In Croatia, an allegedly independent group of experts have pulled the strings in the handling of the coronavirus pandemic. But this crisis management has in fact been deeply political, writes journalist and novelist Slavenka Drakulić. Dependent on tourism, EU’s youngest member state plays a risky game where political power and economy stand against the lives of the most vulnerable. In the end the future of democracy could be at stake.
In parts of Europe, emigration poses a much bigger challenge than immigration. A few decades from now, writes Slavenka Drakulić, Croatia will be a country of old people with nobody left to take care of them. And instead of real solutions, politicians offer nothing but empty promises and patriotic slogans.
Over the last twenty years, European directives have facilitated the creation of equality bodies. The majority of these institutions are still not very familiar to European citizens, but there are some exceptions in south-eastern countries
According to the latest report from the Croatian Pension Insurance Institute more than 50 percent of retired people who are still in activity live on the brink of poverty without any other option other than to keep working. A pattern not so uncommon in other European countries.
The liberal conservatives who head Croatia’s coalition government saw their share of the vote halved in May, as populists from across the political spectrum offered various alternatives. Some of these hail from the right or far right, others from the centre left or the country’s anti-eviction movement.
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