needed for the first five years. Ethiopia hopes that within 10 years it will not need help financing the programme. For years the Ethiopian government had flinched at terms like “social protection”. But donors are hopeful that it now considers the safety-net a long-term policy rather than “than a sticking plaster that won’t be necessary once industrialisation takes off,” says Tom Lavers of Manchester University. But, he notes, antipathy towards Western-style welfarism remains strong.

THE BIGGEST DILEMMA LIES IN THE FACT THAT EVEN THE BROADEST SAFETY-NETS IN AFRICA ONLY COVER A SMALL PORTION OF THE POOR

The government flatly rejected the idea of nostrings cash handouts, which are popular among donors and development economists, partly because they are cheap to administer. “People can’t expect a free lunch,” says Belynshe Regassa, the head of Mrs Zewide’s local committee Ethiopia’s rural scheme, which helps about 10m people (in a population of about 102m), is widely regarded as a success. It has reduced rural poverty and helped the poor buy food during a drought in 2016 that might have led to famine. But towns and cities are a different challenge altogether. It can be hard to know where and who are the very poorest. Applicants must have lived in the district for at least six months to be eligible, so transient urban folk may slip through the net. Mrs Regassa says locals complained to her when they were not selected by the committee. Critics complain that supporters of the ruling party are more likely to get picked. Despite such gripes, Ethiopia’s experience suggests that even poor countries can start extending social safety-nets. If Ethiopia is to achieve its goal of weaning the scheme off donor support, it may have to make cuts to other social programmes, which would be politically painful. The biggest dilemma lies in the fact that even the broadest safety-nets in Africa only cover a small portion of the poor. Mrs Regassa of the local committee is not eligible for help because she owns her own house. But as a single mother with four children—she hopes the programme will one day include her, too. From The Economist, published under licence. The original article, in English, can be found on www.economist.com

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REPO RTAGE Text: RUŽA RISTANOVIĆ

New magic in Korčula De Canavellis The ambiance of the ancient palace, that houses the restaurant, evokes romance all of its own. And with the fairytale surroundings and the amber light of the setting sun, the restaurant needs no further decoration

Following the opening of the De Canavellis restaurant, Korčula, with its enological and gastronomic offer, definitely occupies the first place not only in the South Adriatic, but also in a wider area. This is a long-awaited fine dining project that is supposed to elevate Koručula to a higher level. Slowly but surely, Korčula is becoming the capital of the Croatian gastronomy. This excellent new place definitely pushes the envelope and sets incredibly high standards. Prepared by the head Chef Matija Bogdan, straight from a London-based Michelin star restaurant, the gastronomic delights this restaurant offers have elevated the Korčula dinning to a superior level that has been sorely missing from

the dining scene. In collaboration with the phenomenal Igor Gudac, who is known for his positive energy, Chef Matija and his fantastic team cook with utter precision while creating a wonderful fusion of textures and taste. The food that comes out of De Canavellis’ kitchen is a treat to the palate and sends a clear message of its capability and ambitions. The menu is well balanced with the focus on quality local produce, presented in the most exquisite of dishes. The menu exceeds the initial expectations, it offers the depth of flavour and is a delight to the senses. Fresh Adriatic fish and fresh produce, which Matija and his team buy every day from locals, is at the core of the menu. The wine on the menu is well thought

out, with a wide selection of quality local and regional wines, as well as international staples. The ambience of the old Korčula palace of the Kanavelić family is in itself inspiring and unique, with the selected pieces of furniture further enriching the space. Petar Kanavelić was a Croatian poet and playwright and one of the greatest Croatian writers of the 17th

century. The last male descendant of this old, wealthy and respectable Korčula family also had a number of other roles (teacher, lawyer, diplomat). A bar area is situated in front of the restaurant with one-of-a-kind views of the Western waterfront and one of the most beautiful sunsets. The bar's wine list and the selection of cocktails and other drinks are impressive. We have one more interesting thing to add. Today, when many young people are unfortunately leaving the country, the restaurant's manager Carmen Tomašić, a young Australian Croat with an impressive gastronomic biography, has returned to Croatia. This restaurant will firmly lodge itself into the hearts of locals and visitors!

C O RPO RATE NEM 2018

Broke Previous Records with The Highest Attendance So Far

NEM 2018, an event dedicated to the television industry with an emphasis on the CEE region, was held last week from June 11 to 14 in beautiful Dubrovnik in the Dubrovnik Palace Hotel

For the sixth year in a row, NEM opened its doors to media experts and this year it gathered more than 800 participants, which marks a new record for attendance. With a little over 50 panelists, top professionals in the television industry who shared their experiences and knowledge with the audience and colleagues, this year's NEM attracted a variety of visitors from all over the world. NEM 2018 will be remembered for its interesting panel discussions, such as “Pay TV: Keeping up with… The Digital Content Game”, where Salim Mukaddam, General Manager and Vice President of BBC Worldwide for CEE, stated that “people are platform-agnostic, wherever the content is, they’re going there”. NEM 2018’s focus on locally-produced content was once again confirmed by Katharina Behrends, NBCUniversal’s Managing Director for CEE, who pointed out that Pay TV should be adjusted to local communities. One of the hottest topics out there, just a day before the start of the football World Cup, was a panel about the high prices of football rights, which are a result of a multitude of factors. Alex Pinheiro Rotter from Mediapro put it the following way: “Sports is the only property that can bring a lot of audience in a specific time slot, unlike any other property. Even though the interest is highest in the local league, the demand for premium international content, such as the UEFA Champions League and the Big Five, definitely exists.“ The two panels dedicated to

local production showed us that local content seems to perform best with the audience for most of the FTAs. Henning Tewes, CEO of RTL Croatia, Matthias Settele, General Director of TV Markiza, Dražen Mavrić, Head of the Management Board at Nova TV, Gabriella Vidus, CEO of RTL Hungary, and Pete Smith, Managing Director of Antenna International, concluded that there is a need for quality screenwriters and that the main drawbacks of local production are its price and the risks that come out of it when discussing younger demographics and digital trends. Discussing piracy in the region, Damir Novinić, Advisor to the General Manager of Croatian Radiotelevision, said we got ourselves to blame: “Piracy is growing because we are allowing it. We are very inert, very slow to react.” Damir Hajduk, Chairman of the Croatian Agency for Electronic Media, concluded “there is a culture of piracy we have to address”, agreeing with other panelists that enforcing co-

operation between all stakeholders is a crucial step in addressing the problem of piracy. One of the most interesting presentations was surely the one by Arash Pendari on applying AI in the TV industry. Unlike the traditional shallow metadata, Arash’s team at Vionlabs worked in a completely new direction using emotional audio data to provide an advanced user experience for the consumers with individualized content and AI-generated movie trailers. Another look into the future was provided by LG Electronics which gave insight into a whole new era of television with a presentation by Gyorgy Takacs. The endless possibilities of this amazing TV as well as the best viewing experience make LG OLED TV the leader in premium technologies with ultimate picture quality, ultimate design, and smart artificial intelligence. How to revamp a 130-year-old brand was a question answered by

WITH A LITTLE OVER 50 PANELISTS, THIS YEAR'S NEM ATTRACTED A VARIETY OF VISITORS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD

Christian Brent, SVP of Research & Strategy at National Geographic, in an amazing and emotional presentation. Exclusive screenings were also part of NEM 2018 and, as every year, participants and guests could see new formats by renowned distribution companies (Global Agency, Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, MGM, BBC Studios, Keshet International). Opportunities for networking and socializing were at every turn, with coffee breaks being sponsored by renowned companies such as Viacom, Comcast, A1 Broadcasting and Turkish Airlines. There were also wine tastings organized by Irdeto, as well as a fabulous Wine Tasting with Pickbox in cooperation with Jakovac Wines. Nevertheless, true networking was happening at traditional NEM evening parties. The first day started with a wonderful sunset and welcome drink by NBCUniversal & Comcast, the second day was concluded with an exclusive party by NEM’s long-time sponsor Eutelsat at the Vala Beach of the Dubrovnik Palace Hotel, whereas FOX Networks Group took care of the exclusive ending of NEM 2018 at the Banje Beach Club in the old town of Dubrovnik. NEM 2018 has confirmed the exclusivity of its event and once again proved itself as an important event of the media industry and a loyal partner to its visitors. The NEM team would like to thank not only to the sponsors and participants, but also to over 30 media partners that followed NEM and spread the word about event.

