Germany is no longer the promised land. Last year, fewer foreigners moved in than in previous years. For the first time, the number of Croats who immigrated was also lower than the number of our people who returned home from Germany.

Milan also returned from Germany after a full 11 years. He moved his family and construction company to his hometown of Imotski and now, he says, his heart is in the right place.

“It is definitely final, I miss my homeland, Imotski, Zagreb and I want to be here now. Croatia has not improved as much as Germany is in collapse; salaries have risen by 10 to 15 percent, and everything has become abnormally more expensive,” says Milan Katanušić, returnee from Germany for Danas.hr.

And it was precisely the German statistics office that published interesting data according to which, for the first time since Croatia joined the European Union, more Croatian citizens emigrated from Germany last year than entered it. Thus, last year just over 20 thousand Croats moved to Germany, while more than 24 thousand left it, which is a drop of about 3 and a half thousand.

The real success will be, says the minister, when young families start returning. And for that, he says, measures are needed, one of them being tax relief for returnees.

“We will have several new measures in the budget,” said the Minister of Demography Ivan Šipić.

Among the Croats in Germany is also Marija Šimić from Zagreb, who has been living in Munich for 10 years and plans to stay there. Alongside her job in finance, she also developed a mobile application with colleagues with advice for those who are arriving.

“I graduated from university here, started a family, launched two businesses. If someone had asked me 10 years ago where I would be, I could not have said with certainty that it would be Germany.”, says Marija.

From construction workers to medical professionals – thousands of Croatian workers found jobs in Germany.

“There are still people in Germany, but many cannot even live there on a German pension, so it is a little easier for them here. I would tell the countries of the Balkans: do not go to the Union, we are not made for it, we left, we returned, but still it is most beautiful in Croatia, if only there were order,” says Katanušić.

Because judging at least by the data from their statistics office, Germany is no longer what it once was for Croats. Some are therefore returning, but the key question is what to offer young people so that they do not leave at all, writes Danas.hr.

Source: tportal.hr