Original article (in Croatian) was published on 15/09/2022
A Facebook user spread the incorrect claim that refugees from Ukraine in Croatia receive HRK 4,500, in addition to paid accommodation and utilities.
An incorrect claim is spreading on Facebook that the Croatian authorities have provided refugees from Ukraine with paid accommodation, utilities and HRK 4,500 per month.
“Ukrainian refugees in Croatia receive HRK 4,500, accommodation and utilities paid, pensioners with 40 years of service receive HRK 2,600, and abandoned veterans HRK 0”, states a Facebook post from September 12, which has been shared 195 times. An identical or similar post can also be seen on other user accounts on Facebook and Instagram.
Refugees from Ukraine
However, it is not true that refugees from Ukraine have all the above-mentioned privileges. This can be checked easily on the “Croatia for Ukraine” page, launched by the Ministry of the Interior.
On that page, you can find various information intended for Ukrainian refugees, as well as all relevant decisions related to the assistance that Croatia has decided to provide them.
Also, you can find out that Ukrainians have free access to the labor market in Croatia, while the state co-finances their housing costs.
Namely, the government of the Republic of Croatia passed a decision in March 2022 to co-finance the accommodation costs of refugees from Ukraine in the maximum amount of HRK 3,600 per month. We emphasize that this is the maximum amount and not the amount received by everyone who fled Ukraine to Croatia due to the war.
In the government’s decision, it can be found that the maximum subsidy for singles is HRK 50 per day (so a maximum of HRK 1,550 per month), while the subsidy for families is calculated according to the following formula: HRK 40 per day for the first member, HRK 30 per day for the second member, HRK 20 per day for the third member and HRK 10 per day for the fourth and each subsequent member.
On the “Croatia for Ukraine” page, it can be found that public tenders were held in 13 counties for the procurement of food and accommodation services for refugees from Ukraine, along with information on cumulative costs and the number of service users.
Pensions and veterans
Therefore, the claim that the Croatian state pays rent and utilities to Ukrainian refugees and gives them HRK 4,500 per month is incorrect. The correct information is that refugees from Ukraine, based on the decisions of the Government of the Republic of Croatia and the European Union, have the right to co-finance housing in Croatia in the amount of up to HRK 3,600 per month and have open access to the Croatian labor market.
As for the other allegations in the Facebook post, they are also mainly incorrect. In Croatia, the lowest pension for one year of service is HRK 77.65. For 40 years of service, the lowest pension is around HRK 3,100. Of course, this is not the amount of pension that all retirees with 40 years of service receive. The final amount of the pension depends on a number of factors and varies from person to person.
The statement about “abandoned veterans” is equally incorrect; the fact is that the Republic of Croatia has provided numerous material benefits to people who have the status of veterans from the Homeland War, although, of course, there are also veterans who do not enjoy any of these benefits. Croatian veterans are guaranteed a minimum pension of HRK 2,558.25, increased by HRK 0.4989 for each day of veteran service in the combat sector.