National Development Strategy Croatia 2030: Roadmap for a Better Future

LGBTI people in Croatia experience high levels of discrimination, violence, and harassment, 
significantly exceeding the EU average. 
60 percent of LGBTI respondents surveyed in Croatia in 2012 
in a European-wide FRA-2013 survey reported being victims of violence and harassment, frequently in 
public places. More than half of LGBTI respondents reported that they avoid public places because they 
feel unsafe.

Balanced territorial development 

142.
Croatia’s pattern of imbalanced regional development is similar to other countries in central 
and eastern Europe. 
It is characterized by a pronounced level of regional disparities, driven by strong 
dominance of the metropolitan region and highly challenging socio-economic circumstances in the lagging 
regions, mainly situated in the eastern parts of the country and bordering non-EU member states. According 
to the index of development, 12 out of 20 counties and 304 out of 556 local units are currently designated 
as lagging areas, clearly showing how widespread is this this issue.
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There is also a range of developmental 
issues and needs related to specific territories such as islands and hilly and mountainous areas. Weak 
transport connectivity between different geographic areas is one example of such issues, especially in the 
case of remote islands and some of the rural areas. 
143.
Most lagging regions in Croatia are faced with similar obstacles to those of the country as a 
whole, but in lagging regions these issues have greater influence on overall economic and social out-
comes. 
The main issues include: an unfavorable economic structure marked by the weak role of the private 
sector and a high presence of the state sector, low human capital, low entrepreneurship culture, weak insti-
tutions and a shrinking and aging population. In addition to these bottlenecks that are common to the rest 
of the country, poor broadband connectivity and weak transport links aggravate the difficulties of rural 
areas. In many cases, root causes are directly connected to the extent of damages occurred during the 
Homeland war 1991-1995. Most notable example is the City of Vukovar, which has suffered terrible dev-
astations of its physical infrastructure, as well as huge population loss during the war. 
144.