Following lengthy but fruitful negotiations, Croatia joined the European Union on July 1st. Some 170 foreign leaders, including EC President Barroso and the President of the European Council, van Rompuy, took part in the celebration in Zagreb.

Located at the crossroads of Europe, Croatia has some 5,835 kilometers of coastline coupled with Mediterranean-style culture and food, not to mention seven UNESCO World Heritage sites, including the Old City of Dubrovnik and the Plitvice Lakes National Park.

Kristijan Sabo, the new Managing Director (MD) of Podravka International Ltd., is spending his first weeks in Hungary, learning about his new business environment. He talks to Diplomacy & Trade about the work that awaits him in this position.

This summer, Croatia joins the European Union as the 28th member of the organization. The Croatian Ambassador to Hungary, Gordan Grliæ-Radman talked to an earlier issue of Diplomacy & Trade in an interview covering various aspects of bilateral relations

The Diplomacy & Trade Business Club (The Club) presented the Croatian focus of Diplomacy & Trade at the residence of the Croatian in Budapest with diplomats, businesspeople and members of the Croatian community in Hungary attending.

A Hungarian court sentenced Croatian Deputy Prime Minister Radimir Cacic to one year and ten months in prison on Wednesday. Cacic, 62, received the sentence in absentia for causing a fatal road accident in which two people died in Hungary in 2010.

A new natural gas pipeline connecting Hungary and Croatia is now operational. It is a milestone event for Croatia as for the past 33 years, the country's only access to international gas pipelines had been a single line to Slovenia.

Artist Predrag Todorovic presents his exhibition at Zikkurat Galéria in Budapest's National Theatre. The exhibition entitled ‘Seven Stations’ opened last week, in co-operation with the Croatian Embassy in Budapest and the National Theatre Budapest.