Robert Tyler Newbery

Born on July 30th 2003

Sydney, Australia - 4th generation of Croatian Australian

Mother: Helena Terese Newbery Granddaughter of Jozo Vegar)

Father: Ross Tyler

Welcome Robert !

Nenad

Croatia by the sea

Adriatic country relies on beauty of mountains and charm of
villages to draw postwar tourists
By DON MELVIN
The Journal-Constitution
Hvar, Croatia -- Few sights soothe the troubled soul like the
beauty of the Adriatic Sea.
After a trip to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and Macedonia, all
caldrons of ethnic hatred, an overnight bus trip from
Macedonia gave me 12 hours to reflect on man's brutality. It
did nothing to improve my mood.
Then the darkness lifted, the sun rose and, as the bus
careened down a mountainside, before me spread the Adriatic,
blue as the sky, smooth as glass and dotted with islands. The
heart started to heal.
I changed buses in Dubrovnik, a beautiful walled city jutting
into the sea, and headed north for the city of Split. The ride
revealed some of the most spectacular coastline in the world,
on a par with that of California or the southern tip of South
Africa.
The mountains, white and rocky, plunge into what the marine
explorer Jacques Cousteau called one of the cleanest seas on
earth.
Croatia, too, has known hatred. Like the places I had just
visited, it used to be part of Yugoslavia. When Croatia
declared independence in 1991, war erupted. About 750,000
people were displaced and 10,000 were killed.
Hotels were forced to house refugees. The name of the country
became associated with war. Tourism, part of the economy of
this area for generations, collapsed.
"In 1991 and 1992, it was awful," said Oliver Kesar, an
assistant in the department of tourism at the University of
Zagreb.
But Croatia is, by all appearances, stable now. Though a
coalition led by the governing Social Democrats was defeated
in elections last weekend by the Croatian Democratic Union,
government transition is expected to go smoothly.
The stability of the past few years has led to a remarkable
turnaround for tourism, aided by an ad campaign on CNN
International. Officials expect the figures on overnight stays
this year will match the highs of the late 1980s.
Croatia, in the public mind, is becoming associated less with
war and more with beauty.
There are compelling reasons to visit Croatia. The splendor of
the mountains, the clarity of the water and the charm of the
villages are chief among them.
The Dalmatian Coast is best appreciated by boat. The view from
the sea offers the constant backdrop of white cliffs, and
there are attractive ports of call on many of the more than
1,000 islands that line the coast.
Being a man of lesser means -- and lesser free time -- I chose
to spend a couple of days on the island of Hvar, considered
among the country's most beautiful. Nowhere could conflict
seem farther away and peace a more intrinsic part of life.
The sea was swimmably warm, even at the end of September, with
water so clear you could count the stones beneath. The town of
Hvar, on the western tip of the island of the same name, was a
small and enchanting port that reflected -- in its
architecture, its open square and its cuisine -- the long
domination of this coast by Venetians.
The hotels were inexpensive, and justifiably so. Beachfront
lodging could be had for less than $70 per person per night in
resorts that, from the magnificence of their location, could
have charged $300.
But in my hotel, the personnel were sometimes, to put it
charitably, inappropriately abrupt. The fluid the hotel
restaurant passed off as orange juice was more akin to
Kool-Aid. The food was more akin to swill. Thank goodness the
restaurants in town were good.
"We must bring the level of the service to the level of the
scenery," Boris Vukonic, a professor in the university's
Graduate School of Economics and Business, told me.
The industry faces other challenges as well. As part of a
former Communist country, where the hotels used to be owned by
the government, the ownership of such property is not always
clear. Foreign investors have little taste for lengthy court
procedures to clear up titles, Vukonic said.
And some tourists who used to know of the Yugoslav coast --
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton frolicked here -- don't
recognize the name Croatia, he said. Sometimes, Vukonic said,
people send him mail addressed to "Zagreb, Yugoslavia." Others
send e-mails asking if battle tanks are still in Zagreb, when,
in fact, they never were.
As Croatia struggled to attract tourists again after the war,
its first clients were from former Soviet satellites. The fall
of Communism freed them from travel restrictions and Croatia
had the nearest seacoast.
But big spenders they are not, said Katarina Tudor, who works
in a gift shop in the town of Hvar. Many travel in groups and
spend little beyond their all-inclusive meals-and-lodging
package deals.
Word about Croatia is spreading, and this year tourists
arrived in numbers, particularly from the Scandinavian
countries of Norway and Sweden, and even from as far away as
Australia and New Zealand.
Many people in town want the hotels to improve their services
to attract a "better class" of tourists, Tudor said. But the
hotel owners so far have resisted doing what is necessary, and
that has rankled residents who see the island's potential, she
said.
Still, for travelers who find Venice far too pricey but long
for the incomparable loveliness of the Adriatic, Croatia is
well worth a visit. It offers, for far less money, a chance to
experience one of the most attractive spots on earth.
One evening in Hvar I saw signs taped to poles announcing a
concert. It turned out to be beautiful a cappella singing by a
local choir in the open cloister of a centuries-old Franciscan
monastery. And life doesn't get any more peaceful than that.
Publication date: Nov. 30, 2003

