During a visit to the IRE member region Krapina-Zagorje, IRE chairman Franz Schausberger found out about new projects.

Krapina. “We would not have been able to realize all of our recent important projects without the support of the European Union,” explained the Vice President of the Croatian Krapina-Zagorje region, Prof. Jasna Petek, on the occasion of a visit by IRE board member Franz Schausberger and IRE board of trustees member Hermann Prem on August 13, 2024 in the regional capital Krapina. The Krapina-Zagorje region is located north of Zagreb directly on the border with Slovenia, has 119,000 inhabitants and is divided into seven cities and 25 municipalities. The region has been a member of the Institute of the Regions of Europe (IRE) for 15 years.

Vice President Petek reported that, in particular, the recovery after the 2020 earthquakes would not have been possible without the significant financial support from the European Unity Solidarity Fund. The most important hospital was destroyed and rebuilt, and several of the region's numerous historic castles were badly damaged by the earthquake and restored with EU help. For example, the important Veliki tabor castle.

The Regional Center of Competencies in Tourism and Hospitality, completed in 2023, was 40 percent funded by the EU. The construction of a house for victims of domestic violence was also 90 percent funded by the EU.

For a business incubator for startups and small businesses, 80 percent of the costs were covered by the EU. There are currently 10 startups working in this facility and they can work there for free for three years.

In the Stubičke Toplice thermal baths, the construction of the swimming pool and the hotel of the special hospital for medical rehabilitation, which was also financed with high EU funding, will soon be completed. In the same community - with 60 percent from the EU - an education center for disabled children is being built.

Franz Schausberger and Hermann Prem visited the great Neanderthal museum in Krapina with great interest. The Neanderthal Museum was built not far from the place where excavations around 1900 proved that cavemen lived here one hundred and thirty thousand years ago. The entire museum is embedded in the landscape, which is reminiscent of the original habitat of the Neanderthals. It is one of the most modern museum buildings for prehistory in Europe.