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C O LU MN JAGODA POROPAT DARRER

Business Communications Professional

HEATED UP CEREMONIAL SPEECH

The sermon speech that Reverend Bishop Michael Curry gave last month on the occasion of the Royal Wedding of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, surprised all, while eliciting approval and admiration on one side, and causing rather perplexed looks, on the other. No matter what the reactions were, the Reverend fulfilled the number one rules of rhetoric - communicate strategically

What we saw and heard from the Reverend Bishop Michael Curry, during the wedding ceremony of the Queen Elizabeth's grandson, Prince Harry and the American actress Meghan Markle, was a sermon, in the most American way possible, as media call it. The wedding ceremony was being presided over by the Dean of Windsor and the Archbishop of Canterbury, while Curry delivered the sermon. It lasted for 14 minutes, eight minutes longer than planned thus breaking away with the protocol. Time wasn’t the only thing that the Reverend surprised his audience with. “As he made reference to slavery, first loves and young loves, sacrifice, redemption, invention, innovation, the Industrial Revolution and social media, he captivated the worldwide audience. He seamlessly blended lessons of the Bible with the challenges the world faces today, integrating the two to deliver a message unlike anything ever heard before at a royal wedding”, writes Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas for the Chicago Tribune. Chicago born, Michael Curry, the Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church, began his sermon during the wedding by quoting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s words: “We must discover the power of love, the redemptive power of love. And when we do that, we will make of this old world a new world. Love is the only way”. But not only did the Reverend’s words referenced Martin Luther King’s, there were also several more rhetorical features to be mentioned when talking about his fiery speech. First of all, there was the rhythm! Rhythm, the most global of all speech forms, proved to be, not only the most interesting

aspect of the speech, but also the decisive one in achieving the most important goal in public speaking – that is, influencing the audience (Marko Liker: Rhythm in Martin Luther, Jr.’s speech “I have a dream”, 2007). Repetition of words and concepts contributed to the specific rhythm of his speech. He mentioned the word love 65 times, making it his leitmotif, in addition to the metaphor of fire. His verbal cues were well-accompanied by the nonverbal ones - gestures, body movements, mimics and his voice. Curry recite by repeating phrases, using

short sentences, changing the tone, volume, pitch and pace of his voice while trying to transmit power and ardor for love that change the world. While speaking, he raises his hands, his arms are up over the shoulders, he is constantly waving, going up and down. Candles on the podium almost fell due to the shaking and trembling as a result of Reverend Curry’s perpetual moving. Another peculiarity of his public speaking is quite evident, and that is his close interaction with the audience, not only through his body language but also when he directly addresses his au-

RHYTHM, THE MOST GLOBAL OF ALL SPEECH FORMS, HAS THE MOST IMPORTANT GOAL IN PUBLIC SPEAKING, THAT IS INFLUENCING THE AUDIENCE

dience by asking them to nod their heads if they agreed. Or, for example, when he felt that he had exceeded the given time (which he actually did by 8 minutes), he said: “…With this, I will sit down, we got to get you all married.” The feeling is that he is conversing with his audience, making himself part of them. Although, the address was far from the traditional aristocratic Anglican ex-cathedra sermon, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who married Harry and Meghan, said of the sermon: "I think what we saw in that is that preaching is not a past art, the use of language to communicate the good news of Jesus Christ just blew the place open, it was fantastic." The impact of his ardent words is still echoing. Approximately 1.9 billion people heard his sermon all over the world, and it peaked at 40,000 tweets a minute when he delivered his fervent address, according to Twitter. All the greatest speeches in history have their own memorable phrases. Perhaps, Reverend Curry’s speech will be remembered for its zeal and passion, as well as for its universal hope that love will help the world to heal, which was strategically communicated at the royal wedding for fourteen minutes while being watched by the whole world. “If you don't believe me, just stop and think and imagine, think and imagine, well, think and imagine a world where love is the way. Imagine our homes and families when love is the way. Imagine neighborhoods and communities where love is the way. Imagine governments and nations where love is the way. Imagine business and commerce when love is the way. Imagine this tired old world when love is the way”.

C O RPO RATE EQUESTRIS

Experts for Data-Driven Storytelling EQUESTRIS Consultancy specializes in strategic communications, advocacy, regulatory environment and public policies management, crisis management, and reputation management

SANDRO BARIČEVIĆ Proprietor and CEO of EQUESTRIS

We are talking with the founder, owner and CEO of EQUESTRIS, Mr. Sandro Baričević, a renowned expert in the field of communications with many years of domestic and international experience.

After working in corporate world here and abroad for so many years, what spurred you to found a company and what exactly EQUESTRIS does?

— The idea of establishing a company came to me when I realized that marrying of the international experience and the quality of life in Croatia was a winning combination in order to harmonize private and professional life. The fact that my wife Koraljka is of the same profession with many years of experience in the communications

industry, the idea that we would run a business together was somehow a natural and logical decision. EQUESTRIS is a specialized agency offering services in the field of strategic communications, advocacy, regulatory environment and public policies management, crisis management and reputation management. In the field of data-driven strategic communications, in which we closely specalize, we are able to offer a special service of optimization of corporate brand or brand narrative based on strategic empirical insights which differentiates us from others in the market. We use market research and public opinion research as well as big data with the support of advanced analytical software solutions. In this way, we come up with insights that enable our clients to respond accurately to the most complex communication and, ultimately, business challenges.

When you say that you are different from others in the communications services market, can you tell us how do you make this difference and what exactly does it entail?

— Our knowledge and expertise is based on specific cases, solutions and experiences that we acquired during many years in the multinational, regional and local business environment and with all relevant stakeholders in the society. I mentioned that we use the most advanced analytical tools and artificial intelligence for the extremely fast development and calibration of the Communication Narrative for any audiences, be it consumers, employees, or stakeholders. Using this approach is certainly a step forward that enables real-time simulation of potential communication results and the immediate adaptation. Empirical research and accurate metrics are a crucial factor in identifying strong

EQUESTRIS CONSULTANCY SPECIALIZES IN STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS, ADVOCACY, REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC POLICIES MANAGEMENT, CRISIS MANAGEMENT, AND REPUTATION MANAGEMENT

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and weak points of the strategy used, and are extremely important in making business decisions.

Do you think that there is enough potential in Croatia for the business activities you have mentioned?

— Croatia certainly has, not only potential, but, I would also say, the need for such support in management and in doing business. To be different is a challenge, but primarily a necessity for a successful business. At a time when the market is saturated with a bunch of products and services and countless entrepreneurial projects, it's very important to stand out and attract the targeted audience. This prominence is achieved by having an undoubtedly authentic message that resonates with the targeted public and provides a service accordingly Only authentic messages are recognized by the users, who recognize this message and have a positive response to it. In this respect, research, measurement and analysis should undoubtedly be an indispensable link in the business language of each company. Business communication is both the science and the art of using the narrative to communicate and connect with employees, customers, partners, stakeholders, or anyone involved in the business we are doing. The business story must have a certain goal and a desired outcome. It is very easy for our clients, large corporations, to offer clear, empirically proven authentic messages that will build trust with their end users and ultimately help in achieving a profitable business growth and long-term sustainable development of the organization.

What is so special about the EQUESTRIS team?

— In terms of communication experts, EQUESTRIS brings together a team of people who demonstrate their best knowledge and expertise in all segments of communica-

WE ARE CURRENTLY LOOKING FOR JUNIOR COMMUNICATION ADVISORS TO PREPARE THEM FOR THE MOST COMPLEX COMMUNICATION AND BUSINESS CHALLENGES THROUGH EDUCATION AND TRAINING tion support to clients. Apart from me, as the founder and CEO of the agency, there is my wife, Koraljka Baričević as the Client Services Director, and Mihaela Latinac as the Data Scientis. As we are growing fast, we are currently looking for junior communication advisors to prepare them for the most complex communication and business challenges through education and training. With over 24 years of diverse international experience in business management, corporate communications and corporate public policies, of which 17 years at The Coca-Cola Company (the Director of Communication for Europe), my experience also includes two terms as the Chief Treasurer of the American Chamber of Commerce in Croatia (AmCham Croatia), and

two terms as the President of the Croatian Public Relations Association (HUOJ). I have also gained a wealth of experience in areas such as sustainable business, public policy advocacy, relationship with government institutions, brand PR and relationships with local communities. I am a certified communication expert, a graduate of the international MBA programme in marketing and finance and the winner of the European Excellence Award (2010), given by the European Association of Communication Managers. Koraljka, who is in the position of Client Services Director at EQUESTRIS, also has many years of professional experience in communications in the corporate sector as a Public Relations Man-

ager of the multinational company, Coop Hypermarkets and in the non-governmental sector as the Secretary General of the Croatian Public Relations Association, the umbrell organization of communication professionals in the Republic of Croatia. I would also like to single out her wealth of experience in media relations, event management and internal and external communication, as well as in media and public appearance. She has participated in communication projects for non-governmental organizations and state institutions, including traning at the European Commission Representation in Croatia. Mihaela Latinac joined our company only recenlty in the position of Data Scientist and has already significantly contributed to boosting our team with her experience in the field of market research and the use of advanced analytical and artificial intelligence tools. Previously, she worked at Ipsos Puls Research Agency and before that at Biometrica Helathcare Research. She is also a recipient of a training scholarship in the field of Data Science provided by Bertelsmann and Udacity.

Generally speaking, how do you see the future of the communications industry in five years?

