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Welcome back to a new episode of the All Things Croatia podcast.
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I'm your host, Stanko Zovak.
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Born and raised in Los Angeles, I'm now living in Zagreb and studying the Croatian language.
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Before we start, just do me a favor and follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're
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listening, as well as the Facebook and Instagram page.
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In this series, I'll be talking with people both in the homeland and around the globe who
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have connections to Croatia.
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We'll hear from startups, returning to Aspora, musicians and athletes, and the biggest Croatian
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celebrities and will return my calls.
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But enough about me.
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I'm Idem Odaulje and let's get started.
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All right, welcome back to the podcast, everyone.
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Today's special guest is Steve Rukavina.
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Steve is a Croatian-American activist from Minnesota and co-founder of the National Federation
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of Croatian-American Cultural Foundation.
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He's involved with many projects, including the Croatian-American Sports Hall of Fame
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and the Croatian Special Olympics.
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In this episode, we're going to dive into some of these projects and learn about the impact
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on the global Croatian community.
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Steve, thanks for coming on the podcast.
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Well, Stanko, my pleasure.
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And I'm more than glad or welcome the opportunity to share more details about our National Federation
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of Croatian-Americans and which became a cultural foundation in 2009.
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So I have some nuanced details I can share about some wonderful humanitarian, diplomatic,
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and also cultural projects that we've been working on and have been more involved with
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in the last 12 or 13 years after much more of a heavy emphasis on activities in Washington,
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D.C. and the diplomatic, political, and lobbying world.
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That was our main focus for the first 15 years.
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So yes, Stanko, I must share with anybody who's listening that I'm just a proud Croatian-American,
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like so many here in the USA.
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And I'm a second generation.
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And so, Jaimam Hrvatserzi and my Leetjaan Rojak through my dad, who was born in the U.S.
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II, just raised me or instilled in me just a real love for Croatia.
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And I visited when I was 17 and met 25 to 30 relatives on that trip.
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And I've just been very interested, involved, and a real activist for a long, long time.
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And was living in Washington, D.C. when the war broke out.
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And so that took my patriotism and activism to another level.
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Do you remember, just to go back to what you said about meeting all your relatives, going
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to Croatia for the first time, what that experience was like for you?
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Was it sort of eye-opening?
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I mean, seeing, wow, I have all this family over here in another country.
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Well, it was, to me, as a 17-year-old, just so impactful and influential and inspiring.
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And my Croatian relatives, on that first trip, they were all in Leica.
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But now, when I've been going back since 1995, the majority of my relatives now live in the
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Zagreb area, or Dugasela.
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I have four second cousins in Spicej Bukovica.
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But the lesson I always learned, or you just felt when you're with them, and I was over
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there with my dad eight times, and Joselj Kavana, Mojotac, spoke perfect Croatian to
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101 songs because of his 80 years with the Croatian Fraternal Union.
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It was just a real lesson to see how our relatives appreciated us.
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And for them, it's always been like God family, and then education, and to them, it really
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didn't matter who was in power over Croatia.
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They had a life to lead, and just so focused on family and faith.
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All my relatives, and they all survived communism in different ways, but never lost their faith,
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I think, or their compass or guide to having the right values.
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Yeah, that's definitely true.
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And then it sounds like growing up for you in the US, you were a part of that Croatian
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community.
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Your dad was instilling some of those values.
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Was there a community you were born and raised in Minnesota?
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Yes, and I have to say, and many people will say this, my dad was the number one activist
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from the 1950s to 2013 when he passed on.
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And so he created, was president of the Croatian Cultural Society of Minnesota, and he was
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just so active and had a big Croatian picnic every year on the great Iron Range of Minnesota.
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And so my dad taught me from a very early age, Jossam Hervat, and I was just so proud
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to be a Croatian, and my sisters did the cola dancing, and we had 100 events over my
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formative years at the Croatian Hall in South St. Paul, Minnesota, which is still there.
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But all the residents of South St. Paul used the Croatian Hall for so many of their own
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events, and yet there still is a strong Croatian base and heritage.
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Within those, within that building, the Croatian Hall, about six miles from the Minneapolis
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St. Paul Airport.
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Hmm, okay.
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Yeah, I know that community, especially growing up, is important to feel that sense of Croatian
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identity.
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When did you start becoming active within that community, sort of the pretext to starting
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the National Federation of Croatian Americans?
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Well, good question, Stanco, and I went out to Washington, D.C. in the mid-70s to go
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to grad school at school in public and international affairs at George Washington, and I was working
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for a congressman.
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And then after a year of grad school, I fell into a wonderful public affairs job dealing
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with congressional legislation and projects like that.
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And so I did not finish my grad school.
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But fast forward a bit.
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I'm in Washington, D.C. in the late 80s, and I was a founding board member of a group called
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the Croatian Democracy Project that was created in late 1988.
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So we started to work Washington, D.C. before the war.
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And there was like six of us with Max Primarats and Morris Dolcich and Tony Morgan and a few
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others.
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And so we were publishing newsletters and educational white papers about the issues facing Croatia
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and other countries in the communist sphere of Eastern Europe that were one by one trying
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to achieve their freedom.
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And so I'm living in Washington, D.C. and by this time I had slid into a business career
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in the medical device world.
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And we're getting very involved.
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We were just so proud that the Republic of Croatia was kind of moving towards independence.
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If you remember back in 1989 or 90, and it might have been Stanko before your heyday.
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Even before you came to this world.
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But there was just freedom and democracy in the air.
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And sadly and unfortunately, the Republic of Croatia didn't have the peaceful path that
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the Czechs and the Slovaks experienced or embraced around the same time.
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And so we all kind of know the story of how Slovenia led the way in 1991 with their break
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for independence.
