Zagreb - Both the ruling majority and opposition parties on Thursday endorsed the ratification of the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (PDCA) between the European Union and Cuba, while Human Shield MP Branimir Bunjac during the debate that preceded claimed that Cuba has surpassed Croatia in many aspects.
Education to the level of a PhD is free in Cuba, school meals are free and only 0.2% of the population is illiterate, compared to 0.8% in Croatia. In Cuba, 98% of children go to kindergarten while that percentage in Croatia is less than 50%. Cuban classes in primary school have a maximum of 20 students, in secondary school that is 15 students, school is in one shift and a school lesson lasts 30 minutes, the opposition MP said.
He added that Cuba's health system has been described by the World Health Organisation as being perfect.
"I don't believe that people in Croatia would want to live in Cuba considering all the positive and negative parameters," MP Ivan Ćelić of the ruling HDZ responded to Bunjac and added that it would be better for Croatia's health reform to reflect that of Denmark and the school reform that of Finland.
The PDCA creates an enabling framework for enhanced political dialogue, for improved bilateral cooperation, as well as for developing joint action in multilateral fora, and it is the first of its kind between the EU and its member states with Cuba, State-Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Andreja Metelko Zgombić, said in parliament.