Croatia has warned its citizens against traveling to neighboring Serbia after five Croatian activists were deported after taking part in a meeting of civil society organizations in the Serbian capital, Belgrade.

Croatia’s incumbent President Zoran Milanovic has swept most votes in the first round of a presidential election, but will have to face a runoff against a ruling party candidate to secure another five-year term.

Croatia’s left-leaning president, who has been critical of Western military support for Ukraine in the war with Russia, is running for reelection this weekend.

Authorities say a knife-wielding teenager walked into a school in Croatia’s capital, stabbed a 7-year-old girl to death and wounded three more children and a teacher.

Croatia's prime minister says the European Union country will hold a presidential election on Dec. 29.

Croatia’s health minister and several others were detained on Friday on suspicion of corruption as part of an investigation launched by the European prosecutor’s office.

Croatian police say a gunman entered a nursing home in a quiet Croatian town on Monday and opened fire, killing six people including his mother.

A major power outage has hit the Western Balkans as the region swelters in an early heat wave that has sent temperatures soaring to up to 40 degrees Celsius, or 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

Croatia's upcoming parliamentary election, set for Wednesday, follows a campaign that was marked by heated exchanges between the country’s two top officials.

Croatia’s Constitutional Court has ruled that President Zoran Milanović can't run for prime minister or take part in the parliamentary election activities of an opposition party unless he resigns immediately from his current post.

Serbia has sent a protest note after the Croatian foreign minister called President Aleksandar Vučić a Russian “satellite” in the Balkans.

U.S. European Command says a U.S. military aircraft has gone down over the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

Nearly 100 Croatian soccer fans have appeared in an Athens court to face serious criminal charges that include murder and membership of a criminal organization, over their alleged involvement in deadly fan violence.

A Croatian firefighter has died during a deadly storm that swept the Balkans after a heat wave, raising the death toll to six.

Hundreds of people in Croatia have spent the night in their cars or at gas stations and reception centers after a snowstorm over the weekend caused traffic to collapse and left parts of the country cut off.

A Zambian official has announced that eight Croatians rearrested in the southern African country will face new charges of child trafficking and are expected to appear in court on Thursday.

Zambian authorities confirm that officials have rearrested eight Croatians, preventing them from leaving the southern African country after a court dropped child trafficking charges against them a day earlier.

A court in Zambia has discharged eight Croatians who were charged with child trafficking.

Croatia’s president has criticized Western nations for supplying Ukraine with heavy tanks and other weapons in its campaign against invading Russian forces, saying those arms deliveries will only prolong the war.

At the stroke of midnight on Saturday, Croatia switched to the shared European currency, the euro, and removed dozens of border checkpoints to join the world's largest passport-free travel area, completing a dream conceived 30 years ago when it fought a war for independence from Yugoslavia in which 20,000 people were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced.

More than nine years after Croatia became the European Union’s newest member, the country is on a roll to make the most of its status as the EU member in the Balkans.

Christmas is close but the World Cup semifinal between Croatia and Argentina is closer.

The magnitude of Croatia’s win against Brazil was not lost on its coach Zlatko Dalić.

Five European citizens captured in eastern Ukraine have gone on trial in a court administered by Kremlin-backed separatists in the city of Donetsk.

Croatia has opened a long-awaited bridge connecting two parts of the country’s Adriatic Sea coastline while bypassing a small sliver of Bosnia’s territory.

The European Union is set to remove the final obstacles tp Croatia adopting the euro.

Thousands have rallied across Croatia in solidarity with a woman who was denied an abortion despite her fetus having serious health problems.

Croatia's crash investigators say a military drone that apparently flew all the way from the Ukrainian war zone over three European NATO member states before crashing in the Croatian capital was armed with an explosive device.

Croatia's defense minister says a military drone that apparently flew all the way from the Ukrainian war zone over three European NATO-member states before crashing in an urban zone of the Croatian capital was armed with an explosive device.