— As of recently, we have several communications study programmes in Croatia which enable young people to prepare well for the beginning of their career in communications and public relations. We expect that there will be a qualitative shift in the labour market when it comes to the experts in the communications industry and the offer of services. We also expect that the role of quantitative methodologies and advanced analytics will become more important and more present, which, in turn, means that the public relations services themselves will gain on quality, distinctiveness and significance to board chairpersons and board members.

EQUESTRIS AS THE LEADING CONSULTANCY How do you see your agency in the future? — Following my business vision, in five years, I see EQUESTRIS as the leading consulting company in the field of strategic communications with motivated professionals in whose education we have been continually and significantly investing. I also see EQUESTRIS as a successful company in the international market. All this will be accomplished with the use of state-of-the-art analytical solutions and, last but not least important, with the very good know-how and understanding of foreign business markets and inter-cultural differences. We also specialize in the Anglo-Saxon and Italian markets, due to the excellent knowledge of these business environments and cultures and our knowledge of the English and Italian language.

C O RPO RATE

Team Chemistry is the Key We have never viewed demanding clients as a problem. We are confident that the more expertise our clients have, the greater is their ability to recognize our own expertise and the strength of our team and its individuals

MARIO LOVRIĆ Managing Director of UM Agency, Zagreb

The agency that Mario Lovrić helms in Croatia is the regional leader in its respective industry. UM Zagreb is the four-time winner of Effie Croatia Grand Prix which is quite unique because no other agency has ever accomplished anything like that. How much is team spirit an important segment in making an agency a successful one , and how much do you insist on team members expressing their individuality and personality?

— We have abundant expertise and experience to succeed in the work we do. Whenever any client or partnering agency meets us, it is very important that each of our employees individually validates their expertise and position themselves as an authority. It is equally important for our partners to feel that we are a well-coordinated team. In short, we are a strong team comprised of strong individuals.

The secret of team chemistry lies in your colleagues knowing that you are there for them, especially in difficult moments. We also develop this chemistry through having mutual respect at all levels, a healthy dialogue where everyone has the right to express their opinion, and through the exchange of professional knowhow. I believe that our team has been achieving exactly that with a remarkably high quality for many years now, and that the name of our agency is synonymous with reliability and professionalism. I am very proud that I have been at the helm of such a team for nearly four years. There isn't a single advertiser or an agency that has won that many Grand Prix awards as you have. For which campaign did you receive the last award?

our client should also be credited for such a great success and many awards that the beer Ožujsko received up to this moment. According to the 2017 Efficiency Index, you were placed first as the most efficient market communications agency in Croatia. How difficult is it to work against such a fierce competition and increasingly demanding clients?

— To win the first place as the most efficient agency in our market, along with our peers from McCann Zagreb, is certainly a validation of how committed our group is to the success of our clients. We have never viewed demanding clients as a problem. We are confident that the more expertise our clients have, the greater is their ability to recognize our own expertise and the strength of our team and its individuals.

TODAY, WE ARE NO LONGER DOING CAMPAIGNS FOR OUR CUSTOMERS, BUT RATHER HAVING THE "ALWAYS ON" — We won the latest Effie Grand Prix award for our Zagrebačka Pivovara campaign in the category of "long-term efficiency", and the winning project was called "Žuja Rules" which was implemented in the period from 2015 to 2017. We are particularly pleased to have won, together with our client, in this category because this award validates the long-term success of our cooperation because this is a client with which we have been working with for over 25 years. I would like to underline that the quality cooperation with other agencies of

How important is it for a full-service media agency such as yours to recognize good opportunities? What constitutes a good opportunity and how much does customer-agency relationship last today?

— The clients we mostly work with care a great deal about longterm cooperationor dare I say it - partnership. Our clients are, by far, the most successful global, regionaland local businesses so it is very important for their partners to match their high professional and ethical standards.

Long-term partnerships offer some stability, but we are aware that we need to justify the confidence our client has in us over and over again, with every working day. By fostering this kind of approach with most of our clients, we have achieved long-term cooperation, for example, with the aforementioned Zagrebačka Pivovara (since 1992) and Coca-Cola (since 1990). How much is the market changing today, and with that, the needs of customers? The emphasis is now on digital. However, how many traditional types of media are continuing to participate in campaign placement. How can you strike a balance since all communication channels are still used to a lesser or greater extent?

— The key to success in our business is to create a tailor-made strategy for each client and to integrate all media into a common communication strategy. The emergence of digital media, as well as the incredible range of features they offer, has made our business more complex, now more than ever. Today, we are no longer doing campaigns for our customers, but rather having the "always on" approach, where communication never ceases,and where the ascend of social media ensures a two-way communication. This, on one hand, empowers customers and consumers, but also creates an opportunity for brands to have their satisfied consumers as the best medium, provided the brand communication is of high quality, truthful and relevant.

MY DREAM JOB Have you ever pictured yourself at the forefront of a large communications system and how much is this job a "dream job" for you? — Twelve years ago, as a young man, I started working in the industry that I was irresistibly attracted too. At that time, I was not completely aware of my potential, but my first mentors were the ones to quickly notice my passion for work and sense of responsibility. I have never been afraid to seize the opportunities I have been offered and I have always bravely tackled business challenges ahead. In short, although I did not picture myself as a manager at this level in the beginning of my career, the job that I am currently doing really fulfills me. I feel that I am in the right place in this agency and I really care about my co-workers and partners with whom I've been working on a daily basis for six years now. In such circumstances, a person really has the opportunity to incorporate a large part of themselves into their job.

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C O LU MN DANIJEL KOLETIĆ

CEO of Apriori World

APRIORI WORLD

BRANDING AND TOURISM

In the past, by picking a certain tourist destination, royal family members actually turned that destination into a brand, especially through word-ofmouth marketing which transformed this destination into an object of desire and, at the same time, into a brand

In Croatia's example, these destinations would be Opatija and Crikvenica. Owing to the fact that members of the Austro-Hungarian royal family picked these two destinations for their holiday, the famous Karolina road, the first road to link the Pannonian and Adriatic region via the Zagreb - Karlovac – Bakar segment, branching towards Crikvenica, came about. Both destinations - Opatija and Crikvenica – also became health tourism brands. On a wider scale, it was London, Vienna, St. Petersburg, Paris, Rome, Monte Carlo, Nice, St Tropez, Florence and many other European cities that were also considered brands at that time. The famous Orient Express train turned cities into brands too. In terms of our region, many spas also became branded destinations, so it is safe to say that health tourism is the forerunner of the serious destination branding. Digital platforms have changed branding in tourism, and we are not only talking about state, city, natural attractions found in national parks kind of branding. Digital platforms have enabled certain areas closely related to tourist destinations to be branded in a financially accessible way too. I am referring to different festivals - cultural, gourmet, and sports, such as bicycle racing, marathons, wine and food festivals. One has to wonder what does it take to have good tourism branding. First and foremost, it is a good story or good content. In translation, this means creativity. However, creativity requires vision, synergy, communication and marketing messages, as well as superb photographic and video production. All this, in turn,

needs a certain investment. Any branding, including the one in tourism, carries potential risks. The greatest risks related to branding in today's day and age are related to the thing that we are all fighting against - terrorism. Back in the day, not so long ago, in the second half of the 20th century, airline companies fought against terrorist hijackings while today, all the effort and millions invested in branding a single country or a tourist destination, can all perish as a result of terrorist attacks. The biggest challenge facing countries and tourist destinations lies in the parameters used when each of us selects a tourist destination. This selection of

There are cities that have been traditionally attracting billions of people like the aforementioned London or New York. In the recent history of tourism branding, these are clusters of islands like Bali, the Maldives, the Seychelles and the Canary Islands. The film industry has had one of the biggest influences on branding a tourist destination. Tourist destinations have transitioned from cinema screens to tablets, PCs and mobile phones. Today, we can travel through a photo or video story of a particular destination, and thus get to know the destination better, which was not possible before. That is why creating a brand out of a single country or a destina-

CREATIVITY REQUIRES VISION, SYNERGY, COMMUNICATION AND MARKETING MESSAGES, AS WELL AS SUPERB PHOTOGRAPHIC AND VIDEO PRODUCTION cities and places we want to visit also depends on global perception which is created through a series of different stories that go back to history but are upgraded with a clear vision. Certainly, choosing a branded tourist destination depends on many factors that each individual takes into account, their financial capacity and interests.

tion depends on unique stories. In the last 30 or so years, architecture has had one of the key roles in branding destinations. There is the Burj Al Arab Hotel, which design became the symbol of Dubai, while the Burj Khalifa just enriched this story as a new architectural solution. By coming to Bilbao, the Guggenheim Museum has transformed the image

of this destination, just like the famous Bird's Nest stadium did for Bejing. However, the world-renowned Louvre Museum in Paris, with its discreet architectural changes, has created millions-worth of free publicity and a new desire in people to re-discover it. Earlier, we said that we needed a story to create a brand out of a certain destination. Marketing, public relations and digital communication experts stand behind every creative endeavour and every story-telling. If we want to be visible and recognizable, we must also communicate to people who are in that destination because they are the key to success, unless this destination already has a long tourism history, such as Dubrovnik. Certain Southeast European countries, like Greece, have been attracting tourists for years thanks to their history and without being a brand per se, while other countries are still waiting to be discovered. Croatia is one of the countries that is just being discovered, and Dubrovnik is Croatia's gate to tourism. I'm sure that there are very few people among you who have not visited Dubrovnik or Plitvice Lakes yet. Tourism branding today focuses on the interests of individuals, and in an effort to have this kind of branding, we have digital marketing campaigns which goal is to analyse each of the steps made by interested parties in the online space and thus target each individual. Managing digital strategies with top-notch preparation allows for branding of tourist destinations that do not have a lot of financial resources through creating an unusual story and having constant presence in the digital space.