http://www.ajc.com/travel/content/shared/travel/destinations/europe/croatia113003.html
Š 2003 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Croatians Hoping for Tourism Increase
 

AFP

Nov. 28, 2003 — Croatia's picturesque Dalmatian coast is enjoying a strong revival in the tourism industry after the 1991-95 war, and voters here hope it will stay that way after Sunday's general election.

One of a series of Croatian medieval fortress towns which line the country's Adriatic coast, Split was for decades a playground for German and Italian tourists who flocked to its shores every summer.

But this thriving business, one of the mainstays of the Croatian economy, went bust during the 1991-95 Serbo-Croat war and it's only just showing signs of recovery, with last summer's season the best in more than a decade.

Voters here said that no matter who wins the election — the centre-left alliance under Prime Minister Ivica Racan or the nationalist Croatian Democratic Union — the continued growth of tourism was vital.

"I would like the new rulers to continue with the incumbent government's policy in tourism, providing also that they make investments more available by cutting interest rates and taxes," Mare Miosic, the owner of Mala Mare restaurant near Split, told AFP.

But she said controls on investment were important to protect the rustic charm of the region, with its rocky inlets and headlands dotted by stunning fortress walls and white beaches.

"Of course foreign investments are welcome, but some control should be ensured in order to preserve Dalmatia's authenticity," Miosic said.

"And most importantly, the future government must have efficient control over construction because otherwise the coast could become overbuilt."

Images of the 1991 Serb shelling of the World Heritage-listed town of Dubrovnik left a lingering impression on potential visitors.

But the damage was quickly repaired and the town's historic treasures survived. Visitors today would not even know there had been a war, unless they looked hard at some of the shrapnel marks on the walls.

After last season Croatia now hopes its war-battered tourism industry will make up nearly one third of the country's gross domestic product by the end of the decade.

The government hopes that receipts from the leisure industry will reach 7.5 billion dollars by 2010, putting it back on Europe's tourist map alongside southern France, the Greek islands, Italy and Spain.

Tourism currently makes up 22 percent of the Croatian GDP, a vital contribution to an economy that is struggling with the transition from communism, nationalist autocracy and inter-ethnic bloodshed.

Last year was the best for the local tourism industry since 1990, despite the general slump in worldwide travel due to terrorism and security fears.

A total of 8.9 million tourists visited Croatia during the first nine months, while overnight stays reached 45 million. Most travelers came from Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy and Slovenia.

http://travel.discovery.com/news/afp/20031124/croatian.html

Croatia in fact wishes to distance itself from the region

Stability Pact chief criticises Serbia-Montenegro union
VIENNA -- Thursday – The loose union of Serbia and Montenegro has only served to aggravate problems between the two republics, the head of the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe said last night.

The Belgrade Agreement has succeeded in reversing the process of reintegration, Erhard Busek told a roundtable in Vienna entitled “The Balkans and Southeast Europe”.

Busek said there is some confusion over which countries in fact make up the Balkans, and claimed that Croatia in fact wishes to distance itself from the region.

