Behind the Beauty of the Dalmatian Coast
written by nicole kardum
original photo from nicole kardum
For the last 19 years, I have spent every summer bathing and growing under the sun in the Adriatic Sea. Being Croatian has opened up an entirely new world to me, with both a lifestyle and people that are more beautiful than can be described by the English vocabulary. Here, we only mark the hours of the day that shine. Even as I write this journalistic endeavor I am greeted by cotton candy skies and mountains with glistening towns that look like stars at night. A country so rich in history and architecture, influenced by dozens of cultures and writings of European empires that have risen and fallen, Croatia still remains resilient in its own terms after countless wars and battles. So the question begs to be asked; how can a country so beautiful be one of most corrupt countries in the European Union?
original photo from nicole kardum
Croatia has a population of 4 million people; smaller than New York and most European countries. Despite the growing tourism that increases with each coming year and its inviting nature with hundreds of islands and old cities still shielded by the turbulent tides and times, the population continues to decrease steadily each year with the younger generations migrating out of the country and finding jobs in neighboring lands with more to offer. I have spoken to dozens of Croatians between the ages of 18-24, and a majority of them are either studying abroad or planning to leave once they have completed their degrees. The reason? They simply cannot tolerate the political and economical corruption, these two being a direct link, as people with political functions leverage their positions to get better jobs and better projects to benefit them financially. It is simply hard to ignore as these things are done publicly and with minimal consequences, and is done on a large scale nationwide. The people of Croatia describe this as a game, and almost everyone is involved in this serious economic crime. People with higher positions help their inner circle of family and friends to obtain better jobs. If they are found responsible for these manipulations, they are able to protect themselves through their connections since they have surrounded themselves with a political net of people who will free them of being incarcerated or criminally charged.
In simpler terms, they make sure to appoint specific positions to people who will protect them. And if not, they ensure that everyone around them is punished as well. A well remembered case of this circumstance arose after the Yugoslavian War in a large town called Knin, where mayor Josipa Rimac was elected as she was a member of the strongest political party in the country. Josipa used her position to arrange very expensive and high paying jobs.
She was in charge of the finances for very lucrative deals with high profits. And allocated funds and grants which were meant to be given to hardworking citizens, were harbored by these political individuals for their own use. Despite this being in 2002, her party was investigated only in the last few years for their unfair practices, unbeknownst to most of the country. When she was indicted for her abuse of office, she pulled down almost everyone who was a part of that network, including over 26 office officials. This situation was not merely a singular one, as almost every part of the country possesses people in power who have done and still continue to do the same thing. Croatia has since created the “Office for Suppression of Corruption Organised Crime,” in order to compensate for the rising numbers of corruption as Croatia emerged a market-based democracy after being a part of former Yugoslavia.
High emigration from the country has just opened more doors for these capitalist criminals to expand upon their games, and recent statistics have concurred with these suspicions. Tado Jurić, a political scientist, released his study “Research on Corruption in Croatia - Measuring Corruption.” His findings detail the relationship between emigration and the rise in corruption, the ‘departure of the dissatisfied’ as he calls it has become more and more evident in the last 5 years. Questionable judiciary systems and laws that seem to change faster than they are created are preventing the country from flourishing and are contributing to its own downfall. It is crucial that those in power are held responsible and exposed. These political figures have been hiding in the dark far too long.
My friends and family have described their own struggles not coming from money or family in respected positions, and describe feeling stuck in a country they know they will not be able to thrive in. In order to compensate, for their own sake, they are reluctantly abandoning their home and seeking asylum for growing opportunities in other countries. Having to learn other languages and work tirelessly to be able to have a better life for themselves and their children as the economy is not kind to its own residents. The silhouette of their dreams of being successful with respective careers in their own land has been distorted and taken away from them simply because they are not born into successful families. All the while knowing their dreams of practicing law, medicine, and anything you can name would prove much more financially stable elsewhere. In America, we are taught that we can have any career we wish to pursue—that our destinies are in our own hands, but so few have access to this luxury. My mother and father are both examples of a generation of Croatians who have abandoned everything they knew in order to provide a better life for their children by settling in America. Having been privileged to have grown up in a country where everything I have wanted in my professional career has always been supported and possible; the feeling of frustration for the youth of countries such as Croatia cannot be helped.
original photo from nicole kardum
original photo from nicole kardum
People of this nation continue to describe how the nationalism which was so bright and strong as we emerged from a vicious war, the nationalism which the country has long prided itself over with a love for each other, that I myself have experienced and embraced the last 19 years, has vanished. Evaded. Evacuated. Left the building.
The duality of a country boasting so beautiful and rich a culture that brings in over a million tourists a year, and yet is so harsh and stubborn in its ways making it almost uninhabitable for its own residents is astounding. And not nearly enough worldwide coverage has been brought to this crisis.
