P O R T F O L I O

When poverty is compared all over the world, it seems far away. But when it comes to the Member States of the European Union, it suddenly becomes very close. Majda (23), a political science student from Croatia, explains why she thinks so many young people from Croatia are fleeing to more wealthier countries.

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What does poverty mean to you?

To me, poverty means not being able to fulfil your own basic needs.  Such as paying for food, rent, healthcare and stuff like that needed for every day.

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Do you think you live in a country where there is a clear dominance of poverty?

We live in a democratic republic and are part of the EU, so at first sight I would never say that Croatia lives in poverty. But considering that a regular monthly paycheck is around €600 and not be able to cover everything you see as basic needed for a happy life, I would say YES, there is a hidden dominance of poverty.

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How can this be seen?

This can be seen by the number of young people moving out of the country in search of a better future. It’s not even a joke when I tell you that people choose their university with in mind what would best support them for going abroad. We have so many intelligent people in our country with a high degree, who end up leaving for another country because Croatia can not pay them for their knowledge. They do know that de knowledge they have would be much better paid and appreciated somewhere else in the EU and so they choose to move out.

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It’s like you’re telling me that the solution for everything is to move from Croatia and go to another country, which welfare’s better. From where did that idea grow?

Living in Croatia, where there is the “same standard” as in other EU countries, is just a funny choice. We have much lower paychecks here, but the same prices for the food, rent and utilities as for example in Austria. People are so hopeless that they move to another country, without even knowing the language, hoping that they could work there and save some money and afford something bigger in life one day.

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What do you think the European Union is doing more for Belgium than for Croatia?

I don’t think the EU is “doing” anything more for Belgium than for Croatia. It is just the situation that Croatia is in for a long time. We carry a big debt from before and have suffered a few economic crises too. The current government is just corrupted and not in the best interest of its people. I think Belgium is just a better regulated country!

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What do you think the European Union does for your country that you can benefit from?

As a student, I can benefit from EU programs under Erasmus and Erasmus+. It also gives me the opportunity to work and travel in other EU countries under the student visa and without a lot of paperwork complications.

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Have you ever experienced the "help" of the European Union?

The European Union has helped Croatia A LOT. We have experienced a lot of help from the EU through recovery funds, solidarity funds, for example, for the damage caused by the recent earthquakes...

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When you look at the gap between Belgium and Croatia, economically speaking, what do you notice first?

The first and most obvious thing to mention is that Belgium is a Kingdom and does not have a huge land debt. Croatia fought a war for its independence from a larger country in which it was, and in the process suffered a great deal of loss which put it in the situation it is in now. That said, everything else is just of a higher standard in Belgium than in Croatia. As I said before, salaries and pensions are better in Belgium, so there is room for a better standard of living for the population. Croatia cannot offer that standard of living because its citizens have to pay high taxes, 25% to be precisely, in order for the country to be self-sufficient.

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If you could be the big boss of the European Union for one day, what would you change economically between the Member States and the obvious gap between prosperity and poverty?

I have a feeling that Croatia entered the EU with the hope of a better future and expecting help with ALL the problems it is currently facing. The idea was that someone would bring us out of the despair in which we now find ourselves. Having said that, if I were the big boss of the EU, I would have the country completely run by me to try, understand and then fix what is keeping Croatia, or any other poor country, from blossoming!