For the first 25 years we made a lot. And we can do even more. Great perspectives of our country have so far been destroyed by our politicians. Now we can say that was really enough!

Authors:
Boris Raseta, Bogdan Blotnej
Saturday, 25.06.2016. at 08:30

http://www.24sata.hr/news/ma-dobro-to-sve-izgleda-25-godina-lijepe-nase-hrvatske-480098

Starting from the thirteen centuries old legal tradition on the land between the Adriatic Sea, and rivers Drava and Mura, Croatian nation has preserved its own national network of self-awareness of identity and the right to identity and independence in an independent and sovereign state of Croatia ...

With these words begins the Declaration on the proclamation of the Republic of Croatia as independent and sovereign state, that was voted for in Parliament on 25 June 1991. Croatia has looked a tad bit different: there was no highway from Zagreb to Split, was not local kuna for currency, and the war was raging ... Headlines from newspapers in the following months were dramatic: "Vukovar, a town destroyed, but not conquered," "Criminal flights over Zagreb", "has Slavonia died" ... Franjo Tudjman spoke the words: We have our Croatia and it will be such as we make it.

And what have we done? What is easiest to see are the highways, about a thousand kilometers of them.

Today, we have about five thousand doctors more, but each day more of them are going abroad. Unemployment in 1991 was about 10 percent according to official statistics. There were, however, people who were formally employed, but, realistically, their positions were maintained only for statistics. Today, the unemployment rate is higher - is around 17, 5 percent. Then a job had 1.8 million people, and today the number of employees is around a million and a half. Then we had two employees per one retired and now we have one retired with a little more than one employee and that rises a question of who will earn the money when we reach the pension age.

Then a coffee with milk costed 4 kuna, today costs seven, but while then the average salary was about 450 kuna, today is more than 5,500 kuna. Then there was no VAT, it was introduced only in 1998. Today VAT is 25 percent. GDP per capita was during the local war in 1991 3500 euros, today it is 10,700 euros per capita. Tourism in the war years was destroyed, and now is back in the mighty ascent. Croatia is a Mediterranean and European tourist force. Such should be in everything. The people who run this country must begin to talk about development projects, tax rates, exemptions, loans ... and not kill all hope by pointless discussions. Croatia's most promising piece of this part of the planet - if we make it by ourselves!

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Today we play Euro Soccer championship against Portugal.

In the French town of Lens that, during the peacefull times, has only something over 30,000 inhabitants, today arrived more then 20,000 Croatian fans from all over the world. Portuguese are friends.

IZAKOVIC