In its call to the citizens to join the protest, the Alliance of Independent Croatian Unions (SSSH) said that more than 110,000 people emigrated from Croatia over the last ten years; more than 80,000 only since the crisis began in 2009.

Almost 40 percent of Croatians who leave to look for work see Germany as the Promised Land – in the last five years, the number of employed Croats in Germany increased by 45.8 percent.

At the same time, even more people are thinking about leaving. The ones who are most inclined to leave include doctors, nurses, specialists, electricians, and cooks.

Contrary to popular belief, unemployment is not the main but the third reason for leaving. The first is salary (80 percent), and second is the desire for better working conditions (31 percent).

Going in the wrong direction

Salaries and working conditions are the main things that motivate highly educated people, many of whom leave Croatia right after they finish school or college, even before they get to the employment bureau.

These terrible figures are hiding personal stories caused by social neglect, the interconnection of the political class, and those employers who see the development of Croatia as being founded on cheap labor instead of development, innovation, science, and education based on promoting creativity of the individual.

SSSH points out that Croatia in going in the direction of a society of poverty and inequality, which is certainly not desirable and does not stimulate people to stay, live and work.