The calls to exit the EU definitely mean the impoverishment of the people of Croatia, said the Croatian MEP, Ivan Jakovcic, in the Istrian city of Pula on Tuesday, adding that Europe was not ideal, but that it had no alternative.

“I’m not a Euroidealist, nor am I someone who thinks of the European Union as an ideal creation. Instead, I think it needs to be reformed. But, unlike those who want more discord, I want more unity and a deepening of the European Union,” Jakovcic said at a press conference on the occasion of the Europe Day, an annual celebration by the European Union that takes place on May 9.

He added he was in favour of creating a new energy union, a new digital policy, and not a union with 27 different policies.

On April 29, the Croatian anti-establishment party, Zivi Zid, held its first party convention, where it called for Croatia to exit the EU. According to a survey conducted earlier in May, Zivi Zid is the third most popular party in Croatia, and its approval ratings, now at some 13 percent, have been steadily rising over the past year, indicating the voters’ growing support of its programme.

The calls for Croatia to exit the EU are very risky, and “something very detrimental to the people, because the EU has shown us the potential for growth,” Jakovcic said.

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