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And we even did a press conference at the National Press Club when Croatia kind of announced
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their independence in May of 1991.
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And we all know the summer of 1991, the war started very seriously in Croatia and the
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Croatian forces were facing the JNA.
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I think the second most powerful military and army in Europe at that time with all the
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tanks and planes and weapons going against the Croatian people.
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So in 1991, we were still doing the Croatian-Ovoxie project and we had the Croatian-American
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Association based out of Chicago with a lot of folks from Cleveland and New York.
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And we started this Croatian days on the hill, which started in 1992.
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We created the National Federation of Croatian Americans as a national umbrella group in
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1993.
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And so we had 33 different Croatian-American groups come to St. Louis in January of actually
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1993.
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And our group was kind of tasked with or asked to try and unite the Croatian-American community
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as much as possible and to serve as a voice, an advocate for Croatian-American priority
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issues in the nation's capital.
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So for a few years and throughout the 90s, it was both, we were only called the National
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Federation of Croatian-Americans back then, a 501C4 that could do as much lobbying, as
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much political lobbying as you wanted to do.
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And we also had the Croatian-American Association that we partnered with to a degree.
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So we just weren't able to be 100% on the same page and 100% united.
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And so in the 1990s, we were lucky to have a lot of activists working through the National
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Federation of Croatian-Americans.
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And our number one partner was the Croatian Fraternal Union out of Pittsburgh.
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And at the time, they had 100,000 members.
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And the Croatian-American Association brought a whole, another layer and level of activism
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and participation from probably a lot more Croatian emigres that we're living now in
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New York, Cleveland, Chicago, LA.
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The NFCA, even from the very beginning, was a lot more of the first, second, third, fourth
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generation Croatian-Americans that, as I mentioned, like so many of us were raised
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to be proud Croatians.
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And so the point I want to make too, when we first started the National Federation of
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Croatian-Americans, we were seriously focused on representing our community in Washington,
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DC with diplomats, with Congress, with the different think tank foreign policy groups
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that have endless seminars and symposiums and events.
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And I'm proud to say, you know, I'm one of the last two standing that have been to 29
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of our NFCA, CF annual assembly delegates.
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The other is Brother Ed Pezov, who's the National President of the Croatian Fraternal
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Union.
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So the NFCA has just, you know, continued to cultivate and work our relationship and
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our relationship with the U.S. State Department.
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I was in Washington, DC, meeting with some high-level State Department officials last
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Thursday talking about electoral reform and talking about certain reforms that needed
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to happen to ensure the Croats and Bosnia and Herzkivina were going to have legitimate
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representation and for their guaranteed rights from the Dayton Peace Corps to be honored
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in the upcoming elections.
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So I'm proud of the fact that the NFCA and now NFCA Cultural Foundation, you know, over
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29 years, we've had over 200 meetings with the State Department American diplomats.
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We've worked closely with every one of the American diplomats or every one of the American
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ambassadors on the Zagreb, except for one who just would not meet or interact with the
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diaspora.
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We've had over 25 meetings in the White House complex.
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I was just invited to a meeting in the White House on the day after Labor Day.
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I think it's September 6th.
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And, you know, we're just very proud and pleased that we're able to just continue ongoing dialogue
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with a lot of the decision-makers in the nation's capital.
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And we have a public affairs consultant, Joe Foley, who's worked with us for 22 years now.
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And we joke and we tell Joe Foley, the Irishman, you know, just give us three more years, Joe,
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and we'll make you an honorary Croatian and send you to Croatia for a free trip.
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Well, yeah, it sounds like, I mean, you guys are really doing a lot then as far as, you
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know, working with the government and other, you know, organizations.
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And as I understand it, that's not only Croatian, you know, internationally, but also domestically
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as far as Croatian Americans.
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Correct.
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It's not going to end.
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You know, I was just in Croatia and I had a meeting with the Republic of Croatia's foreign
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ministry, their top officials that work with what's called the Western Balkans or Southeastern
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Europe.
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I met with the American Chamber of Commerce, met with Maritza Hrvatsky, met with the acting
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U.S. Ambassador Mark Fleming to, you know, talk about avoiding the double taxation treaty
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and visa waiver protection, and also about the LNG terminal and some other U.S. Croatia
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alliance issues, including the relationship within the NATO Euro-Atlantic framework.
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However, like I wanted to share and we continue all our work on that diplomatic front, and
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we also are the number one group working with our congressional Croatian caucus with 25
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congressional members.
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And we try and have at least a couple of events a year now, as you know, the pandemic sadly
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curtailed.
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A lot of what could have been fun, productive events in Washington, D.C. the last few years.
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But we're starting to do events again and we did a nice April 30 year anniversary celebration
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of the U.S. recognition of Croatia.
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And there's been three major events at the Croatian Embassy in D.C. and we've probably
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done over a hundred events collaborating with Croatia's embassy in Washington, D.C.
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So we worked very, very closely with whatever ambassador, and I've worked very closely with
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ambassador Pierre Shmonovich over the last four and a half years.
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But we started to shift after Croatia got into NATO, and we worked on that for 10 years.
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And it was very much a bipartisan effort, you know, both Republicans and Democrats
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wanted Croatia and NATO.
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And so it took a lot of work and we worked closely in the end with a lot of key senators
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to make sure Croatia had extension into NATO in that 2008, 2009 timeframe.
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And it's just a huge accomplishment, a big feather in Croatia's cap.
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And I don't think Croatia's ever going to be attacked or invaded by one of their neighbors
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again for a lot of reasons based and predicated on Croatia being a NATO ally there in southeastern
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Europe.