PEO PLE & EVENT S

03 POLAND MAY

NATIONAL DAY

The Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Zagreb held a reception on the occasion of the Constitution Day in the premises of the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall. In his welcoming speech, the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland, H.E. Mr. Andrzej Jasionowski underlined the

significance of the 3rd May Constitution as the first modern constitution in Europe, and the second in the world. Members of the diplomatic corps accredited to Zagreb, representatives of the Polish national minority, and political, cultural, academic and business figures attended the celebration.

H.E. Andrzej Jasionowski, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Croatia

Samobor saxophone quartet

03 B2B BUSINESS PARTY OF

THE ASSOCIATION OF ITALIAN ENTREPRENEURS (UTPUH) IN CROATIA MAY

The B2B Business Party was held in Opatija as an important gathering for entrepreneurs too meet, talk and create opportunities for cooperation through meeting with other UTPUH members. The even was held by the Association of Italian Entrepreneurs in Croatia, and its president, Raoul Cvečić Bole. The Italian Consul General in Rijeka, Paolo Palminteri, Deputy Consul, Massimo Broglia and Ileana Jančić, also from the Consulate, were also in attendance.

Vidoje Vujić (President of HGK's Rijeka branch), Andrea Perkov , Ileana Jančić, Paolo Palminteri, Italian Consul General in Rijeka, Raoul Cvečić Bole,President of UTPUH

Vidoje Vujić and Paolo Palminteri

Raoul Cvečić Bole President of UTPUH

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15 AMCHAM FOREIGN DIRECT MAY

INVESTMENTS – ECONOMIC POLICY FOR ATTRACTING INVESTMENTS

The American Chamber of Commerce in Croatia hosted a business lunch during which the AmCham Recommendations for Improving the Business Environment, as well as the Recommendations for Reform of the Tax System were presented.

H.E. Stefan Estermann, Swiss Ambassador to Croatia

Andrea Doko Jelušić, Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Croatia

16 OUT TO SEA MAY

Mr. Stanko Kršlović (Philip Morris Zagreb) and Mr. Mike Klyszeiko (AmCham Finland, Launchpad USA program), Mr. Zdenko Lucić (Agency for Investments and Competitiveness), Ms Jasminka Barić (Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts), Mr. Hrvoje Jelić (PricewaterhouseCoopers), Andrea Doko Jelušić, Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Croatia

EXHIBITION

In cooperation with the aMore festival, the Swiss Embassy hosted the opening of the popular exhibition called „OUT TO SEA“ for the first time in Zagreb. The exhibition is a project devised by the Museum für Gestaltung from Zurich and has been shown in over 25 big cities worldwide. It attracted over half a million visitors so far. The exhibition illustrates the background of the problems and the fatal consequences faced by the world’s seas, oceans, animals and people.

Mr Antonio Garcia, Export and Investment Attaché, C/O Embassy H.E. Astrid Versto, Norwegian Ambassador to Croatia of Belgium

17 THE MAY

CONSTITUTION DAY OF NORWAY

The Norwegian Ambassador, H.E. Astrid Versto hosted a reception at her residence, marking Norway's Constitution Day. The reception was attended

by many members of the diplomatic corps, the Parliament, representatives of the Government of the Republic of Croatia and business, culture and public figures.

MORE PHOTOS ON

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PEO PLE & EVENT S

22 BUSINESS BREAKFAST OF THE MAY

SLOVENIAN BUSINESS CLUB

The Slovenian Business Club held its Assembly meeting at the Sheraton Hotel in Zagreb, followed by a working breakfast for the Club's members and associates. The meeting was opened by Mr. Saša Muminović, the new president of the Club.

Mr. Nicolas Baron Adamovich, former Chairman of AHK Managing Board, Mr. Sven Thorsten Potthoff, Diretor of AHK, Mr. Pavo Djedović, auditor

Mr. Jakob Štunf, minister plenipotentiary, H.E. Smiljana Knez, Slovenian Ambassador to Croatia

Mr Robert Mustač , Mr Michael Müller, Mr Nicolas Baron Adamovich, Mr Kristijan Kovač, Mrs Dorotea Effenberger, Mr Pavo Djedović, Mrs Suzana josipović, Mr Branimir Kampl, Mr Ralf Blomberg, Mr Sven Thorsten Potthoff

25 REGULAR MEETING OF MAY

Primož Karpe, Chairman of NLB Supervisory Board, Dr Saša Muminović, President of the Slovenian-Croatian Business Club

AHK BOARD MEMBERS

Ralf Bloomberg has been appointed the new President of the German-Croatian Chamber of Industry and Commerce at the Chamber's regular board meeting. New board members and the new board chairman, Ralf Blomberg (from RWE) were appointed following the dissolution of the last board and its president, the brief presentation of new management candidates and the award ceremony at which the EUREM certificates were presented to new European energy managers.

04 DAY OF THE JUN

REPUBLIC OF ITALY

The celebration of the Day of the Republic of Italy was held on the luxurious terrace of the Esplanada Hotel in Zagreb. On the occasion, the Italian Ambassador to Croatia, H.E. Mr. Adriano Chiodi Cianfarani reminded guests of the good relations between the two countries and the fact that they shared the same European values. The National Day of Italy is usually marked on 2nd June, in honour of the country becoming a republic. The reception was attended by a number of the Government representatives, the diplomatic corps, representatives of national minorities in Croatia and public figures.

H.E. Adriano Chiodi Cianfarani, Italian Ambassador to Croatia

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H.E. Mr. Lars Schmidt, Swedish Ambassador to Croatia , Mrs Mirna Jurić

05 RECEPTION IN JUN

HONOUR OF THE BIRTHDAY OF HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II

H.E. Mr. Andrew Stuart Dalgleish, British Ambassador to Croatia

The British Ambassador to Croatia, H.E. Mr. Andrew Stuart Dalgleish hosted a reception at his residence in Zagreb in celebration of the birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The reception was attended by a number of guests from political, public and cultural life, as well as the members of the diplomatic corps. In the garden of his residence, the

British Ambassador to Croatia, H.E. Mr. Andrew Stuart Dalgleish welcomed the guests and reflected on the relations between the two countries over the past year. He noted that it was evident that the two countries had good political and economic relations and cooperation in all fields. After the official part of the reception, the guests enjoyed British music, food and drink.

06 SWEDISH JUN

NATIONAL DAY

On 6th June, 500 years ago, Gustav Vasa, who regaind independence for Sweden, was crowned the king. On the same day, three centuries later, Sweden adopted a new constitution that established rights such as freedom of religion, speech, and the press, and began Sweden’s conversion from an absolute monarchy into a democracy. On this day, this Swedish Ambassy also marked the end of the five-year tenure of Ambassador Lars Schmidt.

Mr Nicolas Baron Adamovich, former Chairman of AHK Managing Board, Sven Thorsten Potthoff, Director of AHK, H.E. Thomas E. Schultze, German Ambassador to Croatia

H.E. Lars Schmidt, Swedish Ambassador to Croatia

Mr Luka Barilović, President of HGK, H.E. Thomas E. Schultze, German Ambassador to Croatia

13 FAREWELL JOUR FIXE OF AMBASSADOR JUN

Mr. Boban Spasojević, Diplomacy&Commerce, Mr. Hrvoje Pokupec, Swedish Embassy

SCHULTZE AND HIS DEPUTY KRAUSS

Over 100 members and guests said farewell to the German Ambassador, H.E. Mr. Thomas E. Schultze and his deputy Andreas Krauß, who spent three years in Croatia, at the traditional Jour Fixe in June. Jour Fixe of two of the highest ranked German diplomats in the country was attended by several high-ranking guests from the political and economic life of Croatia, including Labour and Pension System Minister, Marko Pavić, Assistant Minister of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts, Nataša Kulakowski Kramarić, HDZ Parliamentary Representative, Domagoj Milosevic and President of the Croatian Chamber of Economy, Luka Burilović.

