The President Sent a Note to the Prime Minister: It Is High Time to Resolve the Issue of the Blocked

President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović sent a letter to Prime Minister Andrej Plenković inviting him to meet with representatives of the association Blocked to contribute to the resolution of the problems faced by more than 300,000 blocked citizens, whose troubles affect numerous families and negatively reflect on the demographic situation in Croatia. Her letter, published by Večernji list, is fully reproduced below.

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“Dear Mr. Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia,

The problem of account blockages and enforcement actions against Croatian citizens has been one of the biggest issues in the Republic of Croatia for several years. It concerns more than three hundred thousand blocked individuals, with very serious consequences for numerous families, which negatively impacts our demographic situation, worsening day by day, partly because many Croatian citizens see the solution to their account blockages and enforcement actions in leaving Croatia. Despite this, a comprehensive solution is constantly being postponed.

I have been warning about the severity of this problem since the beginning of my mandate. To help find appropriate solutions, I organized, among other things, a round table on June 19, 2017, together with the association ‘Blocked’ titled ‘Living in Croatia and Being Blocked’, and on March 7 of this year, I received representatives of the Association and submitted a proposal of measures presented to me to Minister of Justice Mr. Dražen Bošnjaković on the same day.

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Yesterday, on March 26 of this year, the association ‘Blocked’ contacted me again with a letter signed by the Secretary General Mr. Mario Strinavić, expressing their great dissatisfaction with the silence of the Ministry of Justice. In contact with State Secretary Mr. Josip Salapić, head of the Working Group for the Draft Proposal of the Enforcement Law, they were informed that their proposal had not yet been received, and therefore is not being considered. They are also extremely dissatisfied with the announced government proposal for ‘forced bankruptcy’, which would be conducted by FINA against debtors with debts up to 20,000 HRK, which also includes forced enforcement of real estate.

The association ‘Blocked’ in the same letter once again expresses the belief that the solution to the problem is being obstructed in various ways, including through the collusion of structures within the state administration and financial institutions, public notaries, lawyers, and debt collection agencies, solely to financially exhaust the debtors for as long as possible.

Due to dissatisfaction with the current course and manner of preparing the new Enforcement Law, representatives of the Association have withdrawn from the Working Group for the Draft Proposal of the Enforcement Law.

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Today, I again sent the aforementioned proposal of measures made by the association ‘Blocked’ to Minister of Justice Mr. Dražen Bošnjaković. I also propose that the association ‘Blocked’ be re-included in the Working Group for the Draft Proposal of the Enforcement Law.

Dear Mr. Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, I believe it is high time to dedicate the utmost attention to resolving this problem, which has very significant social, demographic, health, and other consequences for many of our citizens, and, in the foreseeable future, could have non-negligible political consequences. In this sense, I am convinced that your reception of the representatives of the association ‘Blocked’ would significantly contribute to the resolution of this major social problem.”