The beverage you linked is not rakija, and it’s not even similar.
Rakija is made from grapes, Vodka from potatoes. We don’t have enough potatoes to throw away
Similarly, whiskey means "water of life". Alchemists had aqua vitae, in Latin, with the same meaning, and the French eau-de-vie.
Is it different just in Croatia, or am I otherwise misinformed?
"Rakija" would usually be translated as "fruit brandy" (but also overlaps with grappa, and then there are Croatian varieties which throw a lot of herbs and flowers in there) whereas arak, rakı and friends are most in the category of pasties, ouzo and sambuca in their flavoring. Confusingly, the Cretan raki is grappa.
The other confusing thing is that most of these words (schnapps, vodka, arak, rakija) are generic words for distillates, not indicative of a style. Vodka can be made of almost anything, but in contrast to other styles, its heavy filtering and purification (basically leaving not much but ethanol and water) is what makes it "vodka", and where I'm skeptical that the Moldovan booze meets that description.