President Ivo Josipovic on Tuesday congratulated Croatians on International Workers' Day, saying that this year again Croatia was observing May 1 against the backdrop of a years-long crisis and protests against impoverishment and social injustices.
The crisis affects all citizens, notably the unemployed, pensioners, workers who do not get paid and young people waiting for their first job, and many families have a hard time, the president said in a message.
"May 1 is therefore a day when one should warn about the need to respect workers' rights and the state's obligation to see that everyone has the possibility to find a job and receive an honest salary for it. That's a prerequisite of social stability and progress."
The president said that those in power at any level, including the levers of economic power, had the duty to contribute the most to the building of social relations in which honest work and an honestly acquired education came first.
He said it was equally important to expand and strengthen social dialogue so that the interests of all social strata could be successfully and honestly met.
Josipovic recalled that Croatia had achieved great historic goals of creating and defending its independence and that now it was about to achieve another great goal, accession to the European Union.
"I believe we will also achieve the goal of a fairer society and better living for all Croatian citizens," he said.
