October 10 (SeeNews) - Unemployment is the most important problem facing Croatian citizens, followed by the general economic situation, according to a new survey commissioned by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC).
According to the 2017 edition of Balkan Barometer survey, 70% of all Croatian interviewees find unemployment to be one of two biggest problems facing the country, while 39% pointed at the economic situation, 33% - corruption, 12% each - crime, and brain drain and emigration, 9% - political disputes, and 8% - the state of the judicial system, RCC said on Monday upon the release of the annual survey.
In terms of expectations for the national economy in a time span of 12 months, 53% of Croatian interviewees said they expected it to stay the same, while 23% forecast it will get worse.
Croatians also reported dissatisfaction with the search for a job, with 47% of them saying that personal contacts are most important to finding a job today. On the other hand, 53% of Croatian interviewees said they would not leave the country to work abroad.
Asked what they think about people from other parts of the region coming to live and work in their country, a whopping 28% of all Croatians said it is bad for their economy, with 21% viewed this form of immigration as positive.
Croatians were also asked which tourists they would like to have more in their economy, those from the SEE region or from other parts of world, with 41% saying they prefer nationals of more distant countries over visitors from Croatia's neighbours.
Croatia also had the highest share of respondents (15%) who feel the commercial and trade ties in SEE are excessive, while 16% of interviewees in Croatia said the country's integration into the EU is a bad thing.
The Balkan Barometer is one of the annual monitoring tools used to track progress in the implementation of RCC’s SEE 2020 Strategy when it comes to growth, employment and competitiveness in the region. Published for the first time in 2015, its 2017 edition surveyed 8,000 citizens and 1,600 businesses in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia and Macedonia.
The Regional Cooperation Council, an organisation fostering partnership in the Balkans and their Euro-Atlantic integration, was officially launched at the meeting of the foreign ministers of the South-East European Cooperation Process in Sofia in February 2008.