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So we've shifted a bit our focus to other really just kind of interesting cultural or
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interesting community projects that are different member groups or some key activists say, you
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know, can we donate art to your group and will you put it on the wall in museums in
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Zagreb?
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And we started that program.
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We own 12 different paintings now, probably valued at about four or 500,000 dollars.
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We just gifted a painting that was worth $75,000 in Andre Medelic-Ciovanni painting, Madonna
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and Child, and had a very nice gifting event at the MUO, the Arts and Crafts Museum in
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Zagreb a couple of weeks ago.
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So under the culture umbrella, we've done five or six major film events from Philly to
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Pittsburgh to New York to Washington, D.C.
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We're very proud.
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We're collaborating with some folks on a couple of Catholic Church restorations from
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VAR to Corsula, you know, we do a lot of fun and we're just starting again Croatian wine
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tastings.
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It's not that we have a 40 under 40 program where twice in the last five years, we've
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selected and saluted like 40 rising stars in our Croatian-American community, you know,
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under the age of 40.
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And you may know a few that were from LA, you know, like Annie Bosko or Johnny Svetkovich.
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And so we, Nick Begich, one of our 40 under 40 winners is running for Congress in Alaska
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and it looks like he came up a little bit short.
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Looks like he's going to take third in the primary to elect a congressman in a special
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election to replace the congressman Don Young, who actually replaced his grandfather, Nick
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Begich.
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So 40 under 40 is a fun program.
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You mentioned our sports hall of fame program and we've got a big first inaugural adduction
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dinner in Cleveland, October 16th to salute folks like Roger Maris and Fred Couples and
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Mickey Lolec and George Miken and Kevin Macal and four or five others.
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Also very proud, I'll just finish on that, but we really do have a lot of fun, productive
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new initiatives that our members just ask us to embrace.
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And we are the number one organizational group sponsor of Special Olympics.
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I was just in Croatia and we had our seventh annual kind of Special Olympics floorball
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tournament and we're raising some serious funds to pretty much take care of all their
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costs to go to Berlin next summer for the World Summer Games from the Special Olympics
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where 125 countries will be represented in the June 10th, the June 15th timeframe.
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So it's not quite very proud that even during the pandemic we kept a lot of initiatives
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going.
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We had 10 major webinars or zooms that attracted anywhere from 50 to 140 participants.
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And our Dayton Peace Accord, 25th anniversary webinar, we had 129 participants from 15 countries
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that came to listen and heard.
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From Adam President, Kolina Grabar-Kitarovich speak, Peter Galbraith, the first American
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ambassador to Croatia, Matej Granic, who was involved in the negotiations for the Dayton
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Peace Accord.
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So we had to embrace webinars and zooms during the pandemic and as we all know is one of
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the few silver linings that kept people connected.
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And I zoom with Croatian diplomats and officials from Sarajevo to Mostar to Zagreb to Brussels
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to London to New York on different sensitive matters that deal with very serious issues.
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And it's great when you can put seven or eight of us on a zoom to be talking to each other
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and communicating.
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And so the dialogue continues even during a pandemic.
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Yeah, definitely helps.
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I mean, that is, like you said, one of the silver linings, I guess, of the whole situation,
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easier to be connected across the world.
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Steve, you went over, I mean, a lot of topics.
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I didn't realize you guys actually had that many different initiatives, not only political
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but cultural as well.
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I want to go into a little bit more detail about a couple of them.
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First, let's start, if we can, with the Croatian American Sports Hall of Fame.
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That's a big interest to me.
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I love sports.
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I love playing sports.
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When did that start exactly?
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And how did that come about?
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And where's that at now?
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Now, Vedran Joseph Nazar, who was born in Croatia, has been over here in the US for
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good 50 plus years.
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He's a real sports enthusiast.
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And for over the last eight to 10 years, kept telling me and sharing with me, Stan Kovat,
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hey, we really need a Croatian American Sports Hall of Fame that will honor and salute and
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show tribute to all these incredible, amazing Croatian American athletes.
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And we are including Croatians from Canada since so many of them created their fame,
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you know, playing in the National Hockey League or Major League Baseball and such.
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So we went public last November saying, we're going to have our first induction class in
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the fall of 2022.
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So send in your nominations.
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So we advertised through the NFCACF, our MailChimp, through our website, and through the Croatian
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Fraternal Union Zeitnachtar newspaper that is mailed twice a month, the 50,000 Croatian
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American homes in the US.
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And Stalko, we received 44 different nominations.
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Wow.
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And if you look at, and we had a Hall of Fame selection committee of five individuals,
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Vedra Nazar myself with Derek Hohn, who's the sports director at the Croatian Fraternal
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Union, and Tom Steech and Jimmy the Croatian Kresnik from Omaha that, you know, agreed
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to take a look at those 44 nominations.
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And we decided to cut it down to the top 20, which was tough.
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It's amazing, a few of the athletes and coaches that didn't make the top 20.
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And I have a file here with 100 different Croatian Americans who are beyond worthy and
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deserving to be in a Croatian American Sports Hall of Fame.
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So we created a Croatian American-Sports Hall of Fame, and we added five more members to
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create a selection committee.
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We added Jerome Jarenovic.
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Used to work out in LA years ago in the 90s, and he worked with CNN and Fox News.
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And for 15 years with the Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Hawks sports networks.
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And he just retired.
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We added Pete Radovic from CBS Sports in New York City, who's won 40 Emmys for his CBS
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TV work.
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And we added Al Seracevich, a sports writer from San Francisco, and Dino Matisic and
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Ken Kursilovic, who both have been involved in college sports and both have been involved
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in three different sports Hall of Fames.
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And so our 10 member selection committee came up with our, you know, our 10 winners.
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And they were formally announced in Baltimore at our annual convention.
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And we'll be saluting those 10.
