Mighty Dragon or Paper Tiger: Populist Discourse on Migrations in Croatia

• In Event: International Migration: Population Movements in the 21st Century

Abstract

Traditionally, Croatia is regarded as a non-immigration country, with a rather low number of immigrants and their descendants and with strong emigration, especially after the accession to the EU in 2013 and the opening of the labor market. However, contemporary migrations in Croatia includes both emigration and immigration, mostly from the countries in the Balkan region. During mass migration in 2015-2016, Croatia experienced extensive flows throughout its territory, with more than 650,000 people who have passed through the Balkan route of migrations. In 2018 there is again an increase in number or migrants and refugees who are trying to enter to Croatia on their way to the western European countries. At the same time, the administrative practice in protecting the state border has also hardened - there are many warnings and reports of international and non-governmental organizations on push backs of refugees and migrants. According to the reports, people mostly originating from Afghanistan, but also from Iraq, Pakistan, Syria, and other countries, were not given access to the asylum procedure, although some explicitly and repeatedly approached the Croatian police, expressing their wish to ask for international protection. Instead, they were, according to the reports, illegally expelled from Croatian territory. The reports stressed that this practice was accompanied by violence and degrading treatment by the Croatian police.
The growing number of irregular migrants, although relatively low when compared to the other EU member states (around 5000 persons in 2017), has created public anxiety due to mass arrivals of visibly or religiously “different people”. As a result, public and political debate on refugees and migrants has hardened, apart from the objective reality of country’s exposure to migrations. The changes in the public attitude toward the migrants and refugees are accompanied with the growing populism in Croatian political fora. Populist movements and political parties are steadily increasing their support according to opinion polls. Although the immigration and immigrants, due to their low numbers, were not in the center of their rhetoric, recently the shift has been observed. The growing fear of migrants has been used by the right-wing and populist forces, with examples such as the recent protests of few hundreds of migrants and refugees at the Bosnia-Croatia border demanding entry into Croatia, as well as the dispute over the UN Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.
The aim of the paper is to analyze recent political discourse in regard to migration policy in Croatia and the role of the right-wing and populist political forces. The analyses in the paper will include qualitative analysis of statements given by the MPs of the right-wing and populist parties in the Croatian Parliament during 6 months, from June to December 2018. The data content analysis will be used to assess the parliamentary questions of MPs to the Government, Prime minister, and relevant state departments as well as the answers to these questions. In addition, the authors will analyze political programs of right-wing and populist political parties, including those prepared for the upcoming elections for European Parliament in May 2019, and their position toward migrations and immigrants to Croatia.

Authors

• Goranka Lalic Novak, Faculty of Law, University in Zagreb

• Teo Giljevic, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Law

• Romea Manojlovic Toman, Faculy of Law, University of Zagreb