Welcome to the seventh issue of Croats in London. CIL appears in the first week of every month.

This month: Casanova, Croatia/EU focus in Croatian events, In the Press

Noticeboard: Professor Vincent Gaffney on “Cetina: A Lost Prehistoric Landscape.”

Casanova

The BBC’s major drama, Casanova - part filmed in Dubrovnik - premieres on BBC Three on Sunday 13 March at 10 PM. This should be a good showpiece for Dubrovnik as this is a prestige BBC production. David Tennant and Peter O’Toole star in this three part series.

Tennant plays the lead role, whilst O’Toole plays the older Casanova relating his life’s adventures.

It will certainly be interesting to see Dubrovnik used as the backdrop for a costume drama. Casanova was also filmed in Venice, but CIL are sure that it’s Dubrovnik that will catch the viewers eye!

Hopefully the BBC and others will use Dubrovnik as a filming location for other drama in the future. Casanova was also covered in CIL’s December issue.

Croatia/EU focus in Croatian events.

There has been a lot of press comment on the start of Croatia’s talks to join the EU possibly being delayed due to the case of General Ante Gotovina. Croatia and the EU was certainly a theme running though some recent Croatian related events.

The BCCC event

The British Croatian Chamber of Commerce had a successful meeting on 8 February. A speech was given by Croatian Ambassador to London, His Excellency Josko Paro. The speech concentrated on Croatia’s efforts to join the European Union, pointing out what is to be entailed during the process.

This was an enjoyable event, and no doubt contributed to strengthening business links between Britain and Croatia. Ambassador Paro also gave a speech to the British Association for Central and Eastern Europe on 9 February entitled “Croatia between the Balkans and Europe”.

In Cambridge on 16 January, Dr Tomislav Sunic of the Croatian embassy gave a speech entitled “Croatia’s EU Accession: Political Opportunities and Challenges”. Dr Sunic pointed out Croatia’s relatively strong economy and said that Croatia should forcefully insist on joining the EU - cautioning that any delay could be a setback for all the other countries in the region.

In the Press

Unfortunately, negative stereotypes about Croats still persist in the British press. Scottish Member of the European Parliament wrote an article for the Edinburgh Evening News, talking of “Croatians who backed Hitler” as opposed to Serbs “who backed the Allies”. Dr Tomislav Sunic of the Croatian embassy had a letter published in response on 10 February stating that “Croats were proportionally the largest anti-fascist force within Tito’s (another Croat) partisan resistance movement.” Whist this provoked some hostile reaction, it is good to see someone trying to set the record straight even if there is still some way to go yet in terms of British perceptions of Croatia’s partisan wartime role.

More positively, the Sunday Times ran a major travel piece on Croatia on Feb 13 February. “Croatia has entered the Mediterranean big league” it said. A number of celebrities have also gone to Croatia it reported “Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg, John Malkovich, Sting, Gwyneth Paltrow, José Carreras, to name just a few”. Family facilities and cultural aspects were emphasised. Croatia also has “the cleanest waters in the Med”.

A very good article for Croatia.

Noticeboard

Only events run by known and reputable bodies will be listed here.

3 March 2005 - British-Croatian Society: Professor Vincent Gaffney on “Cetina: A Lost Prehistoric Landscape.” 6.30 PM, Croatian Embassy.

13 March 2005 - Part 1 (of 3) of Casanova on BBC Three, part filmed in Dubrovnik. 10 PM

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