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And only four of them are still alive, Fred Couples, whose mother's Croatian is Italian
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name was Coppola.
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Mickey Lolic, is in his mid 80s and still alive out in Portland.
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And we've got Kevin McHale and also Joe Sokic, the hockey player.
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We're still alive.
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The other six winners have passed on.
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And again, we're all superstars within their field.
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Like I mentioned, Roger Maris and George Miken and Kevin McHale, Joe Stighdohar, one of
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the first inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame.
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And Helen Serlingkowicz, one of the best women swimmers and divers in the world in
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the late 30s and 40s.
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And so it looks like we'll have representation from seven or eight of the families.
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But so we're starting a process, Donko, where it ended up you needed six votes out of the
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10 to be a winner in this first induction class.
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And so we ended up with 10, 10 of our first 20 that got six votes or more to make it into
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this maiden inaugural class.
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And again, later next fall, we'll start the process again to have the next class picked,
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which may not be announced until 2024.
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So it won't be exactly every 12 months.
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But we've got some great names.
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And we did make a rule.
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We weren't going to, Snokko, put in active coaches like Bill Belichick or Nick Saban.
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And so we don't want to make them like active to be voted until they've retired.
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And of course, once they're retired, there's a lot more of a chance that they'll attend
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one of our Croatian-American sports Hall of Fame dinners.
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And we really agonized over and we came close to choosing and selecting Stepe Miocic UFC
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World Heavyweight Champion.
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But it looks like he's coming back to fight one more time.
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Again, and so he was kind of moved back into the active stage.
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And I would have been wonderful to have Stepe inducted at our first induction ceremony in
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his home city at Cleveland.
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But it looks like he may have one more fight coming up within a few months or by early
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next year.
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Well, I certainly hope so.
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I'm rooting for him hard.
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And I was sad to see, have to have such a long break with all the politics of the UFC.
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Of course, but I know he wanted to have a break with his, be with his family and do a
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little bit of his firefighting career.
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But yeah, he's a great athlete and I love to watch him.
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I do hope to see him at least one more time back in the octagon.
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But yeah, like you mentioned, there's a lot of great Croatian athletes, Croatian coaches.
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Now is this, is it a physical location to the Hall of Fame?
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Are you going to have, you know, plaques and memorabilia?
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Yes, we are going to ask every family to contribute or share some memorabilia.
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And we actually do have an offer from the Croatian Hall in Eastlake, where we're hosting
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the first banquet.
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They do have a room like a large classroom that we could and can utilize for our Croatian
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American Sports Hall of Fame.
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So we're looking at that.
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We also could have, or be provided with some space at the Croatian Fraternal Union Headquarters
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in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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And that facility is beautiful.
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It's already a living museum with a library and six or eight rooms that have so much Croatian
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culture and art already on exhibit.
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The Croatian Fraternal Union in Pittsburgh is a four-story building.
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So it's a beautiful facility and 30 employees work there at our Croatian Fraternal Union
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National Headquarters.
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Wow, yeah, it's pretty big.
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I'm definitely, I'm excited for that.
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I hope you guys are able to, you know, film, record some of the event.
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You know, I'm especially interested in hearing some of the speeches of, you know, the people
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as well as the family members who are there, you know, things of that nature.
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I think that would be really interesting.
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I don't know how much you guys have planned and, you know, how much it will be sort of
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an online attending event, if any, but, you know, that would definitely be interesting
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for a lot of people.
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I know.
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Well, you raise good points, Nako.
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We really should.
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One of our members already suggested on our Cleveland banquet call 10 days ago about,
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hey, why don't we livestream, you know, some of it?
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And we're looking at doing a pretty high-powered, exciting five-minute video that would take
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a look at these 10 extraordinary Croatian-American athletes that will be part of that first induction
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class.
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Very cool.
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Then I'm looking forward to that if I'm not able, you know, of course, to make it if I'm
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still here in Croatia.
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I want to ask about another initiative you also mentioned, the Croatian Special Olympics.
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So when did you start specifically working with that and how long has the NFCA been a
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part of that?
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Well, great question.
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I was at an event, a global sports event called Beyond Sports, which is a global group that
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works with nonprofit sports organizations that work with kids or at-risk adults, but
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just a lot of really incredible organizations that provide sports to mostly at-risk and
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underprivileged children and young adults from all over the world.
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And on 9-11, 2013, I take a service day.
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My colleague was sadly one of those who died on 9-11, Tom Burnett.
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He was one of the ones in first class who, with Mark Burnett, the rugby player, you
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know, stormed the cockpit and got into the cockpit and the plane crashed in Pennsylvania,
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not too far from Pittsburgh.
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So on 9-11, I went to this Beyond Sports global meeting that just happened to be in Philadelphia,
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where I live.
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And I was at the meeting for about one hour and I turn around and there's Tim Shriver,
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brother to Maria Shriver out from the LA area where some of you grew up, and brother to
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a friend of mine, Mark Shriver, who used to be my local state representative in Maryland
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where I lived and I was his honorary campaign chairman back in the early 1990s for his first
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campaign.
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And so I was talking to Tim just for a couple minutes.
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Tim Shriver, who's the CEO of Special Olympics, you know, globally, and he says, Steve, aren't
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you Croatian?
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And I go, yes, how do you know?
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He goes, well, I knew Mark had one Croatian friend and I said, yes.
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And I said, oh, why do you ask?
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And he said, we need help.
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The Croatian Special Olympics organization, they have a real issue problem raising money.
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They do great things.
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But you know, Snanko, a lot of the countries of the former Eastern European behind the iron
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curtain, which Croatia really wasn't under Yugoslavia, but a lot of the former communist
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countries, you know, since 1989 and after, you know, haven't had a history to build philanthropy
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and understand charity.