The countries of the Balkans, he said, are part of Europe and must integrate with the European Union. But no deadlines should be set, he added.
 

Media Watch

Nikolic advocates “Greater Serbia”

NOVI SAD -- Wednesday – Presidential hopeful Tomislav Nikolic said last night that his Serbian Radical Party had not given up on the idea of a “Greater Serbia”.

“My desire is to once again found a state in Serb Krajina”, Nikolic told Novi Sad Television Apolo, in reference to the area in Croatia which was briefly declared a Serb republic during the war in the early 1990s. “Why wouldn’t I want Greater Serbia to be united?” he asked.

Nikolic, who topped Serbia’s abortive presidential election, said that with the existing borders Serbia should cut diplomatic ties with Croatia.

The Radicals’ deputy leader said that if he became president he would insist on the return of the Serbian army and police to Kosovo. Asked if this implied the possibility of another war, Nikolic replied: “Yes, if you mean clashes with Albanian terrorists.”

“Whoever attacks a Serb village or a Serb house, we’ll get into a conflict with him. If defending Serbs means confrontation, then I’m ready for confrontation”.


http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?&nav_category=&nav_id=25701&order=priority&style=headlines

Radical candidate says Croatia an “occupying force” | 16:18 | Tanjug

BELGRADE -- Thursday – Serbian presidential hopeful Tomislav Nikolic has denied saying his Radical Party would go to war over the Krajina region of Croatia, but reiterated that Croatia remains “an occupying force” on Serb land.

“It’s a lie that I said we’d go to war”, Nikolic told a press conference today, when asked about his comments on Tuesday evening on Novi Sad television Apolo.

He claimed the media had summarised his hour-long interview in three sentences.

“This is my truth”, he said today. “Croatia is an occupying force in the territory of the Republic of Serb Krajina. One day, when the circumstances in the world change, when each and every person in the world gets the opportunity to live on his own land, then I guess Serbs will also be allowed to live on their own property.

Then, he added, Serbs living in Serb Krajina will have the right to say whom they wish to live with.

Nikolic came top in this month’s abortive Serbian presidential elections. His party is also expected to perform well in parliamentary elections in December.
 

New 'pilgrims' give thanks

By STACEY PALEVSKY, Courier Staff Writer

BRANDON POLLOCK / Courier Staff Photorapher Drajic, Stana and Milan Visnjic celebrate today their second Thanksgiving in America. They moved from Croatia to Waterloo last year.

WATERLOO --- We all know the story of Thanksgiving --- pilgrims, Native Americans, corn, Plymouth Rock and turkey.

But do we remember the reason for this feast?

The meal celebrated the Puritans' successful escape of religious persecution in England.


Last year, more than a million people immigrated to the United States. Today, like the Pilgrims did so many years ago, they will celebrate their new freedom with a Thanksgiving dinner of their own.

Drajic and Stana Visnjic, with their sons Milan and Dusan, immigrated from Croatia last year. Today is their second Thanksgiving in Waterloo. This year they're inviting many people to dinner --- cousins, and friends from English as a second language classes.

For the Visnjics, Thanksgiving is a deeply emotional holiday.

"First, we're thankful that we get the chance to enter the U.S.A. after a very hard and difficult period in our country during the war," Milan said through a translator. "Two, we're thankful to God because we've found here a lot of good people and good friends. My mom and dad have found a good new life."

Stana is in charge of the kitchen, and she will prepare the Thanksgiving feast. She watched a how-to on television, but it was just for reinforcement --- they eat turkey in Croatia, too.

Stana plans to make traditional soup and cookies, and also will serve potatoes and a salad. She'll also offer her guests a plate of cheese, since she likes cheese with her turkey.

Miriam Rincon's family will also modify her turkey recipe. Rincon's mother will prepare the Thanksgiving feast for Rincon's children and her two brothers.

"We cook the turkey in Mexican way, and use some red sauce on the whole turkey," Rincon said. "We'll have rice and beans, too."

She and her husband Domingo Rubio moved to Waterloo from Mexico about 10 years ago. Though she doesn't remember her first Thanksgiving, she does remember being grateful for a better life in America.

"This year I'm thankful for being in good health, that's one of the most important things," Rincon said.

