Croatian Unrest Against Corrupt Government

Nearly three months ago, independent youth all over the Arab world started revolutions to remove from power dictators and their regimes, targeting even those countries which are considered relatively moderate. Noticing at the same time anti-government protests led by the official opposition in Albania, I predicted the spread of this phenomenon in other Balkan countries. But I didn’t expect to see Croatia in a face-off with protesters before Bosnia or Serbia.

Corruption and unemployment

The evolution of the Croatian protests started nearly two years ago with the abrupt and surprising resignation of then-Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, who was also the leader of the strongest and most powerful Croatian Democratic Union (CDU). With his departure and the installment of his ally, Jadranka Kosor, as the first female PM in modern Croatian history, new revelations of the catastrophically poor condition of the Croatian administration, economy, health and education system were shocking.

State prosecution investigations unearthed a network of corruption led by Mr. Sanader. The network was getting bribes from state-owned companies through a scheme sophistically hidden behind a small, almost unknown, PR company. Only in the last three years Mr. Sanader and his closest aides, probably including the current PM Kosor, stuffed their pockets with approximately $3 billion, seriously draining the Croatian budget.

Some of the most successful state owned companies faced losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars. It helped the global financial crisis to hit them event much more severely than was expected. Two months ago, Austria executed a Croatian arrest warrant and imprisoned the former PM on corruption charges and is now investigating him for financial frauds under Austrian laws and authority.

At a time when Kosor was trying to finalize negotiations with European Union and open the last doors for full membership in this highly important political and economic union, her government is unable to improve the situation in the country.

Since the CDU took power in 2003, unemployment has been rising exponentially with every passing month. More than 300.000 people of roughly 4.5 million Croatian citizens are unemployed what in the fact means that more than 1.2 million people in their families lives day-by-day with less. The latest data regarding unemployment shows that 2,000 people more started using EI services in February 2011.

Kosor’s government is using the time-worn tactics of accusing everyone else for what has happened. They've even blamed workers, such as in Zagreb’s “Kamensko” textile and clothing company. As each days passes, Kosor is more nervous and more concerned about her future as PM. She seems more concerned about that than how to help follow Croatians get through the month.

The Facebook generation against everyone

About one week ago, several hundred young activist started a Facebook group calling for action against the CDU coalition government and others. The same group is not happy with the current opposition in Croatian Parliament led by the Social Democratic Party (SDP), or with the intentions of the financial institutions, police forces, unions and their leaders or the Catholic Church who have backed the CDU and their coalition partners for the last two decades.

Protests have been seen on the streets of several Croatian cities, mostly in the capital of Zagreb. They are demanding elections, the departure of the current government and a new government with more accountability. The protesters are gatherings on main city squares or in front of state institutions following marches all over the cities, chanting anti-government slogans. Social media is allowing a stream of action by people who are ready to take charge for their future.

The protesters' success is not assured. The unity and integrity of them is compromised by the actions of criminal elements marching with them. This helps the government present their actions as mere hooliganism. These small, well trained hooligans have attacked police forces and journalists and destroyed public property. These criminals are helping the government stay in power and maintain the status quo. Some commentators are convinced that the government has paid or sent in these hooligans to destroy the protests.

Time will tell whether the protesters will win this battle, or for that matter, the whole war against government. For the sake of Croatia's future, they need to win. Hopes are that other countries in the region will follow Croatian example and get rid of their own corrupt and criminal governments.

Esmir Milavic is a Contributing Writer for The Propagandist