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And there's not as much extra money like many of us Croatian Americans have here in the
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USA.
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So Tim just said, we need help in Croatia.
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Can I connect you to the executive director, Franjo Horvat?
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I said, sure, let's do it.
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Please do.
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So I sent an email to Franjo Horvat, the director in Special Olympics, and he said, Steve, great,
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we need help.
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We don't have any equipment.
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We don't have any ways and means to have an indoor sport in the winter.
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You know, we're fine in the spring and summer with swimming and soccer and many other sports.
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And so we were asked to make a donation for so they could play indoor floorball, floorball
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hockey.
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First, my family through my dad's a little bit of his estate because he had just died
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six months before asked us to write out a check so they could buy the floorball sticks
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and the goals and the boards that go around.
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And you know, so we ended up making sure they got a $10,000 donation of the first year.
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And since then, we've raised another $60,000 plus, which may not be a whole lot of money,
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but whether we send $5,000 or $10,000 in a year and we sent $25,000, when they came
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to Los Angeles in 2015 for the World Summer Games.
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And that, you know, paid for about 40% of their expenses for their 30-person delegation
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that came to Los Angeles.
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And the good folks at San Pedro Creation Club, Nico and Peter Hasdivatz and others rolled
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out the red carpet and St. Anthony's Creation Catholic Church had a special brunch and mass
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for the delegation of Creation Special Olympics and even gave them like $200 gift card and
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they went to Santa Monica and had fun.
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But so we started it in 2013 and really, really contributed big time in 2015.
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And we have one fundraiser a year to raise, you know, some nice funds for the Special
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Olympics organization.
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My good friend and NFCA member, Joe Breivich, a lawyer in LA, is organizing a fundraiser
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that will be at St. Anthony's Catholic Church.
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It looks like November 5th.
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That will be earmarked just for Special Olympics in Croatia.
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And our goal is to raise every penny that they need, you know, for the 2023 trip for
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20 plus to go to Berlin.
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And so we're looking to raise $30,000 this October, November to help them get to Berlin
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in a first-class fashion.
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And it's just, it really warms your heart when you're there with these Special Olympians
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and July 23rd we had that seventh annual floorball tournament.
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And there was a team from Vukovar who came to Ghostpitch back in 2019 for the first time.
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And to see their smiles and to just see how happy they are to be able to perform and be
449
00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:46,560
competitive in an athletic environment is just really wonderful.
450
00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:53,400
And so it's very gratifying and our NFCA-CF is just very, very proud to continue our serious
451
00:35:53,400 --> 00:36:01,400
relationship and to raise some serious dollars to support this incredible organization in
452
00:36:01,400 --> 00:36:02,400
the Republic of Croatia.
453
00:36:02,400 --> 00:36:03,400
Yeah.
454
00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:05,640
Well, that's a really cool initiative you guys are a part of.
455
00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:10,200
And I'm sure it was rewarding, you know, to see all the athletes, you know, for the
456
00:36:10,200 --> 00:36:15,440
people who were able to go to LA when they came there and see them.
457
00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:20,760
I forget if you mentioned it earlier in the podcast, but were you able to see them in
458
00:36:20,760 --> 00:36:23,440
Croatia in this most recent year?
459
00:36:23,440 --> 00:36:29,840
Well, there's over 2,000 Special Olympians within the Croatian organization.
460
00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:36,320
But no, we didn't have any of the famous Croatian soccer players or anyone.
461
00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:41,440
We haven't found one maybe to get more involved.
462
00:36:41,440 --> 00:36:46,600
I was happy this last trip to Croatia.
463
00:36:46,600 --> 00:36:53,840
Stanko, I had a couple NFCA-CF board members that were in Croatia at the same time.
464
00:36:53,840 --> 00:36:59,680
And Ron Zivic and Sanya Newman, who is originally from OSCE, I came over and were part of the
465
00:36:59,680 --> 00:37:04,320
ceremony and activities and such.
466
00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:12,640
So it's great that our board of directors is so committed to our ongoing relationship
467
00:37:12,640 --> 00:37:13,640
with Special Olympics.
468
00:37:13,640 --> 00:37:17,600
And we are involved and we partnered with the Croatian Virtual Union and Association
469
00:37:17,600 --> 00:37:22,520
of Croatian American Professionals with Earthquake Relief.
470
00:37:22,520 --> 00:37:29,000
We just, through our organization, raised $22,000 just to help the MUO Arts and Crafts
471
00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:33,800
Museum with some special needs they had after the earthquake relief and over $20,000 for
472
00:37:33,800 --> 00:37:40,600
the Archaeology Museum in Zagreb, separate from us collaborating with the bigger efforts.
473
00:37:40,600 --> 00:37:44,680
And the Association of Croatian American Professionals is one of our member groups and we partner
474
00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:49,480
with them on quite a few different initiatives.
475
00:37:49,480 --> 00:37:52,000
But thanks for asking about Special Olympics.
476
00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:54,560
It's really near and dear to my heart and our group.
477
00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:59,240
And 2019, we were in Ghostpitch where my relatives come from.
478
00:37:59,240 --> 00:38:03,040
And they had a team from Split, come Stanko.
479
00:38:03,040 --> 00:38:07,640
They had just created the Special Olympics organization in Split.
480
00:38:07,640 --> 00:38:09,680
Have a lot of Special Olympians.
481
00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:16,520
But they needed some adults to be coaches and managers and finally found a few.
482
00:38:16,520 --> 00:38:19,880
So a team came from Split to Ghostpitch.
483
00:38:19,880 --> 00:38:23,920
They had only gotten their floorball sticks two weeks before the tournament.
