The head of Rijeka University Pero Lucin pointed out that there are 17,000 students at the university and more than half come from areas other than Primorje-Gorski Kotar County.
He added that in the Web of Science data base, the University of Rijeka has been ranked as 450th in Europe for its research and science productivity. He added that in order to take a leading role in social and economic development it is necessary to raise research activities which is one of the pillars of the national strategy to overcome the crisis, achieve economic growth, create new jobs and achieve overall development of society, Lucin said.
He warned that time was running out and that it was vital to exploit the intelligence of universities otherwise the consequences could be all the more drastic and lead to a brain drain.
The Prime Minister assessed that Rijeka had developed a serious university. "Previously the perception was that it was only worthwhile to educate yourself in Zagreb while today the perception and fact is that Croatia has several quality universities and the standard has balanced out," he said.
"I'm not satisfied, naturally, as prime minister with the quantity and quality allocated for science and education. I would like that to be more. We are struggling with European bureaucracy and the result of those 'dry wars', 'cold wars' in the positive sense is programmes and plans that we have to respect but at the same time we have to fight for our interests," said Milanovic.
"Today, 25 years after Croatia gained independence with all instruments of statehood, and after it has become physically secure and its survival is undoubted, the country's interest lies in the extent that we can exploit our membership, primarily in the financial sense," he underscored.
He assessed that Rijeka University has succeeded in that and the result is that the university's reputation has become a fact. It is progressing, he concluded.