Presenting the program of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) on HTV, the party president Josip Friščić emphasized that January 1, 2008, is the deadline for activating the Protected Ecological-Fishing Zone (ZERP) and added that HSS supports calling a referendum on Croatia’s entry into NATO.
"This is the deadline when we will be the ones managing 25 thousand square kilometers of Croatian sea – both in terms of its ecological protection and equally all the economic goods that this vast area can provide," emphasized Friščić while discussing the activation of ZERP from January 1 of next year.
Friščić stated that Croatian citizens need to decide on joining NATO in a referendum because they are the ones whose tax funds will finance equipment for soldiers and "their children will go to crisis areas tomorrow." HSS believes that NATO guarantees security and "for Croatia, it means a new step forward and recognition of success," said Friščić. He warned that HSS advocates, if Croatia joins NATO, that "Croatian young men can only go to global crisis hotspots under the UN flag," and that they should not protect any interests of foreign capital.
The problem of large external debt needs to be resolved through economic growth and development by connecting small, medium, and large enterprises that will then jointly operate in foreign markets, as there is no reduction of external debt without exports, said Friščić. "We need to attract foreign investors, specifically those who will bring money, not those who will take out loans here and increase our indebtedness," he added. Friščić noted, while discussing capital gains tax, that Croatia faces tax reform in the process of joining the European Union. "This does not mean that those who have, for example, bought shares of HT will pay tax, but it is certain that those who sold property for billions and did not pay a single kuna in tax – we need to see how to address that," emphasized Friščić.