For refugees, life America can be not only a relief, but an answered prayer. After Esaie Toingar left Africa to escape Chad's civil war, his wife, Brigitte, soon followed. This Thanksgiving --- their third --- Brigitte is still appreciative of the peaceful life she has found in Cedar Falls.

"I thank God for the community. I thank him for guiding me, and for helping me get through a healthy birth," Toingar said. Three weeks ago the Toingar's welcomed a second daughter into the world, Joyce.

But Thanksgiving can be bittersweet for immigrants and refugees.

The Toingar's left most of their family in Chad, and though Brigitte is sad to be away from her family on this Thanksgiving, she can't help but be grateful for her escape. Her daughters will be safer in the U.S.

The Visnjic's only daughter and grandchildren still live in Croatia.

"Our biggest wish is to celebrate next Thanksgiving with our daughter and grandkids," Drajic said. "We are living for that."

Still, they are happy to be in the U.S., and look forward to sharing food and their home with others.

"We're thankful over here there is some holiday like Thanksgiving that gives a chance for family and friends to get together and talk about the year," Milan said.


BRANDON POLLOCK / Courier Staff Photorapher Drajic, Stana and Milan Visnjic celebrate today their second Thanksgiving in America. They moved from Croatia to Waterloo last year.

http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2003/11/27/news/top_news/74b5312c676bb5a786256deb00011687.txt

Eurovision Junior on Australian TV (Croatianboy won)

Saturday November 29
7.00 pm

The biggest ever children’s TV show is coming up on SBS Television on Saturday November 29 at 7.00pm, Eurovision Junior. The Eurovision Song Contest Junior will involve children from 15 European countries, aged 8 to 15.

The participating countries will have held their national ESC shows for children prior to the main broadcast, and the 15 national winners will then take part in the European final to be held - for the first time - in Copenhagen. The show will be hosted by international names from the entertainment world and international stars will perform. The 15 finalists will naturally be the evening’s main attraction. The children will perform their own compositions, written by themselves without professional help.

Points will be awarded as per the existing EBU rules and telephone voting in each of the 15 participating countries will determine the evening’s winner. During the wait for the results, international stars will perform. It is rumoured Robbie Williams, Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears may be among them.

Eurovision Junior will be an international, top class show. The show will be focusing on the children and their families, on togetherness and the children’s talent. The children will be taken seriously, and organisers will hand them the stage for one night and put them in the spotlight. They are the stars of the evening, and will pass on to viewers their obvious pleasure in participating, providing all of Europe and the world with a unique experience.

The concept is based on two years of experience in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The Eurovision Song Contest for Children idea is based on a local Danish song contest for children, held by The Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) in 2001 and a song contest for children was also held in Norway and Sweden that year. All three shows were very successful.

The participating countries are: Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Macedonia, Malta, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands and the UK.

The Australian broadcast of this event will be hosted by self-confessed Eurovision “nut” Des Mangan. Overseas hosts for the evening will be Denmark’s Camilla Ottesen and rapper Remee.

Related SBS Website : http://www.sbs.com.au/whatson/ 
http://www.sbs.com.au/whatson/index.php3?id=399
 