Croatian officials have criticized NATO for what they called a slow reaction to the military drone that apparently flew all the way from the Ukrainian war zone over three alliance member states before crashing in an urban zone of the Croatian capital.

A drone that apparently flew all the way from the Ukrainian war zone has crashed overnight on the outskirts of the Croatian capital, Zagreb, triggering a loud blast and damaging parked cars but causing no injuries.

Croatian rescuers are praising a dog who protected his injured owner from freezing high on a snowy mountain, keeping him warm for 13 hours in the dark until he could get medical attention.

Croatia’s government has approved the purchase of 12 used Rafale fighter jets from France worth about 1 billion euros to replace its aging fleet of Soviet-era aircraft and strengthen its air force amid lingering tensions in the Balkans.

Ibrahim Rasool loved his job as a soccer referee because of sportsmanship and fair play.

Despite its infection surge, Croatia is becoming a new favored destination for Russians seeking vaccination with Western jabs.

Croatian authorities will limit gatherings and widen the use of COVID-19 passes to curb soaring infections after the numbers of infected people reached new records again on Friday.

Central and Eastern Europe is seeing spiraling coronavirus cases.

Italy has pledged to defend the name of the popular sparkling wine Prosecco as Croatia petitions the European Union to allow its winemakers to call their sweet dessert wine Prosek.

The U.S. government says Croatia will soon join the countries whose people can visit without a visa in a sign of closer economic and security ties.

Croatian police have said they have established the identity of a woman who was found in a remote area on a northern Adriatic island with no recollection of who she is or where she came from.

Croatian police are still working to establish the identity of a woman with no recollection of who she is or where she came from before she ended up on a northern Adriatic Sea island.

Thousands of migrants, including many Afghans, are stranded in Bosnia and other Balkan countries while trying to reach wealthy European nations.

A major European Union-funded bridge has been connected over the Adriatic Sea and linked two swaths of Croatia's coastline that are divided by a small stretch of Bosnia’s territory.

Kosovo has observed a day of mourning with flags at half-staff and parliament postponed its session Monday in memory of 10 Kosovars who died when their bus crashed in Croatia.

Croatian police say 10 people have been killed and at least 44 others injured when a bus swerved off a highway and crashed.

Croatia’s electric supercar maker is taking over the iconic French manufacturer Bugatti in a deal that is reported to be worth millions of euros.

Dozens of human rights activists have briefly blocked Croatia's border with Bosnia to protest European Union's migration policies.

Croatia has opened its stunning Adriatic coastline to foreign tourists after a year of depressing coronavirus lockdowns and restrictions.

This aerial photo shows a sinkhole in the village of Mececani, central Croatia, Thursday, March 4, 2021. Scientists have been flocking to Mecencani and other villages in the sparsely-inhabited region for observation and study. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)MECENCANI – After the deadly earthquake came the sinkholes. Scientists have been flocking to Mecencani and other villages in the sparsely-inhabited region for observation and study. Some sinkholes have appeared by people's houses or on their farmland, prompting the authorities to advise caution.

Slovakia's Petra Vlhova celebrates as she arrives at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's World Cup Slalom, in Zagreb, Croatia, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)ZAGREB – Shortly after winning the first women's World Cup slalom of 2021 on Sunday, Petra Vlhova kneeled with her face down, torn between relief and disbelief. Leading after the first run, Vlhova thought she had squandered her chances in a rough final run with several mistakes on the deteriorating course. After Vlhova and Shiffrin dominated women's slalom racing in recent years, Liensberger and Gisin seem to have closed the gap. The women's World Cup continues with speed races in St. Anton, Austria, next weekend.

