Tanja Tagirov underlines that the national tension in Croatia is much stronger than in Serbia, and this is the place to seek the cause of the mass protests in Split for Mirko Norac. However, there were decisive reactions from NGOs and political parties. Zoran Djindjic, on his return from Washington, added to the already existing Serbian qualms. He, like, did everything in his power to convince the U.S. administration to delay their demands for cooperation with the Hague. Djindjic seemed not to be aware that with the support he enjoys, he would not last through a single wave of protests.
Croatian citizens enter the second year of the new administration with considerably less optimism.
No privatization reforms have been carried out, unemployment is on the rise, administration is growing instead of economizing, production is not active, and taxes are high. Along with opening up towards the world, people expected improvement of the economic situation, which did not take place. On the other hand, it was also expected that those guilty for the economic disaster will be brought to justice, which is not happening. Economy is no better than in Serbia, but Croatia at least can rely on a profitable vacation season, injecting a few billion deutsche marks into the financial bloodline. Tax rate on profit in Croatia is 22 per cent, while in Serbia it will most likely be around 20 per cent, on top of certain local taxes.