Ahead of the presidential elections in the Republic of Croatia, the editorial staff of Croatians Online launched a series of articles with the aim of bringing the candidates and their election programs closer to Croats in the diaspora.
To all those who have announced their candidacy so far, we asked the same five questions to find out their views on topics of particular interest to Croats abroad, including the right to vote, military service, double taxation and the tax on pensions. We publish the answers we received in alphabetical order according to the last names of the candidates.*
Philosopher and bioethicist Marija Selak Raspudić is an independent candidate for president of Croatia. The award-winning scientist, university professor and parliamentary representative enters the election race with the slogans "more than character"I"Maria for Croatia". In his program points out that he will insist on protecting the rights and interests of Croats outside the Republic of Croatia and work to strengthen their communities.
Read below what she told us about the key topics of interest to the Croatian emigration.
1. Currently, some Consulates of the Republic of Croatia are overloaded in terms of the amount of work, and it is not possible to get a meeting in them for months. Consequently, do you think that our country has enough consular representations and employees in the Consulates in view of this, but also in view of the increasing interest in the citizenship of the Republic of Croatia?
I am familiar with that situation and it is not good at all. Just recently, our Canadian emigrants complained to me that cooperation with Croatia has never been worse and that they feel completely neglected. Our political priority must be to encourage our emigrants to return and strengthen cooperation with Croatia. This is why the doors of our consulates should always be open to them as much as possible.
Unfortunately, due to the political relations between the Prime Minister and the President of the State, Croatian diplomacy suffers a lot, as well as Croatia's reputation in the world, and this needs to be changed urgently. As a completely independent president, I will insist that the consulates be strengthened, especially in those countries where there is traditionally a large Croatian emigrant community.
It's time for Croatia to realize how much wealth lies in its emigrants, who historically have made us indebted, especially during the Homeland War, and to direct its political efforts towards strengthening cooperation with emigration, instead of attracting foreign labor, which is much more difficult to integrate into our society.
2. If mandatory military service is introduced in the Republic of Croatia, should, in your opinion, the children of Croatian emigrants who live abroad and have received Croatian citizenship, serve military service in Croatia?
The Republic of Croatia has regulated the obligations of recruits who have Croatian citizenship and live abroad, especially for those with dual citizenship. This is regulated by the Croatian Law on Defense and the corresponding rulebook regulating the record keeping of conscripts and the performance of military duty, and among other things, it depends on the way in which that person joined the military service in the home country if he has dual citizenship.
It does not seem to me that there is currently a stronger intention to include the children of Croatian emigrants in mandatory military service, however, I would like to remind you that our emigrants and their children also made a great contribution to the defense of Croatia, because many of them left their former home and safe existence and stopped line to protect Croatia from Great Serbian aggression. This showed that the love for the motherland was indeed transmitted transgenerationally to the children of many of our emigrants, and it is something that should definitely be nurtured.
3. What is your position on the proposal of Minister Primorc not to tax returnees for a period of five years, and what do you think is the key to (finally) ratifying the Double Tax Treaty between Croatia and the United States of America? In addition, in your opinion, should returning pensioners be taxed on pensions earned abroad?
Any initiative to encourage the return of Croatian emigrants is welcome. As for the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement between Croatia and the United States of America, the fact is that the big failure of Croatian diplomacy is that this agreement has not yet been ratified. This makes Croatia the only EU member state that does not have such an agreement in force with the USA, which makes the Croatian economy less competitive in the international environment.
The ratification of that treaty will be one of the priorities of my diplomatic efforts as the President of the Republic, and I believe that we will achieve it in the first year of my mandate.
Regarding the taxation of pensions, I am personally in favor of abolishing the taxation of all pensions, not only those that are earned abroad, and my current parliamentary parliamentary group proposed this just these days during the discussion on the new round of reform of tax laws.
4. Do you think that Croatian emigrants, even though they do not live in Croatia, should vote in elections. Why?
All Croatian citizens must have equal rights, including the right to vote in elections. It is in the interest of every prudent state, especially one with strong demographic problems, to keep all its citizens together and motivate them to participate in its political processes with the prospect of returning to Croatia. Given that our diaspora is scattered across the country in many parts of the country, in order for this right to be realized in practice, it is necessary to enable electronic and/or postal voting.
