Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic said on Tuesday that Serbia is not a democratic country and that it is "not only sitting on two stools", but is also inconsistent and unprincipled and causes "regional disputes".

“We must be very open and say that Serbia is not a democratic country. The incident with Ms Vuckovic shows how they deal with all those who have a different opinion from the ruling structures in Serbia,” Jandrokovic told reporters.

He was referring to the recent arrest of a person in the Belgrade area on suspicion of being a Croatian spy and the arrest of singer Severina Vuckovic at the Serbian-Croatian border for making a criminal speech.

We must not fall for provocations

Serbia is not only sitting on two stools, but is also inconsistent, unprincipled and causes “regional disputes”, according to Jandrokovic.

“We need to be smarter here and not fall for provocations. I do not want to dictate to the media how they should write, but I think it would be wise if they ignored Vucic a little,” he said.

Jandrokovic also commented on an article in the weekly newspaper Nacional, according to which President Zoran Milanovic has asked the Military Security Service (VSOA) to check who is leaking information about his helicopter flights to the media and thus, as he claims, jeopardising his security.

“We are not all treated equally. Remember the case I had and how it was treated by the public and the Commission for Conflict of interest when I used the government aircraft. In this case, we are talking about dozens of helicopter flights,” Jandrokovic said.

Croatia will adapt the Foreigners Act to the new times

Jandrokovic told the press that the law on foreigners will soon be amended and adapted to the new times in order to enable third-country workers to live a dignified life. One of the changes relates to the extension of work permits from one to three years.

“The Foreigners Act will be amended and adapted to the new times and new requirements in order to protect local workers, but also to ensure a dignified life for workers coming from outside Croatia. This concerns living and working conditions, with work permits being extended to three years,” said Jandrokovic.

The increased number of foreign workers on the Croatian labour market in recent years has also contributed to a higher gross domestic product (GDP) and economic progress. Three years ago there were about 80,000 foreign workers, last year about 170,00, and this year, according to some estimates, the number could reach 200,000, he added.

Any act of violence against foreign workers should be condemned and penalised

“It is important that workers from distant countries are socialised as well as possible, that they are integrated as well as possible so that there is no tension between the local population and those who come to us,” he said.

Jandrokovic emphasised that any act of violence against foreign workers should be condemned and punished. However, he believes that these incidents are relatively rare, considering the total number of foreign workers in Croatia.

“Foreign workers are a necessity. Some say we do not need them, but if they were not here, there would be no one working in construction. And then we would not have 3.3 per cent growth, it would be much lower,” he said.