Croatia has Finland’s support on its path towards joining the Schengen Area and the euro zone, Finland’s Foreign Minister Timo Soini said in Zagreb on Monday after meeting with Croatian Foreign Minister Marija Pejcinovic-Buric.

Croatia is making good progress on fulfilling the criteria for accession to Schengen Area and Helsinki supports its efforts to continue in that direction, and when all criteria are met, Finland will back its accession, Soini said.

Finland also supports Croatia on its path towards joining the euro zone, but it will not be easy to fulfil all the criteria, said Soini, a moderate Eurosceptic and critic of EU safety mechanisms and bailouts.

“We did that in Finland. It means austerity measures, and budget control. But it is a good thing for boosting investments and the wellbeing of the nation as a whole,” he added.

Relations between the two countries are very good, but trade, which currently stands at €65 million a year, needs to be improved, the ministers said.

This October an economic delegation from Finland will arrive in Croatia to discuss boosting cooperation, Pejcinovic-Buric said.

Finland, Croatia, and Romania are the three EU countries which will hold the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union from January 2019 to June 2020. The first meeting between the three countries will be held in Zagreb in some 10 days, where shared priorities will be defined, Pejcinovic-Buric said.

After the recent pollution to the Dubrovnik water system the Public Water Company announced that the water is once again safe to consume again.

“A detailed overview of the water supply system and the results of the microbiological analysis of water show that the water in the Dubrovnik network complies with the Law on Water for Human Consumption and can be used for drinking,” stated the Public Water company.

Adding that water quality controls are carried out on a regular basis.

“For me and my family it is a great experience to come to Croatia and see these amazing sights,” commented Yuri Cortez as he arrived in Dubrovnik yesterday. Adding that he wanted to discover more about “really beautiful places” like Dubrovnik.

Cortez, a professional photographer for AFP, was catapulted to world fame after crushed by Croatian players during the World Cup semi-final against England. Given that photographers stand so close to the action it is probably surprising that something like this hasn’t happened before. Mario Mandžukić scored the winning goal and in ecstasy and euphoria charged towards the Croatian fans behind the goal, as teammates jumped on his back they are inadvertently crushed the Mexican-based photographer.

Cortez meets a fan on the Stradun - Photo Mark Thomas 

It was a moment captured all over the world. The Croatian players helped him back to his feet and one even planted a kiss on his forehead. Cortez has shaken but not badly injured and as he lay on the ground he remembered his profession and clicked away, bringing some truly unique images.

The 2018 World Cup in Russia was a success for Croatia is more ways than one. Firstly, on the field Croatia had their best ever result winning the silver medal, but off the field the positive feelings and goodwill towards the country was priceless. And the Cortez incident was only a small chapter but one that the Croatian Tourist Board used to the maximum. They invited him and his family to come to Croatia for an all-expenses paid holiday with his family. Cortez, who was born in El Salvador but lives in Mexico took a 20-hour flight to get to Zagreb and is clearly enjoying the unexpected fame.

“I was surprised when the Croatian players charged towards me but I never stopped taking photos, it was a great experience,” smiled Cortez.

World Cup moment - Photo by Yuri Cortez 

“Dubrovnik is a famous city. The history and legends of this city are very interesting. I am also a fan of Game of Thrones so that is an added bonus,” concluded Cortez.

Dubrovnik was woken early this morning as a huge storm lit up the night sky. September may only just be here and it is still officially summer time but at 4.00am this morning in Dubrovnik hail feel from the sky. It was a biblical scale storm as lightning filled the darkness, thunder blasted over the rooftops and along with the torrential rain bucket loads of ice fell from the sky.

The forecast for today is for showers and sunshine but the city awoke to bright sunshine and clear blue skies.

Hear the hail falling on Dubrovnik!

Australia's tourism market is more and more interested in cooperation with Croatian partners and the number of Australian visitors is growing, particularly in Zagreb and Dubrovnik, directors of the two cities' tourist boards have said.

Speaking with Hina, Zagreb Tourism Board director Martina Bienenfeld said that until a year ago Croatia and Zagreb were not presented on the Australian market in a more organised fashion. Last year, we decided to present Zagreb's tourism offer at fairs in Sydney and Melbourne, she said.

