2015-11-08 18:32:00

Migration crisis overshadows Croatia's elections


(Vatican Radio) Croatia held its first parliamentary election on Sunday since joining the European Union in 2013, with the poll overshadowed by Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War Two.

Listen to Stefan Bos' report:

More than 300,000 asylum-seekers fleeing wars and poverty in the Middle East, Asia and Africa have passed through Croatia since mid-September in their search for a better life in wealthier EU countries such as Germany or Sweden.

An ongoing influx of refugees increased after neighboring Hungary closed its green borders with Croatia and Serbia with razor wire fences.    

The opposition Croatian Democratic Union or HDZ -- which steered Croatia to independence from Serb-dominated Yugoslavia in 1991, has accused the centre-left government of Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic of being soft and ineffectual in handling the migrant issue.

TOUGHER MEASURES

It has demanded tougher measures such as deploying troops and building fences at the border with Serbia, where most enter Croatia. Analysts say that if the nationalist-minded HDZ comes to power these measures could disrupt the flow of migrants, creating another bottleneck on the Balkan route towards the West.    

The nationalist-minded HDZ, which leads the Patriotic Coalition of eight parties -- also wants to focus more on family values and national identity in this heavily Catholic nation of over four million people. 

Critics say Prime Minister Milanovic skillfully used the refugee crisis to divert attention from economic problems and improve his Social-Democrats' ratings ahead of the vote.

However Milanovic made clear that his nation's own experiences of the Balkan wars in the 1990s compelled it to welcome refugees, but he also demanded more EU financial support for Turkey, which borders war-torn Syria.      

"Croatia back in 1992-1993 we were a refugee county," he said. 

DISPLACED PEOPLE

"We were a country of internally displaced people, of refugees, of people who were expelled from their homes with meager small properties. And Italy, Austria and Germany didn't think of closing the border to Croatian citizens. As a matter of fact they opened them wide," Milanovic recalled. 

"But most of the people due to the different circumstances of the homeland war and different expectations opted for staying close to home in dire circumstances. The psychology of this [Syrian] conflict is that so many people are so much frustrated, disenchanted, scared, that they opted to leave their country for good," he added. 

"I am not here to judge. But once they come in Turkey it it is a safe country. It is money that should be paid for Turkey. It should be made much easier for them [to deal with the refugees]," the prime minister stressed. 

Mlanovic and his Social Democrats say they deserve another four-year mandate as they restored the troubled economy to growth, after six years of recession that wiped out around 13 percent of Croatia's national output since 2008. And despite the ongoing refugee crisis, gross domestic product is forecast to grow 1.2 percent this year and around 1.5 percent next year. The Social Democrats have campaigned under the slogan "Croatia is growing".

Yet neither block was expected to win an outright majority in the 151-seat parliament and analysts say the next government will depend on post-election negotiations with smaller parties.








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