Citizens of Croatia, Portugal and France are least among all Europeans worried that immigration could become an issue which the EU and their countries will have to face in the future. Even at the height of the migration crisis, the biggest concern of Croatian citizens was unemployment, which was followed by social inequality, public debt and youth unemployment, according to Eurobarometer data published yesterday. The poll was conducted from 19 to 29 September, during a period which included many major events connected with the refugee crisis, reports Vecernji List and Index.hr on December 4, 2015.
Between 19 and 29 September, 63,000 refugees entered Croatia, Hungary detained a Croatian train, while Croatia closed its borders for vehicles with Serbian license plates. The survey was conducted before the terrorist attacks in France. In the poll in which respondents could choose three issues which they consider to be most important for their country and the EU, 61 percent of respondents in Croatia put unemployment at the top of their list, which is a decrease of seven percentage points compared to 2013.
While the citizens of the Czech Republic, Italy and Hungary were mostly concerned with the issue of immigration, Croatian respondents placed that challenge at fifth place (28 percent). The recent events obviously had an impact on the perception of citizens, since two years ago only 5 percent of respondents believed that the immigration was a problem.
From midnight to 9 pm on Thursday, 3,236 refugees entered Croatia. There were just 11 people accommodated at the temporary refugee centre in Slavonski Brod. Since the beginning of the migration crisis, 466,082 migrants and refugees have passed through Croatia.
A man was killed and at least another two were injured in clashes between refugees and migrants on the Greek-Macedonian border. The man who was killed was probably a Moroccan who died due to electrocution after he climbed on one railway car at the border.
Migrants which cannot enter Macedonia put up a roadblock which prevents anyone from passing over the border. That has also stopped refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq whom Macedonian authorities allow to pass due to war conditions in their countries. The situation at Macedonian-Greek border is very tense, and there are occasional clashes, primarily between the Iranians and Pakistanis on one side and Afghans on the other.
Due to the situation on the ground, Greece has requested assistance from the European Union to control its borders, while thousands of migrants are waiting for entry into Macedonia. The interior ministers will meet to discuss the ways Greece is trying to control refugees who are passing through the country on their way to northern Europe. According to BBC, some members of the EU have asked Greece to suspend the Schengen system.