484
00:38:23,920 --> 00:38:31,680
We had eight teams and Vukovar came down and the team from Split besides six from the Zagreb
485
00:38:31,680 --> 00:38:32,880
area.
486
00:38:32,880 --> 00:38:37,160
And the athletes from Split were just so happy to be there.
487
00:38:37,160 --> 00:38:41,720
And they lost their first game, six-nuthin', the second one, four-nuthin'.
488
00:38:41,720 --> 00:38:48,600
In their third game, they played well and one of their athletes, a 22-year-old woman,
489
00:38:48,600 --> 00:38:49,600
she scored a goal.
490
00:38:49,600 --> 00:38:52,200
Now they lost two to one, Stanko.
491
00:38:52,200 --> 00:38:55,960
But you would have thought they had just won the gold medal.
492
00:38:55,960 --> 00:38:57,880
And that's the beauty of Special Olympics.
493
00:38:57,880 --> 00:39:04,960
So when we went to lunch, which we always do after the two, three-hour tournament, that
494
00:39:04,960 --> 00:39:09,880
team from Split, especially the young woman who scored, they had a smile on their face
495
00:39:09,880 --> 00:39:12,600
for 90 minutes at lunch.
496
00:39:12,600 --> 00:39:19,040
And that's what Eunice Kennedy Shriver figured out, you know, 60 years ago.
497
00:39:19,040 --> 00:39:22,920
They had a daughter, Rosemary of Special Needs, who was intellectually disabled.
498
00:39:22,920 --> 00:39:31,000
But when she played sports, she was just another kid or young adult or, you know, child that
499
00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:33,080
loved the competition.
500
00:39:33,080 --> 00:39:37,800
And so, again, we're just real happy to partner with Croatia's Special Olympics.
501
00:39:37,800 --> 00:39:42,960
And we're going to be doing it every year and such.
502
00:39:42,960 --> 00:39:46,820
And again, I appreciate all your questions about our group.
503
00:39:46,820 --> 00:39:53,200
We do a lot of really fun, productive projects.
504
00:39:53,200 --> 00:39:59,000
Any of our listeners want to, you know, hear more, see more about the National Federation
505
00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:07,800
of Croatian Americans Cultural Foundation, you can go to our website, www.nfcacf.org.
506
00:40:07,800 --> 00:40:13,520
And of course, we're always happy and honored if anybody wants to join as a member.
507
00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:15,120
And annual dues are like $50.
508
00:40:15,120 --> 00:40:20,880
We've got 10 different committees that people can take a look at and consider joining to
509
00:40:20,880 --> 00:40:22,800
help with some of our initiatives.
510
00:40:22,800 --> 00:40:27,000
Well, yeah, you brought up a point, you know, I wanted to ask you about, is there any way
511
00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:29,880
for people to get involved with you guys?
512
00:40:29,880 --> 00:40:32,920
You have some sort of newsletter you guys send out.
513
00:40:32,920 --> 00:40:35,600
You know, you mentioned the MailChimp.
514
00:40:35,600 --> 00:40:38,800
That's an email list you can subscribe to or?
515
00:40:38,800 --> 00:40:39,960
Yes.
516
00:40:39,960 --> 00:40:43,880
And so, our MailChimp goes out eight, 10 times a year.
517
00:40:43,880 --> 00:40:46,520
So it's almost like a monthly newsletter.
518
00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:51,360
And we'll be sending one out either August 30th or 31st.
519
00:40:51,360 --> 00:41:01,160
And so, we're more than glad to add anyone who wants to be on our NFCACF MailChimp newsletter
520
00:41:01,160 --> 00:41:02,720
list.
521
00:41:02,720 --> 00:41:11,240
And anyone who wants to get active or involved with the NFCACF can go to our website and
522
00:41:11,240 --> 00:41:18,880
click on Getting Involved and it will show my email and a few others.
523
00:41:18,880 --> 00:41:21,040
But I'm Steve Raccabena.
524
00:41:21,040 --> 00:41:27,720
And this is my 11th term as president of the National Federation.
525
00:41:27,720 --> 00:41:30,960
And I have been an officer for all 29 years.
526
00:41:30,960 --> 00:41:36,200
So, and I'm just retired from my medical sales device business world.
527
00:41:36,200 --> 00:41:43,280
And so, having a lot more fun with so many, so many different Croatian initiatives and
528
00:41:43,280 --> 00:41:44,880
projects.
529
00:41:44,880 --> 00:41:50,880
I wanted to quickly here as we're running low on time, touch on two more points, Steve,
530
00:41:50,880 --> 00:41:55,040
that you brought up earlier, how you were here in Croatia, you were in Dubrovnik and
531
00:41:55,040 --> 00:41:56,360
you were going to a lot of conferences.
532
00:41:56,360 --> 00:41:57,360
I know that.
533
00:41:57,360 --> 00:42:01,320
And as well as, you know, you're attending, I know on Zoom and as well as in the U.S.,
534
00:42:01,320 --> 00:42:04,440
a lot of conferences as well all throughout the year.
535
00:42:04,440 --> 00:42:10,320
But two of the ones I wanted to quickly touch on were the double taxation with Croatian
536
00:42:10,320 --> 00:42:16,240
and American citizenship as well as those conferences you attended for Croatian in
537
00:42:16,240 --> 00:42:17,720
Bosnia and Herzegovina.
538
00:42:17,720 --> 00:42:20,000
Well, thanks for asking, Stanko.
539
00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:26,360
And we also had a session just on the avoidance to double taxation treaty topic in New York
540
00:42:26,360 --> 00:42:30,960
City on June 17th and 18th at the Association of Croatian American Professionals.
