Ever since Croatia joined the European Union (EU) back in July 2013, the number of Croats in Ireland, as well as other EU countries, has soared. Croats have used the opportunities of most of Europe’s borders being opened to them. Upon joining, Croatia entered the single market and gained access to the majority of the labour markets of individual European Union member states, with the initial exception of a few, the respective barriers of which have now also been dropped for Croatian citizens.
In addition to Germany, Ireland has also been a favourite for Croats to emigrate to, often quickly gaining employment and settling into a nice lifestyle there, either temporarily with the intention to return home, or permanently, with no intention of ever coming to Croatia again unless the visit is for a family holiday.
With Croatia’s presidential elections finally coming to a head, just what did the many Croats in Ireland think of the political situation back home? It’s well known that presidential candidate Zoran Milanovic visited Croats in Ireland, apparently ”not to earn their votes” but to ”see and hear the reasons why they left Croatia in the first place”. Regardless of the reasoning behind it, SDP’s Milanovic made the trip to the emerald isle. Kolinda, on the other hand, did not…
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 23rd of December, 2019, over in the Republic of Ireland, no Croatian citizen voted for Nedjeljko Babic, nor did any vote Anto Djapic.
Otherwise, when it comes to Croatian citizens abroad, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic leads the way with 52.48 percent of the vote. Miroslav Skoro closes in in second place with 35.66 percent of the vote, and third in line is SDP’s Zoran Milanovic with 6.04 percent. When it comes to Croats in Ireland, however, the situation is a little bit different.
In Ireland, now the home of a considerable number of Croats, HDZ’s Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic won only three percent of the vote, given the fact that just 100 people Croatian citizens went to the polls Ireland, according to the results of the State Electoral Commission, leading to just three people circling her name on their ballot.
Katarina Peovic also enjoyed a mere three votes from Croats in Ireland, while Dejan Kovac and Dalija Oreskovic received one vote each. As stated, in Ireland, nobody voted for Nedeljko Babic, nor for Ante Djapic.
The biggest winner in Ireland is Miroslav Skoro, holding 23 percent of Ireland’s Croatian diaspora vote. This was followed by Mislav Kolakusic with 22 percent, followed by Ivan Pernar, whose name was circled by 20 people. 19 percent of Croats in Ireland who cast their votes voted for Zoran Milanovic, while just 6 percent voted for Dario Jurican.
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