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Foreigners are to be given less work permits overall in new quotas announced by the Croatian government due to the economic crisis.

 

There are approximately 6,000 foreign workers already working in Croatia who will get their permits renewed for 2010. However, according to the daily "Poslovni dnevnik" only 902 NEW permits will be approved for 2010. This figure is a huge cut and is a quarter of the amount given in 2009 when 4,267 were issued.

 

This turnaround by the Economy Ministry is in a response to the current economic situation - a spokesperson said that the economic crisis and rising unemployment mean that jobs can be done by domestic workers and there is no need to import foreign labour. This may be seen by some as a protectionist move rather than the progressive action of a country tying to join the EU which has laws on and promotes the freedom of movement and work.