541
00:42:30,960 --> 00:42:38,440
And as I shared with you before, it was wonderful to be back live in person in New York City
542
00:42:38,440 --> 00:42:42,520
at the New York Athletic Club where they actually give out the Heisman Trophy.
543
00:42:42,520 --> 00:42:51,160
And we had over 330 Croatians, 85% from the USA, but we had about 40 Croatians from the
544
00:42:51,160 --> 00:42:57,800
Republic of Croatia that came to New York City, all these incredibly successful entrepreneurs.
545
00:42:57,800 --> 00:43:00,480
We have Mati Rematch up on the big screen.
546
00:43:00,480 --> 00:43:08,000
So we just allowed a few of our speakers to participate on the big screen and not in person.
547
00:43:08,000 --> 00:43:14,160
But wonderful conference and again, a very important project to get avoidance to double
548
00:43:14,160 --> 00:43:16,040
taxation treaty signed.
549
00:43:16,040 --> 00:43:23,880
So it's the last very important bilateral treaty that Croatia still needs to sign with
550
00:43:23,880 --> 00:43:26,720
the U.S.
551
00:43:26,720 --> 00:43:35,880
And I'm pleased to report that we're really in the endgame with that treaty and it's
552
00:43:35,880 --> 00:43:39,840
just going to the translators.
553
00:43:39,840 --> 00:43:44,840
So the final document will be in its final form.
554
00:43:44,840 --> 00:43:52,600
It sounds like within the next three to four weeks, it's very exciting that this treaty
555
00:43:52,600 --> 00:43:59,160
could be signed in late October or November, probably in Washington, D.C.
556
00:43:59,160 --> 00:44:05,040
And it would be the U.S. Treasury Department signing this treaty with the Minister of Finance
557
00:44:05,040 --> 00:44:06,520
from Croatia.
558
00:44:06,520 --> 00:44:12,480
And if we're lucky, we're hoping that there will be a very notable event maybe held at
559
00:44:12,480 --> 00:44:18,120
the State Department to honor this new treaty.
560
00:44:18,120 --> 00:44:25,320
But well, you know, help energize a few more American companies to invest in Croatia.
561
00:44:25,320 --> 00:44:31,560
It will make it a lot easier too for Croatian companies to export to the U.S. and they now
562
00:44:31,560 --> 00:44:37,840
don't have to go to Budapest or Vienna or Ljubljana or Brussels or to have another subsidiary
563
00:44:37,840 --> 00:44:43,800
or another company they work with to export their products.
564
00:44:43,800 --> 00:44:48,960
More Croatian Americans could retire in Croatia after that treaty signed and not have to pay
565
00:44:48,960 --> 00:44:52,600
double taxations on both sides of the Atlantic.
566
00:44:52,600 --> 00:44:55,120
So that's very exciting.
567
00:44:55,120 --> 00:45:00,960
But I must say though, after the U.S. government and the Treasury Department signs the treaty,
568
00:45:00,960 --> 00:45:03,720
we still have to get it through the U.S. Senate.
569
00:45:03,720 --> 00:45:10,360
And there has been one U.S. Senator from Kentucky who consistently tries to hold up these treaties
570
00:45:10,360 --> 00:45:16,440
and he held up bilateral double taxation treaties for four years up until 2019.
571
00:45:16,440 --> 00:45:22,280
So the hope is whether it's the Democrats, Republicans, and power next January, February
572
00:45:22,280 --> 00:45:27,240
that we will be able to get the U.S. Senate to approve the signed treaty between the U.S.
573
00:45:27,240 --> 00:45:28,440
and Croatia.
574
00:45:28,440 --> 00:45:31,980
And it's going to benefit Croatia in so many ways.
575
00:45:31,980 --> 00:45:33,480
So that's very exciting.
576
00:45:33,480 --> 00:45:37,960
Yeah, here's the hoping that gets pushed through.
577
00:45:37,960 --> 00:45:47,320
And I can't go into too many details, but our work to support efforts to reestablish
578
00:45:47,320 --> 00:45:52,320
certain guarantees for the Croatian community in Bosnia and Herzegovina continue.
579
00:45:52,320 --> 00:46:00,640
We're hoping the high rep will announce some electoral reform policies that will protect,
580
00:46:00,640 --> 00:46:04,960
for example, Croatian seats guaranteed in the House of People.
581
00:46:04,960 --> 00:46:12,120
If certain electoral reforms aren't implemented, there are a few Bosnian parties that are
582
00:46:12,120 --> 00:46:18,320
trying to use demographic opportunism and electoral engineering, which you could also
583
00:46:18,320 --> 00:46:24,100
call rigging the elections, to steal Croatian seats in the House of People.
584
00:46:24,100 --> 00:46:29,920
If they steal six more, if they create a supermajority within the Federation government,
585
00:46:29,920 --> 00:46:36,000
the Croatians become a minority and date and piece accord for all practical purposes
586
00:46:36,000 --> 00:46:38,200
is gone with the wind and out the window.
587
00:46:38,200 --> 00:46:44,960
And so the U.S. and the U.K. have been very supportive of asking the high rep and other
588
00:46:44,960 --> 00:46:49,720
EU countries to make a few electoral reform policy changes.
589
00:46:49,720 --> 00:46:51,640
And it should have taken this long.
590
00:46:51,640 --> 00:46:53,400
They should have been dragging their feet.
591
00:46:53,400 --> 00:46:55,840
And I mean, the election is October 2nd.
592
00:46:55,840 --> 00:47:01,280
And so the clock is ticking, there's a lot at stake, and we continue our efforts.
