Divided Croatian city with a role to play (5,5)

I believe the answer is:

split apart

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'divided croatian' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot tell whether it can be defined by this definition.

'city with a role to play' is the wordplay.
'city' becomes 'split' (I have seen 'European city' mean 'split' so perhaps 'city' could also mean 'split').
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'role to play' becomes 'part' (I've seen this in another clue).
'split'+'a'+'part'='SPLIT APART'

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