MORE PHOTOS ON

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PEO PLE & EVENT S

13 QUEENÂ´S JUN

BIRTHDAY RECEPTION IN VIENNA

A reception was held at the residence of the British Ambassador in Vienna on the occasion of the celebration of the 92nd birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. Due to the rain, the celebration was not held at the embassy's garden, but in the residence. The sounds of the bagpipes could be heard in the street leading to the residence, and the two bagpipers, dressed in the traditional Scottish costumes, welcomed the guests at the entrance. The interior of the residence was decorated with the UK flag(s), while the celebratory cake was made by the confectioner from the famous Sacher Hotel, especially for this occasion. H.E. Mr. Robert Leigh Turner, the UK Ambassador to Austria, made guests laugh with his jokes during the speech, and also thanked the guests for coming to the Garden Party. After the toast dedicated to Queen Elizabeth and the anthem "God, Save the Queen", the guests raised their glasses and toasted in Queenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s honour. The reception was attended by a number of representatives of the diplomatic corps in Vienna, with the several Austrian officials in attendance, including Wolfgang Sobotka, Speaker of the Austrian Parliament and Finance Secretary, Hubert Fuchs, plus the US Ambassador, H.E. Mr. Trevor Traina, German Ambassador, H.E. Mr. Johannes Haindl, Yukiya Amano from the International Atomic Energy Agency headquartered in Vienna, university rectors Heinz Engl and Eva Blimlinger, as well as Danielle Spera, director of the Jewish Museum in Vienna, and Martin Engelberg who leads the Austrian-British friendship group in the Parliament. The launch of an extension of the international magazine Diplomacy&Commerce magazine, DC Austria, was announced for the November this year, after the magazine's succesful launch in Croatia and Serbia, over two years ago.

Mr Lukas Wiesbock, Press and Public Affairs Officer, the UK Embassy in Vienna

H.E. Robert Leigh Turner, the British Ambassador to Austria, Svetlana Nenadovic Glusac, Diplomacy and Commerce Austria

H.E. Robert Leigh Turner, the British Ambassador to Austria, Mr. Wolfgang Sobotka, Speaker of the Austrian Parliament

H.E. Trevor Traina, the US Ambassador to Austria

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T RA M P L IN G O N T H E F IRS T A M E N DM E N T

Donald Trump and the NFL Why did the league change its anthem rules?

LAST week, the National Football League, a powerful organisation overseeing 32 teams worth a combined $80bn, announced that it would bar its employees from engaging in a peaceable and silent protest at work: kneeling during the pre-game national anthem. If they wanted to stay in the locker room “and out of sight during the anthem” that was fine. But “if they are on the field, they must stand”. The NFL also asserted its commitment to “advance social justice” and “promote positive social change” —precisely the goals of the kneeling protests. This is only the first of several contradictions inherent in the policy. Roger Goodell, the NFL’s commissioner, rued the effect of the protests on the image of players. “It was unfortunate that on-field protests created a false perception among many that thousands of NFL players were unpatriotic,” he said in a statement. “This is not and was never the case.” But if the players weren’t unpatriotic then and still are not, why the major change in between? In 2016, during the summer before the election of President Donald Trump, Colin Kaepernick was the first not to stand. A quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, Mr Kaepernick explained that his gesture—sitting and later kneeling—was a protest against the treatment of black Americans and specifically what he called the “murder” of minorities by police. “There are bodies in the street,” he said. Then Mr Trump was elected. In 2017, in a speech in Alabama, he expressed a desire, referring to a hypothetical kneeling player, to “get that son of a bitch off the field right now.” The president continued to harangue the league and its commissioner in the months that followed, sending dozens of aggrieved tweets that alluded to “respect”, insisted on anthem-standing and badgered for a stricter policy. He even threatened to “Change tax law!” in order to punish the league, which benefits from its tax-exempt status. Mr Kaepernick’s idea spread: during one week in 2017, over 150 players protested. But Mr Trump got his wish, at least in part. After the new policy was announced, he told an interviewer on Fox that he approved, even suggesting he wished the rule were stronger. “Maybe you shouldn’t be in the country” if you don’t “stand proudly” for the anthem, he said. Upon learning of the rule Mike Pence, the vice-president, simply tweeted “#Winning”, with an emoji of the American flag. It is unclear what exactly he thought he had won. None of this has anything to do with football, of course. This is a symbolic debate about sym-

bolic gestures toward a symbolic object hung in the stadiums of a symbolic sport. Before 2009, it wasn’t standard practice for players to be on the field for the anthem at all. But it has sharply divided American opinion. A recent poll found that 53% of American adults believed it was “never appropriate” to protest by kneeling during the national anthem. (Among Republicans, that number was 86%; among Democrats, 29%.) Some 42% thought it ever appropriate. For some, standing is an obviously required gesture of respect, a gesture part and parcel with “America First” and making the country great again. For others, this sort of forced patriotism and slavish

53% OF AMERICAN ADULTS BELIEVED IT WAS “NEVER APPROPRIATE” TO PROTEST BY KNEELING DURING THE NATIONAL ANTHEM “respect” smacks of dictatorships rather than democracies and the short shrift given to the real problems being protested smacks of racism. Whatever the political calculus for Mr Trump or the teams’ owners, this ban may crumble under its own contradictions. Benjamin Sachs, a Harvard Law professor, has argued that the NFL’s new policy is “flatly illegal”. First, he says, the league adopted the policy without bargaining with the NFL Players Association, the players’ union, violating its duty to negotiate in good faith. Second, the policy violates the National Labour Relations Act. Third, it violates the players’ First Amendment rights.

This is perhaps the greatest contradiction: to put your patriotism eggs in a basket that denies what is probably the most famous, and arguably the most important, right guaranteed to Americans by the country’s constitution: the freedom of speech. No one has a constitutional right to play in the NFL, of course. The league can for the most part make its own rules. The First Amendment applies to censorship by the government and not, Mr Sachs writes, to private employers like a football league. But Mr Trump may have scuttled his own ship. He and his administration have been so heavily involved on Twitter and elsewhere— Mr Pence once walked out of 49ers game, his own silent and contradictory protest—that the constitution probably should speak. It seems likely that the league implemented its policy in response to pressure from Mr Trump. And what is that if not governmental censorship? Sports have intense candle power, and have as a result been host to closely examined, and occasionally punished, speech. Some has been offensive, some coarse, and some political. In 2014, a number of NBA superstars wore shirts reading “I Can’t Breathe” during pre-game warmups, a reference to the last words of Eric Garner, a black man who died after being placed in a chokehold by a police officer. That league’s commissioner, Adam Silver, decided not to punish the players, expressing his support for the expression of their personal views. He did, however, wish they would wear their required pre-game apparel, provided by Adidas. From The Economist, published under licence. The original article, in English, can be found on www.economist.com

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PO LI TI C S

Text: ŽELIMIR MARAŠ

Consciously Dellusional Little peoples, what now?

The 2018 Sofia Summit was supposed to be Thessaloniki 2003 Vol. 2 but it turned out it sowed the seeds of pessimism instead of optimism that was overspilling 15 years ago. The key question is: little peoples and states from the Balkans (and further East, like Ukraine, Moldova or Georgia), what are we going to do now? MACRON THE CONSOLIDATING MAN

It is worth reminding that the United Kingdom, the leaving member of the EU, was the main proponent of the Eastward expansion, even endorsing Turkey's membership, let alone the Western Balkans. But, as we said, the UK is is at the exit door, and the leading power Germany, is traditionally sceptical about spending money even for the existing members (Remember Schäuble's rigidity over Greek debt?), and the new members are even less likely to get some cash from the Germans. French President Macron said something East Europe never wanted to hear – that the “enlargement fatigue” is prevalent, and the EU will not admit any new members until it is fully consolidated. Nobody knows when is this going to happen, but it is significant that the EU budget projected for the period until 2027 did not take into account any enlargement costs, practically signalling that there will be no Serbia & Montenegro membership (two memberships, of course) in 2025, and that it will probably happen in 2030, which is 12 years from now. THE DOUBLE FATIGUE

As much as the West is fatigued

with the enlargement, the Western Balkan states and East Europeans are fatigued with the constant and everlasting reforms that don't produce nothing spectacular anyway. So you have the similar situation like with the unification of Germany, but much worse. The West thinks it gave too much already, and the East thinks it did not receive enough. Some people in Moldova are even plotting unification with Romania as a shortcut to the EU, even if it means (inevitably) losing Transnistria and Gagauzia. Albanians in Albania and Kosovo sometimes put out the idea of their unification, without any EU shortcuts (Edi Rama occasionally says something to that end), and Serbian and Montenegrin presidents are bragging that their countries are the first in line (according to Djukanović, Montenegro is even “firster” than Serbia). In fact,

is established, it will be alright”, Kosovo will of course, bloom and flourish once it gets its worldwide recognition, Bosnia will flourish once they get “functional” (whatever that might mean, probably ousting Dodik or something to that end) and so on. Even if the GDP of the Westen Balkan countries and their population accounts for only

ICELAND HAS DECIDED TO STOP ITS EU ACCESSION PROCESS, SINCE IT ASSESSED IT IS BETTER OFF TO BE OUT. BUT WILL EAST EUROPE BE ALLOWED TO MAKE THE SAME CHOICE? strange narratives are being repeated. In Serbia, the government keeps saying that if „the Kosovo issue is resolved, it will result in an expedited accession to the EU”. In Montenegro, back in 2006 it was all about independence, so now that is obtained, it is hard to think up a new motivation for the people, even with the highly unpopular NATO membership, figuratively likened to “the fast motorway to the EU”. Ask Turkey about that, by the way, not Bulgaria. Macedonia is convincing us that “once its name

HOW SOON IS NOW? As the inevitable (anti)hero Morrissey said: “Tomorrow, will it really come? And if it does come, will I stille be human? When you say it's gonna happen NOW, what exactly do you mean? See, I've already waited too long, and all my hope has gone.” How soon is NOW, ladies and gentlemen? How soon is tomorrow?

