Croatia

The mayor of Zagreb, Milan Bandić, died unexpectedly at the age of 65 on Sunday night of a heart attack, Croatian media reported. Bandić led the Croatian capital for almost 21 years.

920 migrants at the Bosnian-Croatian border had to spend nights in a burned and unheated refugee camp. A total of 2,000 refugees have been holding out for days without shelter on the border with Croatia because the authorities cannot find room for them in existing refugee camps. A fire destroyed the Lipa camp, which was intended as a transitional camp, shortly before Christmas.

Hours earlier, after a dispute with the authorities, the International Organization for Migration had decided to have the camp evacuated because it was not winterized anyway. The organization could no longer guarantee the safety of the refugees. Many of the migrants in Lipa have already made numerous attempts to cross the border. The IOM head of mission speaks of a "desperate" situation. The condition of the refugees is rapidly deteriorating, he says. Overnight, he fears further frostbite and respiratory diseases.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 has hit the central region of Croatia. Media reports spoke of considerable property damage in the Croatian capital as well as in the vicinity of the epicenter, which is located about 45 kilometers southeast of Zagreb. It was the second quake in a row within the past 30 hours. On Monday, earthquakes of magnitude 5.2 and 5.0 were recorded in the same area.

Tourism in Croatia is on the decline as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Croatian National Tourist Board, July saw 1.8 million tourists enter the country, 51 percent compared to last year's numbers. The most popular destinations were on the Dalmatian coast, with Rovinj, Umag and Split among them.

Tourism is a significant part of Croatia's GDP. Many businesses rely on the influx of tourists in the summer, with July being one of the busiest months.

The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) is the probable winner of the parliamentary election on Sunday. According to an exit poll from Ipsos agency, HDZ was set to win 61 out of 151 parliamentary seats, with the top opposition party the Social Democrats (SDP) and its smaller allies which grabbing 44 seats.

Neither of the two main parties will be able to form a government without going into coalition, and Deutsche Welle reports Prime Minister Plenkovic, from HDZ, may have a better chance of finding allies to form the next government.