Croatian president meets youth representatives in Split.
In the offices of the Split-Dalmatia County, Croatian president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović has met with representatives of the County Youth Council. During the conversation, the president spoke about current problems of the younger generations. “The basic problem is that young people are leaving Croatia in search of jobs,” reports Slobodna Dalmacija on August 12, 2015.
“Of course, one cannot expect that the state will hire everyone, so for opening of new jobs it is necessary to receive the support of Croatian entrepreneurs. Young people should be given absolute support, especially after they graduate from university. They should also be able to get more favourable loans so they can start their own businesses”, said president Grabar-Kitarović who also inquired about the quality of social and educational life in Split.
The president also warned that one of the key problems facing Croatia is its aging population, and announced the establishment of the council which will deal with the issue of demographic recovery.
“In Croatia, there are some 900,000 young people and they make up only 20 percent of the total population. The ratio of young people in relation to the elderly worsens every year. Croatia is getting older and is slowly dying. It is estimated that by 2019 about 200,000 young people will leave Croatia due to the opening of the labour market in the European Union”, said the president during her meeting with the Youth Council of the Split-Dalmatia County.
The President announced that she will set up a council to deal with demographic problems in Croatia, saying that, in order to encourage young people to stay in Croatia, it is necessary to provide tax incentives to businesses that employ young people, who should also be able to get more favourable loans for housing.