1 percent of total EU GDP and the population, the chaotic situation here is what scares the Westerners. Media, law, privatisations, corruption, organised crime, all of it is a bad sign for all of us. I DON'T WANT YOU BUT DON'T GO TO HER

It can all be likened to a boy approaching a girl. She expresses no interest of hooking up, but when the other girl speaks to this boy, the first girl gets jealous, starts a conversation with him while flirting.

But wait! All of this takes place until the second girl leaves. Then the first chosen girl leaves too. The EU was the first choice for East Europe, but the second and third choices are Russia, Turkey, China... The whole EU policy for the Eastern countries is “hold on, wait, it will happen, just a moment, don't go anywhere!”. They praise the local leaders while the “good boys” are explaining the “good direction” for their countries to the public. But it seems that the public is not buying it any longer. It seems that all these meetings are organized for the elite - the EU elite is praising and the WB is being praised - and nobody really thinks it is more than a charade. Just like in 1985, when the people in Yugoslavia or Eastern Bloc organized protests and parades with Yugoslav (or other) flags and Tito's (Lenin's...) words and iconography, but nobody believed in it any longer. I am not saying the EU is going to fall apart in few years, because it does seem much more resilient than that. But what to do now with the rest of the Europe? Iceland has decided to stop its EU accession process, since it assessed it is better off to be out. But will East Europe be allowed to make the same choice? Look what happened to Ukraine! Now Ukraine and Georgia cannot even revert their westward journey, because of Crimea, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia. They are stuck. The year 2030 might even be OK, but how to survive and prosper until then?

I NTERVIEW

Coaches, Who are Also Leaders, Last Longer I believe that coaches must be firm, determined, and that they should possess a trump card called knowledge

ĆIRO BLAŽEVIĆ Croatian football expert

Coach of all coaches! A man who, owing to his knowledge, experience and authority, paves the way for development of football in his own country and abroad. In his interview for Diplomacy&Commerce, the Croatian football expert, Ćiro Blažević talks about today's footbal, expectations from the World Cup in Russia, the ways of running a team and a group, his life plans and basking in the fruits of his labour. From the perspective of a football expert and someone who is authority on development of football in Croatia, what is the position of football in the world today and what in Croatia in relation to the time when you were at the height of your career?

— Everything, including football, has its own permanent evolution. Football is becoming increasingly popular year-on year, even among

those who have no affinity for it. As for the Croatian football, the fact is that we are more and more present in all major competitions and that we currently have a good team of quality players. It is good that we have a great coach too, hence we have every right to expect the Croatian national football team to bring a great joy to us this summer in Russia because it is definitely going to play an important role there. How much does this region, and especially Croatia, still have talent and is this talent likely to have good coaches to develop their abilities, since most of them end up going abroad to play? How bad is this for the local league and football?

— That's unavoidable. I can't be-

lieve that there are still people who don't realize that economic power is the greatest power. We are unfortunately poor and we have no other way out than to survive in football and in other sports by selling off gifted and the most talented players to wealthier clubs. But regardless of this fact, this area and, and by that, I mean Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other regional countries, have

IF THEY ARE NOT AFRAID OF YOU, YOU WILL HAVE A HARD TIME SUCCEEDING been giving birth to a multitude of talents and we will always matter. I want an affirmation for these talented young men who can offer more than the ones who are paid the most. After all, the fact that our players play in the biggest clubs in the world is a validation that we are the best. Thank God for that!

Although I am sorry to see that this practice is continuing, we have to accept the fact that we are poor and we have no chances of keeping the best players as a bitter truth. You are known for taking clubs that are almost in a hopeless position and turning them into champions. This is also the main topic of the conference, which you will attend in June, that takes place under the slogan "The Art of Leadership, Successful Teams". What are you going to say to the conference guests? Do you think that the art of leadership is taught, gained through experience or are you simply born with it?

— This is a single inherent property - you are or you are not a leader. This cannot be learned. There are leaders who cannot really be that, but they are successful because leaders are aslo teachers. Leadership, in a way, has the traits of knighthood. Some people do things differently, in a scientific way, or rather by ways of

NICKNAME ĆIRO By his own admission, he was nicknamed "Ćiro" after a ventriloquist puppet from a show. His parents did not like the nickname since it had a pejorative meaning. His mother pleaded daily with everybody to stop calling him that. When he came to FC Dinamo, Zagreb, the nickname Ćiro was briefly forgotten. There he was called "Blaž". However, soon afterwards, some people from the town of Travnik recognized him on the football pitch and started cheering for him by his old nickname, so "Blaž" again became "Ćiro".

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teaching. I know that coaches, who are leaders, last longer. Could you single out certain coaches and clubs who pay a great deal of attention to the importance to successful team leadership in accomplishing top achievements and to the responsibility of each member for the team's success?

— Croatia has an exceptional work technology and has a faculty that produces real experts. In this delicate job, it is very important that you are able to communicate with those who listen to you. If they are not afraid of you, you will have a hard time succeeding. This is why I believe that coaches must be firm, determined, and they should possess a trump card called knowledge. Above all, I believe in coaches that are also leaders. Today, when you are 83 years old, do you think much of the past, i.e. the moments that were

SPORT ATTRACTS MASSES, AND POLITICIANS KNOW THAT IT IS MASSES THAT DECIDE WHETHER THEY ARE GOING TO BE ELECTED OR NOT worth living for, or do you focus more on the memorable moments to come?

— If a man of my age expects to have a future perspective, he is a pure utopian. That is true of me too, so all I am left with is living off my past achievements. Are football experts eligible for pension at all, or is it their experience that makes them more valuable?

— Unfortunately, there is no pension for us, and I can say that I feel sorry for those colleagues of mine who have no money in their retirement age.

In this part of the world, politics has always mixed with sports. In 2005, you ran for Croatian president. Would you do that again? Do you agree that politics and sports are connected, or maybe athletes and their sporting spirit are indestructible after all?

— The explanation is very simple. Sport attracts masses, and politicians know that it is masses that decide whether they are going to be elected or not. So, this connection between sport and politics is inevitable. It has always existed and will always exist.

RICH FOOTBALL CARRER Blažević says that he started with his coaching career very early on because he was an average player. His career began in Switzerland. He first led FC Vevey (1968–71) then his former team FC Sion (1971–76), FC Lausanne-Sport (1976–79) and finally Switzerland's national team (as interim coach for two games in 1976). In 1979, he returned to former Yugoslavia to coach NK Rijeka. After finishing 10th with Rijeka in the 1978–79 season, Blažević took over Dinamo Zagreb, one of Yugoslavia's big four clubs (the other three being Hajduk Split, Red Star Belgrade and Partizan) in 1980. After a mediocre first season, in which Dinamo finished 5th, Ćiro became an instant club legend in the 1981–82, winning the first

Yugoslav league title for the Zagreb outfit after a 24-year drought. This success had a political dimension too, and Dinamo's success and subsequent euphoria was said to had triggerred Croatian nationalism, much to the disapproval of the then Communist regime in the former Yugoslavia. One of his biggest successes was winning the championship of the then SFRY with Dinamo Zagreb in 1982, as well as third place with the Croatian national football team in 1998. On 10th July, 2008, he was appointed as the coach of Bosnia and Herzegovina's national football team. With him at the helm, the Bosnia-Herzegovina team had the most memorable victory in its entire history beating Estonia with 7:0.

B USINESS NEWS Fox

Mamić 1970

COMCAST OFFERS 20% MORE THAN DISNEY

NEW ROLEX MODELS

The Mamić family, a proud Rolex partner for 40 years, presented in Zagreb the latest models of Rolex watches, which had their premiere at Baselworld, the global watch and jewelry fair held every year in Basel, Switzerland. The new collection, available for purchase at the Mamić 1970 boutique, comprises of a total of 52 Rolex models, including the distinguished

models like GMT-Master II, Datejust, Deepsea, Day-Date and Yacht-Master. Rolex was founded in 1905 by Hans Wilsdorf and today is the leading brand of the Swiss watch industry. Their watches are certified as superlative chronometers, thanks to their precision, performance and reliability, are famous symbols of excellence, elegance and prestige.

