Croatia is a promised country for food, wine and music. Green scenery and numerous attractions crown this magnificent resort. Capital: Zagreb Official language: Croatian Currency : Croatian kuna Passport and visa : A Finnish citizen needs a passport or identity card as a travel document. The passport must be valid for the entire stay. Time difference to Finland: -1
Agriculture and fishing
The importance of agriculture to the Croatian economy has diminished since the mid-1990s, but it is still large in relation to comparable countries. Important crops are wheat, corn, sugar beets and potatoes.
CountryAAH: Comprehensive import regulations of Croatia. Covers import prohibitions and special documentation requirements for a list of prohibited items.
The industry employs just under 4 percent of the labor force. Most of the agricultural land is privately owned and operated in the form of small family farms.
Many families grow only for their own living. They often lack credit and have therefore not been able to modernize and streamline. Government subsidies have mainly gone to the former state farms, which have only recently been sold to private owners. Productivity is low and the country is dependent on food imports. For Croatia defense and foreign policy, please check relationshipsplus.
Animal husbandry also accounts for a large part of farm income, in the form of milk and meat from beef, pork and poultry.
The country’s most important agricultural areas are located in Slavonia in the east and on the Istrian peninsula in the north. Olive oil from Istria is considered among the best in the world.
Fishing is also an important industry.
FACTS – AGRICULTURE
Agriculture’s share of GDP
2.9 percent (2018)
Percentage of land used for agriculture
27.6 percent (2016)
Abbreviationfinder.org: Offers how the 3-letter acronym of HRV stands for the state of Croatia in geography.
2015
November
Even elections to Parliament
November 8
In the shadow of the refugee situation, where more than 330,000 people have passed through Croatia since September, parliamentary elections are held. The HDZ-led Patriotic coalition receives 59 of the 151 seats, while the SDP-led bloc Croatia grows to receive 56. The newly formed Central Party Most becomes the third largest party with 19 seats.
October
Medical cannabis becomes legal
15 October
Croatia, as the first country in the Balkans, legalizes the use of marijuana for medical use.
Teacher strike paralyzes schools
Several teacher unions go on strike with demands for higher salaries and the school system is paralyzed for several days. The teachers, however, manage to achieve nothing but promises of better conditions from leading parties.
A second judgment against Sanader was set aside
October 1st
The Supreme Court reverses the verdict for embezzlement of the equivalent of EUR 10 million from state-owned enterprises (see March 2014) against former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader. It is the second prison sentence against Sanader that is annulled (see also July 2015). HD in this case also refers to procedural errors and orders a new trial. Sanader gets the right to be released on bail of the equivalent of 1.6 million euros. On November 25, he is released from prison where he then served for three years.
September
Border crossings are closed after refugee wave
September 18
After more than 13,000 refugees crossed the border from Serbia in a few days, Croatia declares that seven of the eight transitions should be closed. The refugee stream arose when Hungary closed its border with Serbia. According to Prime Minister Milanović, the closure is temporary and Croatia does not intend to build any fences, as Hungary has done. But Minister of the Interior Ranko Ostojić explains that Croatia is unable to cope with the major storm if the EU requires everyone to register. In many places the situation is chaotic and there is a shortage of food and water. In Zagreb, the National Security Council meets to discuss the refugee situation.
August
Vukovar demolishes bilingual signs
August 17th
The municipal council of Vukovar decides to no longer have bilingual signs on public buildings and institutions in the city (see December 2013). The decision is made despite the Croatian constitution saying that places like Vukovar, with a large Serbian minority, have an obligation to put up bilingual signs.
The recapture of Krajina is celebrated
In Zagreb, on August 4, a large military parade will be held under President Grabar Kitarović’s leadership to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Operation Storm (see Modern History). The next day, a statue in Krajina is unveiled by then-Croatian President Franjo Tudjman. The ceremony is partially degenerate into anti-Serbian songs and slogans, leading to a vigorous protest by the Serbian Foreign Ministry for hate crimes. In the Serbian capital Belgrade there is also a celebration of the Serbs who were driven away from their homes in Krajina or killed in Operation Storm. During this, Vojislav Šešelj, leader of the Serbian nationalist party SRS and temporarily at home in Serbia from the war crimes tribunal in The Hague for the treatment of cancer, burns a Croatian flag. This in turn leads to a counter-protest from the Croatian Foreign Ministry. (See also Serbia: Calendar).
July
Judgment against Sanader claimed
The Constitutional Court cancels the first verdict against former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader (see November 2012). The Supreme Court had lowered the original sentence from 10 to 8.5 years, in June 2014. Now, the Constitutional Court ruled that the trial was not properly conducted, and ordered that it be redone.
February
Court dismisses genocide charges
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague rejects Croatia and Serbia’s accusations of genocide during the 1990 Balkan war. Croatia, which submitted its case to the court as early as 1999, believes that the Serbian attacks against the city of Vukovar in 1991 should be classed as genocide; Serbia’s counter-notification against Croatia was submitted in 2010 and concerns the Croatians’ recapture of the Serb-held Krajina in 1995 (see Modern History). The International Court has so far only acknowledged one case of genocide: the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia in 1995.
January
War criminal convictions are annulled
January 13
The judgment against the former general and MP Branimir Glavaš (see May 2009) is annulled by the Constitutional Court, on technical grounds. The Supreme Court, which in July 2010 reduced the sentence to eight years in prison, is commissioned to review the case. Glavaš, who also has Bosnian citizenship, has served the sentence in Bosnia.
In the second round of the presidential election, something surprising Kolinda Grabar Kitarović from the HDZ right-wing party wins by: 50.7 percent versus 49.3 percent for incumbent President Ivo Josipović, who is running as an independent candidate. That means a difference of about 32,500 votes. That Josipović is associated with the unpopular social democratically led government, as well as that foreign Croats to a greater extent cast their vote on Grabar Kitarović, is believed to have contributed to the result. Grabar Kitarović makes no secret of his unwillingness to work with the SPD-led government. The turnout is almost 59 percent, far higher than in the first round in December when it also weighed very evenly between Josipović and Grabar Kitarović. Then a 24-year-old activist, Ivan Sinčić, unexpectedly received almost 17 percent of the vote. He was a candidate for the newly formed Živi zid and is believed to have taken many left votes from Josipović. Sinčić urged his supporters to abstain completely from voting in the second round of elections.