A series of tremors have jolted central Croatia a day after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake killed at least seven people, injured dozens and left several towns and villages in ruins. (AP Photo)PETRINJA – A series of aftershocks jolted central Croatia on Wednesday, a day after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake killed at least seven people, injured dozens and left several towns and villages in ruins. “We can’t say ‘Good morning,’ It is not good,” Petrinja mayor Darinko Dumbovic told Croatian radio. Tuesday's quake, the strongest in Croatia since the introduction of the modern seismic measurement system, was felt throughout the region, including neighboring Bosnia, Serbia and Slovenia. The central Croatian region was also struck by a 5.2 earthquake on Monday.

Soldiers inspect the remains of a building damaged in an earthquake, in Petrinja, Croatia, Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020. A strong earthquake has hit central Croatia and caused major damage and at least one death in a town southeast of the capital. (AP Photo)ZAGREB – A strong earthquake in Croatia destroyed buildings and killed at least seven people Tuesday southwest of the capital, displacing scores of area residents or making them afraid to sleep indoors as emergency teams searched for those still missing by nightfall. The European Mediterranean Seismological Center said the magnitude 6.3 quake hit 46 kilometers (28 miles) southeast of Zagreb just before 12:20 p.m. local time. The last strong quake struck in the 1990s when the picturesque Adriatic coast village of Ston was destroyed.

A view of a debris on a path caused by an earthquake in Sisak, Croatia, Monday, Dec. 28, 2020. A moderate earthquake has hit central Croatia near its capital of Zagreb, triggering panic and some damage south of the city. (AP Photo/Goran Juric)ZAGREB – A moderate earthquake hit central Croatia near the capital of Zagreb early Monday, triggering panic and damaging some buildings in towns south of the city. Croatia’s seismologists said the magnitude of the quake that struck around 6:30 a.m. (0530 GMT) was 5.0, with the epicenter near the towns of Petrinja and Sisak 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the capital. Earlier this year, the Zagreb area was hit by a strong quake on March 22, causing substantial damage.

Smoke rises from a fire at migrant camp Lipa, Wednesday, Dec 23, 2020, near Bihac in western Bosnia. Thick black smoke could be seen rising Wednesday from parts of the Lipa camp near the Croatian border which currently houses some 1,200 migrants. Thick black smoke rose from the Lipa tent camp near the Croatian border that once housed 1,200 migrants. He said most camp residents were still around the area because “there's no alternative accommodation available” in Bosnia for them. The Lipa camp was only set up as a temporary shelter during the summer to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.

Motorists wait to cross the Croatian border from Slovenia, at Bregana border crossing, western Croatia, Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020. Balkan citizens going home from Western Europe for holidays have created huge traffic jams at border crossings despite coronavirus restrictions meant to discourage travel for Christmas and the New Year. (AP Photo)BELGRADE – Balkan citizens leaving Western Europe to go home for the holidays created huge traffic jams at border crossings Saturday despite coronavirus restrictions that seek to discourage travel over Christmas and New Year's. Some European Union nations with big migrant worker communities have imposed obligatory coronavirus tests and isolation upon their return, hoping to dissuade people from holiday travel to countries with high infection rates. Apart from regular Christmas traffic, the current border rush appeared to be fueled by Serbia’s decision to demand mandatory negative coronavirus tests for foreigners coming in starting on Monday.

In this photo released by Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, speaks to Croatia's Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman, during their joint news conference following the talks in Zagreb, Croatia, Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP)MOSCOW – Russia's top diplomat on Wednesday brushed off media reports alleging that there may have been several attempts to poison Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and that Russian security forces might have been behind the poisoning. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow was “used to” Western countries airing accusations against Russia in the media. The investigation, conducted by Bellingcat and The Insider in cooperation with CNN and Der Spiegel, identified the supposed FSB operatives and poison laboratories after analyzing telephone metadata and flight information. And now with all the (facts at hand) I state: FSB operatives were organizing a terrorist act on the orders of President Putin,” Navalny wrote.