Hrvatske Auto-Ceste

TOLL HIKE TO TAKE EFFECT TWO WEEKS EARLIER THE LAST YEAR'S ONE

Hrvatske Auto-Ceste (HAC) explain that, this year, toll hike will take effect two weeks earlier than last

year because the tourist season has started two weeks earlier too. This year, toll will go up by 10 percent for the first ‘Group A', while vehicles from the 'Group B' will have to pay toll too. This means that vehicles from the I.A, I and II groups, i.e. motorcycles, personal vehicles, trailer and camper cars, will have to pay higher toll in the next three months. HAC says that these three groups have the highest share in total traffic.

Comcast cable company has offered $65 billion to take over a majority stake in Twenty-First Century Fox, which is 20% more than what Walt Disney had offered which cause a bidding war among the two biggest media companies in the US. Comcast is stepping in with a higher, all-cash offer for $35 per share, which totals approximately $65 billion, which tops Disney's offer of $29.18 per share. In case Fox prefers Comcast's offer over Disney's, the latter company will be given five days to come up with a better counter-offer. The battle to win over Fox could become a summer blockbuster, with media moguls in major roles Rupert Murdoch, who created a global empire from Fox and Comcast President, Brian Roberts, who, in 2004, helmed an unsuccessful takeover of Disney.

Vipnet

VIPNET CHANGES ITS NAME TO A1 AFTER ITS MOTHER COMPANY

Microsoft

SOFTWARE GIANT THROWS DOWNS A GAUNTLET TO AMAZON It seems that vendors are becoming increasingly important for Microsoft since this software giant has been rapidly developing cashier-free purchase sysem. As Reuters finds out from the sources close to Microsoft, the company's effort to date has largely fallen under its Business AI, or artificial intelligence, team. A group consisting 15 engineers has worked on a host of retail store technologies, and they have presented some of their efforts in front of CEO Satya Nadella. In a meeting with the team several months ago, Nadella said that Microsoft's technology had to be cheap enough so it did not eviscerate grocers’ already thin profit margins is a

major challenge for Microsoft. Microsoft’s technology aims to help retailers keep pace with Amazon Go, a highly automated store that opened to the public in Seattle in January. Amazon customers scan their smartphones at a turnstile to enter. Cameras and sensors identify what they remove from the shelves.

The second biggest mobile phone operator in Croatia will change its name by the end of the year. Vipnet will be renamed into A1 Croatia, the Vip brand will be now called A1 brand, and the business brand Vip Metronet Business Solutions will become A1 Business Solutions, the company announces. Other brands, including B.net and Tomato, will remain under their present names in the market. The rebranding is part of the image change of the whole Telekom Austria Group, the owner of Vipnet. As A1 Telekom Austria Group, Telekom Austria Group wants to demonstrate that it is the leading provider of digital services and communication solutions in Central and Eastern Europe. The Group operates in seven countries and has 24 million users.

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Gorenje

HISENSE ACQUIRES A 60% SHARE China's Hisense could start effectively managing Gorenje from September or October this year, said Franjo Bobinac, CEO of the Slovenian home appliance manufacturer. Officially, Hisense own 33% of Gorenje shares but has actually acquired about 60% of shares. At the Gorenje Assembly, a six-member managing board was appointed, which, apart from the old members like Drago Bahun, Žiga Debeljak and Franjo Bobinac, now also comprises of Stanka Pejanovic, Tomas Korošec and Saša Marković as new members. Bobinac said that „the board meeting was a historic one“, adding that the company had found "an excellent strategic partner, with whom to build a stable future and ensure Gorenje's growth".

Renault

INVESTING OVER A BILLION EURO

The French automaker wants to keep the momentum going with an investment of over 1 billion euro to accelerate electric vehicle production in France, following the success of its model Zoe. The Zoe model manufacturing plant in Flins, west of Paris, will double the

maximum production capacity of the new modernized version of this medium-sized electric car, the company said. The Renaul’s factory in Douai will be equipped to produce electric cars based on the new architecture which it will share with the Japanese partner, Nissan.

Croatian Telekom

MODERNIZING 25 TELEPHONE BOOTHS

Volkswagen

BILLION EURO FINE Volkswagen was fined one billion euros over diesel emissions cheating in what amounts to one of the highest ever fines imposed by German authorities against a company. The German automobile giant says that they accept the fine and that they will not appeal. The prosecutor’s office in Braunschweig imposed the fine against VW on Wednesday for organizational deficiencies which failed to prevent “impermissible software functions” from being installed in 11 million cars between 2007 and 2015. n fact, output of harmful fine particulates and nitrogen oxides (NOx), which can cause respiratory and heart diseases, was far higher than legally permitted – AFP reminds.

Together with Go2Digital, Croatian Telekom (CT) has installed two phone booths with the plans to install

another 20 by September. Telekom plans to replace some of the old booths in the most frequent locations with advertising panels which are also used as phones, produced by Go2Digital. The co-founder of Go2Digital is Ante Filipovic, who is also known as a marketing expert and the owner of Centar Media Plus Company. CT started modernizing its telephone booths in May, when it launched the first ten digital booths in Zadar with the Slovenian startup company, Vendotel.

Mlinar Caffe

MLINAR CAFFE OPENS IN PAKISTAN

The biggest Mlinar Caffe in the world is now in Pakistan. Its pans five storeys and over 300 square metres. Mlinar is the first regional food company which started to export to Pakistan, where the company plans to open 22 stores in the next five years. The largest Mlinar Caffe in the worldhas been opened in Lahore, Pakistan. Lahore is the

second-largest Pakistani town with the population of over 9 million. The new Mlinar Caffe is the result of a franchise co-operation with a local partner. By the end of the year, Mlinar plans to open three more delicatessen bakery shops in Pakistan, and by the end of 2023, the company will have in place a chain comprising of total of 22 Mlinar stores.

I NTERVIEW

We are Proud of Umag

Our goal is to wow the worldwide audience with the synergy between the festival and the topnotch tourist and gastronomic offer of Umag and Istria so that they have many happy returns to this area for years to come

DUŠAN KOVAČEVIĆ Founder of Exit and Sea Star festivals

The second Sea Star Festival took place in Umag, from 24th to 27th May. After a particularly successful premier edition of the festival, the second Sea Star was eagerly awaited. The stage that was twice bigger this year, the programme that featured all the top names of the global and regional music scene, the beauty of the Adriatic Sea, the unforgettable time spent with friends and the beautiful, narrow streets of the old town, were a real reveleation for 50% of the visitors of the Sea Star Festival who came to Umag and the Stella Maris lagoon, where the festival was held, for the first time ever. The Sea Star Festival has won the award for the best new festival, and was chosen as one of the top ten new festivals at the European Festival Awards in 2018. Last year's festival contributed to the increase in tourist visits in Croatia, and this festival is expected to achieve even better results, says Dušan Kovačević, founder of Exit and Sea Star Festival. After last year's debut, Sea Star has returned to Umag again this year. Why did you choose Umag in the first place?

— Vojvodina and Istria and excellent cooperation have decades-long connection, in economic and cultural terms. Connecting the region is part of our social mission, and the foundation on which Exit

rests. One of Exit's goals is to position the region of Southeast Europe as one of the most attractive tourist destinations in the world. After founding the Sea Dance Festival in Montenegro, the Revolution Festival in Romania, having a festival in Croatia was the next logical step. Out of all Croatian cities, Umag offered the best location, logistics and other conditions necessary for the realization of a major international festival. How is this year's festival different from last year's?

— I would definitely like to mention the main stage at this year's festival, which was almost twice bigger than last year's and more impressive. The stage was kind of a headliner in itself. As for the festival programme, we tried to bring hit-makers at the very beginning

about two-thirds of the visitors of all Exit festivals. The average age of Sea Star audience is 26. Our audience is mostly students and young workers. This is especially important for the destination where the festival is taking place, as these are the people who are going to good jobs in their respective countries in the future. The statistics of the World Tourism Organization show that most of them will come back with their families on day to the places that they frequented in their youth and had nice memories of. As for the numbers, over the course of two years,

OVER THE COURSE OF TWO YEARS, MORE THAN 80,000 VISITORS HAVE PASSED THROUGH THE SEA STAR GATE, WHICH IS ALMOST TWICE THE NUMBER THAN WE HAD INITIALLY EXPECTED IN THE FIRST YEARS OF THE FESTIVAL of the summer here, but also the big names of electronic music and regional hip-hop and rap stars, who are hugely popular in the world, but also in our region. The feedback that we got from the audience is great and we are proud of our achievements in these last two years. Who is the target group of the Croatian edition of the festival and how did you do in terms of the number of visitors, revenue etc?