Image-building on a national scale

Jim Rendon NYT Wednesday, November 26, 2003
Simon Anholt, a British expert on branding, spent a career developing international campaigns for Coca-Cola and Nestlé. Now he is trying to put his image-making skills to work for a very different type of client: countries with struggling economies, like Croatia and Slovenia.
.
"I was getting bored with spending my life making already rich companies a little bit richer," said Anholt, who is 43 and based in London. So this year he opened his own agency, Placebrands, with one clear goal: to help countries develop themselves as brands, with a carefully managed international identity, as recognizable as any consumer product. He has worked with Germany, Britain and New Zealand, in addition to Croatia and Slovenia, and is now in negotiations with Mongolia.
.
"When it comes to economic development, everyone talks about transportation, technology and civil service," Anholt said. "No one talks about marketing, which is bizarre. Marketing is at the heart of what makes rich countries rich."
.
Anholt said that by developing and communicating strong brand identities, countries could attract more foreign investors and tourists. That, in turn, could increase political influence and help a country's corporations grow.
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Next year, Finland will start a campaign to enhance its image as a center of high-tech innovation, with the hope of helping its technology companies fare better in the United States. Branding is also seen as crucial to many Central European countries, which have realized that their ability to compete for investment depends in part on how they are perceived by more developed neighbors like France and Germany.
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But while branding can help a country improve its communication with the world, it will not work if the country sends out lies or exaggerations, said Erich Joachimsthaler, chief executive of Vivaldi Partners, a four-year-old agency that specializes in branding. Joachimsthaler said that when working with Germany, he ran into a perception gap that is common in such efforts.
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His German clients wanted to portray themselves as a passionate, emotional, flexible people, an image that he said was "a whole bunch of baloney."
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Charlotte Beers, former chief executive of the advertising agency Ogilvy Mather, served for a year and a half as President George W. Bush's under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs - and part of the job was the task of selling America to the Middle East.
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Jennifer Aaker, associate professor of marketing at Stanford's Graduate School of Business, said that task was almost impossible. "One of the reasons that effort failed was because of the underlying product - our policies were not perceived as pro-Middle East," she said. "We failed to understand the media, the culture, even the language in that region. It is difficult to garner favorable perceptions of the American brand in that context."
.
Working with countries can be exasperating. Corporations have top-down structures that require employees to get behind new projects and often have chief executives with long tenures. Nations have political factions, sudden leadership changes and vast bureaucracies. Furthermore, branding programs may be seen as superfluous.
.
Many branding experts point to Japanese achievements as an example of how national and corporate identities can benefit each other. After World War II, Japan became associated with poor-quality products, but in the 1980's, with the emergence of successful companies like Toyota, Sony and Honda, the name Japan became synonymous with quality and technology.
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But to think that Anholt's branding efforts can do the same for Slovenian companies may be wishful thinking, said Desmond Lachman, an economist and resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative research organization based in Washington. Japan had high regulatory standards and a relatively large domestic market that helped its companies develop, Lachman said. Slovenia has a tiny domestic market. It will not become another Japan no matter how it is branded, he said.
.
The New York Times

Croatian Christmas Event in London
Saturday, 6 December 2003

CSYPN continues its domination of the London's Croat
scene. And why not?
--------------
Dear Friends

It is that time of the year once again - time to
rejoice in the Christmas spirit, time of elections,
decisions, festivities and our AGM.

We will hold our AGM on Saturday, 6 December, at
The Media Club near Oxford Circus, starting at
7pm promptly.

We intend to finish with the AGM business by
8pm and after that, we will have CSYPN Christmas
party. We would like to invite you to join us at
both AGM and the Christmas party. Tickets on the
door will be free for CSYPN members and Ł5 for
non-members, but you will need to pre-register
on the guest list by emailing to xmas@csypn.org.uk
by Monday, 1 December 2003.

There will be a DJ entertaining us with a few
slots of Croatian music.

As spaces are limited please reserve your place
early to avoid disappointment.

We look forward to seeing you in great numbers
to finish another successful year with great
party spirit, as we Croats (and Croatia lovers) do!

---
When: Saturday, 6 December 2003
Where: The Media Club
131-151 Great Titchfield Street
London W1W
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?G2M?X=529068&Y=181729&A=Y&Z=1
RSVP: by Monday, 1 December on
- agm@csypn.org.uk  - nominations only
- xmas@csypn.org.uk
Price: FREE - members/Ł5 - non-members

Lots of love from your CSYPN committee

CROATIA SAVED BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

VIEWPOINT FROM LONDON

by Brian Gallagher

The Croatian Herald 21 November 2003


Croatia is again taking half the blame for the war in
Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH). Ex-Yugoslav Prime Minister
Ante Markovic at the Milosevic trial has spoken of a
deal between Milosevic and the late President Tudjman
of Croatia to divide BiH between themselves. The death
of ex-BiH president Alija Izetbegovic has also brought
out similar accusations. This perception of Croatia
has done much damage to the country. Whatever deals
may or may not have been made does not reflect the
reality of what actually happened; Croatia and Croats
in BiH saved the country. The Croatian government
should recast Croatia as the saviour of BiH.

