Representatives of the Croatian World Congress (HSK) on Thursday warned about negative effects of the government's plan to impose taxes on foreign pensions of Croatians who decide to come back to their motherland.
This plan will deter expatriates from returning to the homeland, the HSK spokesman Simun Sito Coric said at a news conference on Thursday in Zagreb where the HSK gathered this week to mark the 20th anniversary of its establishment.
According to Coric, the Croatia Diaspora "is the second largest branch of the economy" after tourism in terms of the influx of money into Croatia.
The Congress members reiterated their concern over the status of the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The HSK also calls for bringing to justice all those responsible for assassinations of more than a hundred Croatian emigrants during the era of Communist Yugoslavia.
Croatia's legislation on the implementation of the European Arrest Warrant is unacceptable in democracies and it is also undermining Croatia's credibility, marring its relations with Germany, the HSK President Mijo Maric said.
The HSK also pushed for transforming the current directorate for Croats outside Croatia into a ministry.
The Croatian World Congress was established in Zagreb in 1993, comprising 30 associations from 30 countries. It is a nonprofit, nongovernmental and nonpartisan organisation as well as a member of the UN's Economic and Social Council with the status of advisor.