— Highly educated people make up

more than 80,000 visitors have passed through the Sea Star Gate, which is almost twice the number than we had initially expected in the first years of the festival. Have you made the early estimates of the economic effects of the festival on tourism and did you set goals for yourself in this segment too considering that you run Exit Tourist Service too?

— We have exact numbers for the last year's edition of the festival -

the results of the research conducted by the regional research center TIM confirm that the first ever Sea Star Festival contributed with more than HRK 60 million to the Croatian tourist industry, and over 50,000 overnight stays were recorded, which is an increase of 220 % compared to the weekend before the festival. We will have precise data for this year in a few weeks. The official tourist agency of the EXIT festival works closely with the representatives of the City of Umag and the Blue Lagoon, and we try to design tourist packages together, from the cheapest ones, which include accommodation in the camp, to luxurious ones, in five star hotels. Our goal is to wow the worldwide audience with the synergy between the festival and the topnotch tourist and gastronomic offer of Umag and Istria so that they have many happy returns to this area for years to come. It is interesting that more than 50% of the festival's visitors came to Umag for the first time ever, and that almost everyone has niceimpressions, which is very important in tourist terms. Bearing in mind that, starting last year, fans can attend four festivals at once, can tell us what strategic gains have you had with this combination compared to other successful music festivals?

www.diplomacyandcommerce.hr

— Exit's festival family comprises of 5 festivals in 5 countries of the region, and this number will go up by the end of this year. We are already one of the largest independent festival groups in the world, which benefits everyone - Exit itself, the audience and the destinations in which the festivals are held. Thanks to our other festivals, Exit gets an additional boost in what is an already excellent reputation in the festival industry, and we become a serious "player" among the world's booking agencies, and, thus, have an even easier access to the world's biggest stars. The audience gets the opportunity to see all the events in our festival family if they purchase Exit tickets early, while festival destinations get the opportunity to present themselves to millions of fans from across the globe through a big Exit marketing campaign which costs millions of euros.

How satisfied are you with the experiences in Croatia and how does the audience that comes to Umag differ to the one that comes to Novi Sad or Montenegro?

EVERYTHING FELT LIKE HOME IN ISTRIA AND UMAG - THE AUDIENCE, THE MEDIA, THE STATE AUTHORITIES, THE SPONSORS AND OTHER BUSINESS COLLABORATORS

What are your main criteria when choosing festival guests and performers? Do you define your own promotional direction or do you consult trends?

How much has this been a logistical challenge for you, since the festival dates are so close together? Did you experience positive effects of the "economy of scale" as a result of lowering the costs related to performers and equipment?

— The challenge is remarkable; it's really not easy to logistically and organizationally realize all these events in different countries in just a few months. It was especially challenging to realize Exit in Serbia and the Sea Dance Festival in Montenegro in just 10 days, which are the most complex festival production projects in Europe. However, after 4 years since the launch of the first festival outside Serbia, as well as after putting together the last new festival in the very wild

— We have felt at home in Istria and Umag from the very first day. We were expecting a good reception, but this kind of hospitality, that we felt both last and this year, was a pleasant surprise for us. Everything felt like home - the audience, the media, the state authorities, the sponsors and other business collaborators. Tens of thousands of people have passed through the gates of the festival without any single incident. We made exceptional friendships in Umag and we plan to continue to nurture them in the coming years.

environment that is the Olympic mountain of Jahorina, I can say that we have covered most of the growing pains and have developed a unique model of staging festivals at any location and any destination. Regarding the economy of scale, we can talk about it in terms of the production and infrastructure of the festival. In terms of performers, having several festivals does not affect much their fees,

because our policy is not to have the same main star at all events, in order for our annual offer to be as diverse as possible. The events themselves are not date-bound, so we can't have one artist do the entire regional tour. However, a greater number of events and an increase in our "buying power" surely raises our importantce among the world's largest online booking agencies.

— From its very beginning, Exit had this reputation in the world of a multi-genre festival that gathers a large number of different target groups. We certainly consult trends and by doing so, attract a large number of people, but we always strive and have managed to maintain an important cultural educational momentum. As a result, we have had some of the world's greatest legends in the history of popular music coming to the festival. This year, I would like to single out a concert by Grace Jones at Exit, who is the last performer from a group of out-of-this-world artists such as David Bowie, Prince and Michael Jackson.

COMING OF AGE In the year when Exit celebrates its 18th birthday, the festival was officially declared the best festival in Europe at the European Festival Awards in the Netherlands this past January. EXIT won in the main category among other 350 festivals from more than 35 countries, with over one million votes from the audience and following a decision made by a jury composed of the most eminent people in the world music industry. Exit's festivals (FESTIVAL 84, Jahorina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, SEA STAR, Umag, Croatia, REVOLUTION, Timisoara, Romania and SEA DANCE, Buljarica, Montenegro) made it to the finals in as many as six categories, and EXIT alone competed in three categories, including winning main prize for the best European festival, the best festival organizer in Europe and the Take a Stand for Social Activism. In addition to the title of " The Best European Festival" won at the European Festival Awards in the Netherlands in 2014 with 620,000 votes

from all of the world, in 2007, Exit was named the best European festival at the UK Festival Awards, and was also ranked as one of the best big festivals at the European Festival Awards in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014. Additionally, Exit was declared one of the 10 best non-UK festivals at the British Festival Awards in 2013 and 2014. In 2014, Exit got its sea edition. This family of festivals now comprises of five members from the same number of countries in the region - Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Romania, Croatia and Serbia. EXIT is one of the rare music festivals that grew out of the freedom movement and has had a strong social mission since its founding. EXIT Freedom is a global call for freedom from slavery to materialism, stereotypes and collective misconceptions in our civilization today. In the year when the festival is 'coming of age', EXIT celebrates one of the greatest achievements - personal freedom.

C ULTURE NEWS

The 5th Midsummer Festival The jubilee fifth edition of the only Croatian theatre festival in English, Dubrovnik's Midsummer runs until 4th July. Actors taking part in the Midsummer scene came from all over the world, including those from the famous Shakespearian theatre, The Globe from London. They will perform at Lovrijenac one of the most famous comedies of the great playwright, "A Midsummer's Night Dream". Apart from the interesting theatre program, Midsummer Scene will also

feature many accompanying events. The monograph "Henry V (Man and Monarch)" by Australian actor Bretta Browna will be presented by Philip Parra. There will also be a performance by the Polish production "H (2) O", with Anna Rakowska and Piotr Misztela, who will embody Ophelia and Hamlet. The Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra will have a concert, and the festival will also feature the programme "Two Bards: Držić and Shakespeare".

Pula Film Festival Programme the Most Diverse Yet

Apart from feature films, this year's programme of the Pula Film Festival will also feature documentary films and drama series, as well as a selection of recent European and worldwide independent film production from other film festivals. This year's programme is the most diverse yet. The 65th Pula Film Festival will take place from 14th to 22nd July. The Festival's art director, Zlatko Vidačković says that the festival will take place in twenty different locations with films for all ages and tastes. This year, apart from the 65th anniversary, the Festival is also celebrating 80 years since the screening of the first ever film in Pula's Arena. In cooperation with the Croatian State Archives, on the occasion of the 65th anniversary, the integral edition of the Vjesnik daily from 1955 will be printed which was entirely dedicated to the first Pula Film Festival. The Pula Film Festival continues this year with the practice of screening films on the Ambrela beach, where students will be able to see films like "Biser Bojane" (directed by Milan Karadžić"), "303" (by Hans Weingartner), "Patti Cake$" (by Geremy Jasper) and "Fake Tattoos" (by Pascal Plante).

Kerempuh to Perform at BITEF with Oliver Frljić's Pay The 52nd International Theatre Festival, BITEF will be held from 14th to 22nd September in Belgrade, with a diverse programme that will reflect the turbulent and disturbing social phenomena, including the right-wing tendencies in Europe and the world. The Festival will showcase the play "Six Characters Searching for Author", written by Oliver Frljić and performed by the actors from the Kerempuh Satirical Theatre from Zagreb. The Festival's artistic director, Ivan Medenica reminds that BITEF was founded in 1967 as a festival of modernist tendencies and a mission to clearly map out the artistic appearances of contemporary poetry and performing arts that are radical, subversive and polemical. The Belgrade International Theatre Festival (BITEF) is one of the most important European theatre festivals that brings to Belgrade the biggest names from the global performing arts stage. A total of 10 plays from France, Germany, Croatia, Serbia, Estonia, Switzerland, Israel and Belgium will be staged during the Festival.

Football in Croatian Painting The first ever exhibition of paintings depicting football-related motifs was opened at Dubrovnik's Dulčić Masle Pulitika Gallery. In honour of the World Cup that is taking place in Russia, The Dubrovnik Art Gallery has prepared a real treat - the exhibition called "Football in Croatian Painting". This exhibition focuses on the topic of football in Croatian art as a visual theme, reinforcing the significance of the exhibition, and its research component, as it presents a clear and comprehensive overview of the thematic range and creative reaches of many painters.