593
00:47:01,280 --> 00:47:07,760
I hope to be meeting with the National Security Council in the U.S. in September, talking
594
00:47:07,760 --> 00:47:15,360
about this specific issue too, and again, stressing the significance of protecting and
595
00:47:15,360 --> 00:47:21,600
upholding the rights, the legitimate rights for the election of Croats, most importantly
596
00:47:21,600 --> 00:47:29,120
in this situation, the House of Peoples, to ensure the Croatians as a constituent people
597
00:47:29,120 --> 00:47:34,520
and their collective rights are protected and honored as the U.S. guaranteed back in
598
00:47:34,520 --> 00:47:37,440
1995 through the date and piece of accord.
599
00:47:37,440 --> 00:47:42,900
So there's a lot at stake, and we've been working with a number of Croatian officials
600
00:47:42,900 --> 00:47:48,280
and diplomats globally to just figure out different ways to work together and get the
601
00:47:48,280 --> 00:47:55,080
word out about the need for electoral reform to benefit the Croatians as has been guaranteed
602
00:47:55,080 --> 00:47:59,240
them in the past through the Washington Agreement and the date and piece of accord.
603
00:47:59,240 --> 00:48:00,240
But thanks for asking, Stan.
604
00:48:00,240 --> 00:48:04,080
Well, yeah, Steve, and I want to thank you here as we're coming down to the end, you
605
00:48:04,080 --> 00:48:05,080
know, for taking the time.
606
00:48:05,080 --> 00:48:06,880
I know you're a busy guy.
607
00:48:06,880 --> 00:48:11,240
I know you're going on vacation soon, so I'm sure you've got things to do with that.
608
00:48:11,240 --> 00:48:13,680
But I wanted to thank you for coming on the podcast.
609
00:48:13,680 --> 00:48:17,080
I mean, I was really surprised to hear about all these different initiatives.
610
00:48:17,080 --> 00:48:22,360
I prepared for a couple, but I didn't realize really the scope of what you guys do at the
611
00:48:22,360 --> 00:48:23,880
NFCA.
612
00:48:23,880 --> 00:48:27,520
So it's for me, it's really cool to hear, you know, all the different aspects of what
613
00:48:27,520 --> 00:48:32,320
you guys are doing with the Croatian American Sports Hall of Fame, with all the conferences
614
00:48:32,320 --> 00:48:38,240
and, you know, meetings, the Special Olympics, all the different cultural and political,
615
00:48:38,240 --> 00:48:41,720
you know, events you're putting on and working with.
616
00:48:41,720 --> 00:48:47,480
I mean, it's really cool to see the Croatian American community get involved, not only
617
00:48:47,480 --> 00:48:51,720
for Croatian Americans, but for Croatians, you know, around the world.
618
00:48:51,720 --> 00:48:52,720
Right.
619
00:48:52,720 --> 00:48:54,360
Well, thanks, Nacod.
620
00:48:54,360 --> 00:48:59,680
I didn't mention, you know, July 1st, 2nd, 3rd, we had 600 Croatian Americans in Baltimore
621
00:48:59,680 --> 00:49:02,800
for the Croatian fraternal union, Junior Tamfest.
622
00:49:02,800 --> 00:49:08,360
There were over 200 young Croatian Americans, mostly third, fourth generation, you know,
623
00:49:08,360 --> 00:49:15,920
performing their Tamborov music and showing off their cola dancing skills.
624
00:49:15,920 --> 00:49:21,680
And so we had our NFCA annual meeting as part of this Junior Tamborovits and Music Fest.
625
00:49:21,680 --> 00:49:24,520
And it was great to be, again, gathering in person.
626
00:49:24,520 --> 00:49:29,600
And at night, we had adult Tamborov bands playing till one in the morning.
627
00:49:29,600 --> 00:49:36,360
And so it was a lot of fun, you know, back together in person after a couple years where
628
00:49:36,360 --> 00:49:42,360
the pandemic sadly sidetracked and really didn't allow those big events to happen.
629
00:49:42,360 --> 00:49:47,160
And so we're back having some fun and meeting in person.
630
00:49:47,160 --> 00:49:52,160
So it's a little bit back to normal in a lot of ways this year.
631
00:49:52,160 --> 00:49:56,120
Well, it's great to see, you know, even the third and fourth generation Croatians getting
632
00:49:56,120 --> 00:49:59,840
involved in those cultural events.
633
00:49:59,840 --> 00:50:03,160
Steve, I'll drop links to, I'll have you send me links.
634
00:50:03,160 --> 00:50:08,680
I'll drop here so people listening can click and sign up for the MailChimp for the newsletter,
635
00:50:08,680 --> 00:50:12,240
get involved, become a member, you know, see really how they can get involved or just
636
00:50:12,240 --> 00:50:16,600
see more information about the NFCA and what do you guys do?
637
00:50:16,600 --> 00:50:17,760
But Steve, you know, thank you again.
638
00:50:17,760 --> 00:50:21,440
I really appreciate you taking the time and, you know, thanks for coming on the podcast.
639
00:50:21,440 --> 00:50:22,600
Stanko, thanks so much.
640
00:50:22,600 --> 00:50:30,120
It's been an honor and pleasure to talk with you and share a few details about our organization.
641
00:50:30,120 --> 00:50:33,600
That's it for today's episode of the All Things Croatia podcast.
642
00:50:33,600 --> 00:50:35,960
Thanks for tuning in and I hope you all enjoyed it.
643
00:50:35,960 --> 00:50:40,040
You can subscribe to the Patreon and check out the All Things Croatia Instagram page
644
00:50:40,040 --> 00:50:41,560
to stay updated.
645
00:50:41,560 --> 00:50:46,040
Feel free to reach out to me with any questions, tips or ideas and make sure to tune back into
646
00:50:46,040 --> 00:50:47,560
the next episode.
647
00:50:47,560 --> 00:51:00,880
Thanks again and vidimosa.