ZAGREB, 9 June (Hina) – The number of Croats in Croatia is declining every year, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Tuesday at Government House, where he welcomed young members of the Croatian diaspora and encouraged them to return to their homeland and contribute to its demographic renewal.
“We would be delighted if some of you decided to return to Croatia and, with renewed enthusiasm and energy, make your contribution to Croatia’s demographic revitalisation,” Plenković said while receiving the fifth generation of participants in the Homeland Summer School programme.
Noting that Croatia invests around €820 million annually in demographic revitalisation measures, the Prime Minister described the efforts to reverse a negative population growth rate as the fundamental and most important challenge facing the Croatian people over the past seventy years.
As part of a programme organised by the Central State Office for Croats Abroad and the Association of Croatian American Professionals (ACAP), members of the Croatian expat communities aged between 18 and 30 have the opportunity, from 1 to 13 June, to gain first-hand experience of Croatia’s scenery and cultural and historical heritage.
Some of the cities that programme participants will visit include Dubrovnik, Zadar, Sinj, Split, Varaždin, Vukovar and Zagreb.
Plenković told them that the programme was extensive and that they would “see more in two weeks than many Croats who have spent their entire lives living in Croatia”.
He expressed the hope that those two weeks would inspire them to return, and perhaps even to remain in Croatia permanently.
Since its launch in 2019, the programme has successfully connected Croatian expat communities around the world. It is designed to strengthen Croatian identity and awareness of belonging among members of the Croatian diaspora as part of one indivisible Croatian nation, while also encouraging global networking among Croats and fostering cultural and scientific cooperation between Croatia and younger generations of its emigrant communities.
The Prime Minister thanked the participants for their interest in their homeland, as well as their ancestors, who had managed to preserve their roots and ties to Croatia despite living in “less structured circumstances”.