This year, both Zagreb and Dubrovnik were presented at the Travel Industry Expo in Sydney.

In the first eight months of this year, 21,000 Australians visited Zagreb, generating 43,300 bed nights, which is an increase of as much as 30 percent compared to the same period of last year, Bienenfeld said.

"Last year there were more than 45,000 Australian visitors in Dubrovnik and they generated more than 121,400 bed nights, and that positive trend is continuing this year. By 25 August there were more than 37,000 arrivals and more than 96,400 bed nights," Romana Vlasic of Dubrovnik's tourism board said.

Figures released by the Croatian National Tourism Board (HTZ) show that so far this year (by 29 August) 184,000 Australian tourists have visited Croatia, up 15 percent from last year, generating 577,000 bed nights, an increase of 12% year on year.

The inaugural scheduled flight between Seoul and Zagreb landed yesterday morning at Zagreb Airport. The first Airbus A330-200 marked the beginning of a new scheduled service between Zagreb and the South Korean capital that will operate three times a week on a year round basis.

Tourists from South Korea have shown more and more interest in travelling to Croatia, with the destinations such as Dubrovnik, Plitvice Lakes and Zagreb popular with travellers. From the 28th of October the flights will operate between Seoul – Zagreb – Zurich in a triangular plan.

"Ticket sales and advanced booking numbers are in line with our expectations for this route and we are satisfied with its performance", commented a spokesperson for Korean Air. The airline has even released an advert for South Korean TV to help promote the line.

Visitors of Dubrovnik are invited to take part in free of charge courses of Croatian language, just one of the exciting activities of Europe House Dubrovnik association.

Europski dom Dubrovnik / Europe House Dubrovnik (EHD) is one of the most known associations in Dubrovnik. Founded in 1995, and since 2014 situated in an easy-to-find location of Nikole Tesle Street, the NGO organizes educational workshops, lectures, exhibitions, round tables, media campaigns, international seminars and conferences, mostly on European integration process, youth, and cultural heritage.

One of EHD's current programmes is the Regional Youth Info Centre, run in a partnership with the Dubrovnik-Neretva County and the University of Dubrovnik with the financial support of the Ministry for demographics, families, youth and social politics.

The info-centre offers information, and counsels and encourages young people of the southernmost Croatia's county to participate in social and political life of their local communities. Also, it facilitates networking and cooperation in the field of youth work. As Europe House Dubrovnik is part of the Eurodesk multipliers' network, its youth info-centre offers also information about the European Union's opportunities for the youth, like Erasmus+ programme. At the same time, the association is active in another partnership with the Dubrovnik-Neretva County – drafting of the regional youth programme, a document which is to be adopted by the County's Assembly after the public consultations.

Besides local citizens, the doors of Europe House Dubrovnik are open to the visitors from abroad, too, as it organizes every summer free-of-charge mini courses of Croatian language. More information about the courses, which, after four seasons, became the landmark of the association, can be find here. Tourists can also use the little free library boxes with the books in various languages, placed beside the entrance to the association's premises, where they can buy the second hand books or be part of the coworking community.

The working hours are from 9 am to 3 pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, while on Wednesday you can visit the EHD from 3 pm to 8 pm. Welcome!

The super-luxury yacht 'Ulysses', one of world's top yachts and one of the most prestigious yachts in 2018 pulled into Dubrovnik yesterday.

'Ulysses' stayed in the Port of Dubrovnik for only a few hours to refuel before heading down to Kotor.

This 116-metre long super yacht was launched in June in Germany and is on her maiden voyage though the Mediterranean.

She is owned by the richest man in New Zealand Graeme Richard Hart, with an estimated wealth of $10 billion, spent an estimated $250 million on the mega yacht. Hart has residences in Auckland, Queenstown and Waiheke Island in New Zealand, an island in Fiji and two properties in Aspen, Colorado in the US.

Rumours also circulated that Hart's former yacht, 107 meters long, also named Ulysses, had been purchased by Facebook founder Mark Zuckenberg, but this news was denied by a Facebook spokesperson.