by croatiaweek
January 1, 2026
in
(Photo: KBC Rijeka)
Croatia welcomed the New Year with happy news as the first babies of 2026 were born just minutes after midnight in hospitals across the country.
The first baby born in Rijeka arrived only one minute after the clock struck midnight.
Little Nikol was born in the delivery ward of the new hospital complex at KBC Rijeka on SuÅ”ak, marking the cityās first birth of the year.
Nikol weighed 2,870 grams and measured 49 centimetres at birth.
The delivery was led by Dr Alemka BrnÄiÄ-Fischer, Head of the Department of Gynaecology, with a specialist medical team that included Dr Ines KristofiÄ, Dr Marta CrnÄiÄ-Marinelli, Dr Sandro GržanÄiÄ, and anaesthesiologist Tanja Glažar.
The management of KBC Rijeka, led by hospital director Dr Alen RužiÄ, congratulated the proud parents and marked the occasion with a bouquet of flowers.
Congratulations also came from Rijeka Mayor Iva RinÄiÄ, who sent gifts on behalf of the City of Rijeka to the first baby born in 2026.
(Photo: Grad Rijeka)
These included a silver coin of St Vitus and a bouquet of flowers, along with wishes for āa happy, healthy and playful childhood and a long, fulfilling life journeyā.
At exactly the same moment, one minute after midnight, another baby was born in Varaždin. Little Vid Å agi was delivered at Varaždin General Hospital, becoming the townās first newborn of 2026.
The family of popular Croatian singer Marko Å kugor might have just pipped everyone to the post.
The Å ibenik-born tenor revealed on social media that he and his wife Ivana became parents to a baby girl exactly at midnight in Å ibenik, welcoming 2026 in the most special way possible.