Alia and her 5-year old son walk through a Croatian forest with others after crossing the Bosnia-Croatia border near the Bosnian town of Velika Kladusa, Thursday Dec. 10, 2020. Entire migrant families are on the move in cold weather in Bosnia while trying to reach the West as the European Union warns the Balkan country it must act to prevent a humanitarian disaster. A statement by the EU Bosnia mission says current weather conditions are putting at risk the lives of more than 3,000 people sleeping rough or staying in inadequate conditions. Migrants come to Bosnia with the aim of reaching neighboring EU nation Croatia before moving on toward Western Europe from there. The EU in its statement urged Bosnia's authorities to relocate migrants to EU-funded facilities for the winter and open new ones.

Military officers and civilians take part in a commemoration march in Vukovar, Croatia, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020. Some thousands marched to commemorate the suffering of Croatia's eastern city of Vukovar during the 1991-95 war despite a continuously high number of infection and fatalities from the new coronavirus. (AP Photo)ZAGREB – Thousands on Wednesday marched to commemorate the suffering of Croatia’s eastern city of Vukovar during the 1991-95 war despite a persisting surge in new coronavirus cases in the country. The annual event is of great symbolic importance for Croatia, which is still burdened by the 1990s war. Croatia joined the European Union in 2013, but remains one of the weakest economies in the bloc, partly still because of the war.

The Danish Refugee Council's officials told The Associated Press Friday, Oct. 23, 2020 that dozens of migrants interviewed by the organization's staff in Bosnia over the past 10 days reported "horrifying" experiences with Croatian police, including "savage beatings and even sexual abuse." Upon entering Bosnia, most migrants walk northwest to the country’s highly porous 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) border with Croatia, one of the last gateways to northern Europe. Bay said that testimonies collected from groups who had not been in contact with each other included the same descriptions of violence. Human rights organizations have been accusing Croatia’s police for years of brutality and illegal pushbacks of migrants, which Croatia has consistently denied. The man, who asked not to be identified out of fear of repercussions, said Croatian police also confiscated migrants’ belongings such as mobile phones and money.

___Toledo’s men’s basketball team has halted all activities after six players tested positive this week, the school said Wednesday. The moves don’t necessarily mean those players have tested positive; they could have come in close contact with someone who has tested positive. The LPGA also says a child care provider tested positive at the LPGA Drive On Championship-Reynolds Lake Oconee. ___Inter Milan defender Achraf Hakimi has tested positive for the coronavirus and will miss the Champions League match against Borussia Mönchengladbach. ___UEFA says Bayern Munich will be able to play Atletico Madrid in the Champions League despite a positive coronavirus test for forward Serge Gnabry.

Police officers inspect the site of shooting in Zagreb, Croatia, Monday Oct. 12, 2020. A gunman on Monday shot and wounded a police officer outside the Croatian government headquarters in the capital, Zagreb, before killing himself, police said. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)ZAGREB – A gunman on Monday shot and wounded a police officer outside the Croatian government headquarters in the capital, Zagreb, before killing himself, police said. Police said another officer at the scene fired at the attacker who fled after the shooting and later committed suicide nearby. The Index news portal said he took the weapon from his father who fought in a war in Croatia in the 1990s.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, listens as Croatia's Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic speaks during a joint press conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia, Friday, Oct. 2, 2020. Pompeo is in Croatia as part of his six-day trip to Southern Europe. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic, Pool)DUBROVNIK – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pledged Friday that Washington will remain engaged in the Balkans where China and Russia have been gaining political and economic influence. On the eve of the visit, Croatia’s left-leaning president, Zoran Milanovic, criticized Pompeo for allegedly wanting to pressure Croatia to buy the U.S. aircraft. “We also discussed how American defense technologies can grow our strategic and economic relationship,” Pompeo said, adding that the purchase of the fighter jets is Croatia’s “sovereign decision.”

