Croatia is the third-ranked European country according to the unemployment of young people, following Spain and Greece, given that of the 330,00 jobless Croatians, 130,000 are young people, heard a conference organised by the nongovernmental organisation called "the Croatian Youth Network" in Zagreb on Tuesday.
The NGO's representatives described these figures as alarming. They also presented the findings of the NGO's publication and survey among over 1,000 young Croatians.
Nikola Bukovic of the Croatian Youth Network said the main problems causing high unemployment rates were the defects in the education system, the poorly-conducted reform in the schooling system to implement the Bologna Process, the inflexible labour market, corruption, nepotism and clientelism, as well as lack of readiness among young people to move from one town to another for employment and generally anti-entrepreneurial climate.
In attendance were Deputy Prime Minister Milanka Opacic and Labour Minister Mirando Mrsic who pledged the implementation of agendas that would turn the situation for the better.