5. Briefly outline the key points of your program, with special reference to Croatian emigration.
I will strongly advocate for connecting all Croatian people to be a strategic goal of Croatian state policy. I will insist on protecting the rights and interests of Croats outside the Republic of Croatia and work to strengthen their communities. I will also strengthen economic cooperation with Croats outside the Republic of Croatia and encourage the return of Croatian emigrants and their descendants. In this sense, I would like to emphasize that even now, as a member of parliament, I am actively working to improve the position of Croats outside the Republic of Croatia. Thus, my parliamentary group recently proposed to the Government and the Parliament that in Central population register which will be set up in the coming years, will enable Croats outside the Republic of Croatia to enter data on their residence on a voluntary basis. Unfortunately, this initiative was rejected by the ruling parties, but we will continue to work on this and other initiatives because it is in the interest of the Republic of Croatia to have closer contact with its emigration.
I have broken down the vision of the kind of president Croatia needs in seven points: 1) An independent president as a guarantor of the stability of state power, 2) A commander-in-chief of the army who is at the service of the people, not parties, 3) A president who protects civil liberties, which I advocate for strengthening presidential powers through the possibility of veto, 4) A president with integrity who represents Croatia in the world with dignity, 5) A president who concretely fights for the rights of Croats outside Croatia, 6) A modern president who tackles new security challenges, 7) A president who understands what troubles citizens and consistently advocates for their rights.
In addition to the aforementioned areas in which the President of the Republic of Croatia has direct authority, as the bearer of direct legitimacy and a voice with special weight in the Croatian public, I will strongly advocate the following vision of Croatia:
Croatia for which the demographic issue is a priority
Croatia that systematically approaches the problems of the elderly
Croatia that democratizes key political institutions
Croatia that recognizes the social and economic value of education
Croatia that knows how to respond to the challenges of implementing artificial intelligence
Croatia that takes care of mental health
Croatia that protects the general and public good
Croatia where housing is affordable
Croatia that controls the import of foreign labor and prevents illegal migration
Croatia that takes care of vulnerable social groups
Croatia, which does not burden citizens with additional taxes, but relieves both citizens and entrepreneurs.
Croatia needs a president at the head of the state who will be prudent and responsible above all, who will not calculate and sit on two chairs, who will be guided by the interests of the Motherland, not the party's or her own well-being, who will solve crises and not create them through her actions. The creation and defense of independent Croatia is a great achievement of our parents' generation. It is up to us to play the 'second half' and create a better, fairer and happier Croatia that will justify all the sacrifices made for it. I am dedicated to that goal and I am ready to fight for it.
About the candidate
Marija Selak Raspudić was born on March 14, 1982 in Zagreb, where she completed elementary school and the Classical High School. She graduated in 2007 from the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Zagreb, studying philosophy and Croatian language and literature. During her studies, she received a state scholarship, and year 2006/2007 she spent the winter semester in Bratislava working on her thesis as a CEEPUS scholarship holder.
From April 2004 to October 2005, she worked at Television Z1 as an announcer-presenter, and then as an editor of her own show in the field of culture. From November 2007 to July 2008, she worked as the head of the Public Relations Department of Olympic International doo.
Ak. year 2008/2009 she enrolled in postgraduate doctoral studies in philosophy at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb. In February 2010, she was employed at the Department of Philosophy of the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb as a researcher. On June 11, 2013, she defended her doctoral dissertation entitled "Human nature and the new epoch" and obtained the academic degree of Doctor of Science in the scientific field of humanities, the field of philosophy.
In August 2013, she moved to the status of scientific novice - senior assistant. She was elected to the scientific title of scientific associate on January 16, 2014, and on January 21, 2015, she was elected to the scientific-teaching title and to the position of assistant professor in the field of humanities, field of philosophy, branch of ontology. She was elected to the title of senior research associate on June 21, 2019, and to the title of associate professor on November 4, 2020.
For the book Human Nature and the New Epoch, she received the annual award of the Association of University Teachers and other Scientists to young scientists and artists in 2014. She held a series of public lectures and participated in HRT's show Peti dan where she commented on current social, cultural and political events. He writes regular professional columns in the Bioethics section of Liječnicki novine, and occasionally publishes reviews in other media as well.
From July 22, 2020, she acted as an independent representative in the Croatian Parliament within the Club of Representatives of Most and was the president of the Committee for Gender Equality and a member of the Committee for Spatial Planning and Construction. In the current, eleventh convocation of the Croatian Parliament, which was constituted on May 16, 2024, she acts as an independent representative and a member of the Club of Independent Representatives.
*At the time of sending the questions to the presidential candidates, eleven people announced their candidacy. Candidates who joined later will receive the questions later.
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