Croatia's president Zoran Milanović said on Friday that the shortage of labour in Croatia could not be offset by the uncontrolled import of foreign workers or by bringing in "anyone to an employer's liking", adding that those who may label such an attitude as nationalist or racist are manipulators.

“We must work to make sure there are no undignified jobs, and a precondition for that is a decent pay for all jobs,” Milanović said during a special session of the Municipal Council of Kamanje on the occasion of the day of this western town.

“The solution does not lie in bringing in, in an uncontrolled manner, everyone who may be to the liking of some employer. We have detected this issue and this should be stopped. Anyone who may say that this is nationalist or racist bevahour, is a manipulator. This has nothing to do with political orientation, either left or right. This is common sense,” said Milanović.

“There are not 70 million Croatians. We number fewer than four million. We must preserve our identity in an intelligent way,” said the president.

“I can agree with a statement I have heard today that not all of our children should be doctors or engineers. Our children or our grandchildren are not superior beings that should not do the jobs for which we import workers from abroad. I have no problem with their religion or their skin colour, but it’s a different culture.”

Thus, there are no embarrassing jobs, he said, calling for higher pay for domestic workers.

As for EU funds, Milanovic reiterated that it is necessary to absorb every cent available.

He also said that the European Union was not conceived in such a way that those who currently hold a dominant position would be willing to share that position or let others replace them.

In such a world and such circumstances Croatia must be shrewd in fighting for its interests and work to draw as close as possible to the richest EU members, the President said.