A migrant washes himself in a river near the Croatian border near Kladusa, Bosnia, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020. A top U.N. official in Bosnia says local authorities expose migrants and refugees stuck in the country to needless suffering despite having access to funds to provide them with proper housing and assistance. Local authorities only allow me to have 500. For its part, Bosnia has repeatedly promised, and failed, to identify additional suitable public properties for temporary accommodation of migrants. Instead, decrying an alleged failure by other parts of the country to share the load of the lingering crisis, Krajina authorities recently begun emptying some of the existing reception centers there.

Croatia's Prime Minister incumbent Andrej Plenkovic presents his new government's plan before the Croatian Parliament in Zagreb, Croatia Thursday, July 23, 2020. Parliament vote on Croatian new government is expected later in the day. Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic's government won support late Thursday in the 151-member assembly in a 76-59 vote. Plenkovic's HDZ won 66 seats in the parliament in the July 5 vote while the main opposition party gained 41. European Union member Croatia has been struggling to salvage its key tourism season, which has been ravaged by the virus outbreak.

Passengers disembark from a train that arrived from the Czech Republic in Rijeka, Croatia, Wednesday, July 1, 2020. A train carrying some 500 tourists from the Czech Republic has arrived to Croatia as the country seeks to attract visitors after easing lockdown measures against the new coronavirus. (AP Photo)ZAGREB A train carrying about 500 tourists from the Czech Republic and Slovakia arrived to Croatia on Wednesday morning as the country seeks to attract visitors after easing lockdown measures against the coronavirus. There are currently around 300,000 of them vacationing in Croatia," said Tourism Minister Gari Capelli, who welcomed the visitors in Rijeka. Millions of tourists normally visit Croatia each year, mostly staying at the Adriatic Sea coastline or on the islands.

ZAGREB Former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic, who now coaches Novak Djokovic and attended the top-ranked player's exhibition series in Serbia and Croatia, said Friday he has tested positive for the coronavirus. The Croatian great, who won his only Grand Slam title at the All England Club in 2001, wrote on Instagram that he tested positive after two negative tests in the last 10 days. I would like to inform everyone who has been in contact with me that I tested positive and ask them to take extra good care of themselves and their loved ones, Ivanisevic wrote. Four players from those events, including Djokovic and his wife, have said they have the virus. Djokovic has called the rules to keep everyone safe at the U.S. Open extreme.___More AP tennis: https://www.apnews.com/apf-Tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Grigor Dimitrov, a three-time Grand Slam semifinalist from Bulgaria, said Sunday he tested positive for the virus. Borna Coric played Dimitrov on Saturday in Zadar and said Monday he has also tested positive for the virus. In a separate incident, Serbian soccer club Red Star Belgrade said five of its players had tested positive for the virus. There has also been an increase in virus cases among soccer players in other countries, notably Russia. Djokovics decision to fly home to Serbia before being tested has also attracted scrutiny.

The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:___Croatian tennis player Borna Coric says he has tested positive for the coronavirus after taking part in an exhibition event. He says I want to inform you that I am positive for Covid-19. Coric was among about 1,000 people who were tested for the virus after Grigor Dimitrov announced that he tested positive. That led to the cancellation of an exhibition event in Croatia where top-ranked Novak Djokovic was scheduled to play in the final. Coric played a match against Dimitrov in Zadar on Saturday in the second leg of the exhibition series.

(AP Photo/Kemal Softic)SARAJEVO Thousands of Bosnians, many wearing masks, demonstrated Saturday against a Mass in Sarajevo for Croatias Nazi-allied soldiers and civilians killed by partisan forces at the end of World War II. The Mass in Sarajevo was a replacement for a controversial annual gathering usually held in Bleiburg, Austria, which was canceled due to restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. The decision to hold the Mass in Sarajevo provoked a strong backlash in a country where the memory of ethnic war in the 1990s is still fresh. Croatian forces oversaw the Holocaust in Sarajevo, resulting in the murder of more than 7,000 of the citys 10,000 Jews. The annual Mass in Bleiburg, and the one in Sarajevo, have been held under the tutelage of the Croatian parliament.