It is alleged that in early 1991 Milosevic and Tudjman
agreed to divide BiH between Croatia and Serbia. This
may or may not be true. If it is, then clearly
Milosevic misled Tudjman. This division was to be
peaceful. The plan may seem disagreeable, but it
cannot be construed as a war crime.

Far more importantly the deal was off the moment
Serbia attacked Croatia. Significantly, Milosevic's
forces attempted to assassinate Tudjman by bombing his
palace in an air strike in October 1991. It is hard to
believe that Tudjman would have agreed to his own
death.

Common sense dictates that this alleged deal is
meaningless - and more likely a way for Milosevic to
hide his true intentions from Tudjman by telling him
what he may have wanted to hear. Milosevic may have
strung that out with Tudjman for years after, if we
believe they kept in contact one way or the other. But
in any event, reality on the ground demonstrates there
was no actual 'carve-up'.

When the Serbs attacked BiH the first people to resist
were the Croats who had established some military
forces - the Croatian Defence Council (HVO).
Izetbegovic in Sarajevo had failed to prepare. On the
contrary, he invited the Yugoslav army into BiH.
Indeed, prior to that he gave invaluable assistance to
Serbia in its war against Croatia. During that war the
Serbs destroyed the Bosnian Croat village of Ravno.
Izetbegovic did not react.

Had it not been for the HVO, BiH would have been
overwhelmed almost immediately; there would be no BiH
today. If there was some deal between Milosevic and
Tudjman to divide BiH then why exactly did the HVO
fight the Serbs? Should not all their efforts have
been against the Muslims (Bosniaks)?

The Muslim-Croat war is frequently cited as evidence
of Croatia's bad intent towards BiH. But here things
are changing. Charles Shrader's superlative new
history of the conflict effectively rubbishes the
entire idea of a carve-up by establishing that it was
the Bosniak side that started the war in order to
cleanse Central BiH of its Croats. Shrader also points
out that the transit of arms via Croatia to BiH, the
continued co-operation of HVO and BiH forces
throughout the Muslim-Croat conflict - let alone the
fact that Izetbegovic placed his family in the safety
of Zagreb - is not exactly consistent with a carve-up.


Shrader is a respected American military historian.
Further, his book is published by the reputable
American Texas A&M University press's Eastern European
Studies. These studies have an editorial board which
contains people sympathetic to the BiH state, and who
were critical of Tudjman. In other words, this is a
book that is credible and cannot be dismissed as Croat
propaganda.

Zagreb should use this book to defend itself against
allegations of aggression against BiH. Indeed, given
Sarajevo's assistance to Serbia during the war against
Croatia, Zagreb has grounds to accuse Sarajevo of
collaborating with Serbian aggression. Despite that,
thousands of Bosniaks were accepted as refugees in
Croatia. If Croatia were an aggressor on the level of
Serbia why would Bosniaks seek refuge there? And why
would Croatia accept them - especially when it had its
own refugees to contend with.

The Muslim-Croat war was over in 1994 - with many
Croats 'cleansed' from Central BiH. Croat and Bosnian
forces then devoted all efforts against the Serbs. In
1995, Croatia launched Operation Storm. Croat forces
recaptured last swathes of its territory. In the
process, the beleaguered Bihac pocket in BiH was saved
from a Srebrenica style fate. Serb forces were rolled
back and peace in BiH was achieved. 49% of BiH was
given to the Serbs, not as part of any
Tudjman/Milosevic deal - but by the international
community.

It was not Izetbegovic who saved BiH as has been
stated in tributes to him. The alleged
Milosevic/Tudjman deal as described by various
including Paddy Ashdown and Ante Markovic, bear no
relation whatsoever to what happened on the ground. It
was the Croatian Army, and the HVO that saved BiH.
Croatia should inform the world of this reality - or
face a future equated to those who besieged Sarajevo
and slaughtered thousands at Srebrenica.


My 'Viewpoint from London' column appears fortnightly
in the Australian 'Croatian Herald' and thereafter at
www.croatiafocus.com

Š Brian Gallagher