Milanović admits: Croatia is a country of huge social inequality

(Patria) - Croatian President Zoran Milanović stated yesterday, on the occasion of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and Social Exclusion, that Croatia is a country of huge social inequality in which the vast majority of people are living increasingly difficult lives.

"Croatian people simply have no benefit from economic growth and budget increases because the government's economic and social policy does not recognize the essential problems of Croatian society," Milanović wrote on his Facebook profile.

Croatian pensioners are in a particularly difficult position, Milanović assessed.

"What kind of government boasts about giving one-time aid to over 60 percent of pensioners? It is a heartless government because that very fact shows it has reduced the majority of Croatian pensioners to social cases. And it still expects those people to be grateful to it," Milanović stated.

He deemed it unacceptable that pensioners live on social assistance, and as one of the key measures to increase their standard of living, he cited changing the formula for calculating pensions.

"As long as the government does not show political will and genuine care for pensioners, I will not stop pointing out this injustice that makes Croatia a country of social and societal inequality," Milanović added.