This is the English version of the Open Letter addressed to Prime Minister of the Croatian Government, Andrej Plenković, minister of science and education, Radovan Fuchs, and to the Croatian media outlets on 2 Nov 2021. The Open Letter emphasizes six fundamental principles and suggests six measures based on which we believe the quality and international recognition of research&innovation and higher education in the Republic of Croatian could be improved. The Croatian version can be found here: https://zenodo.org/record/5005986 The names of four authors and 26 supporters are listed below. Authors (alphabetically): Pavel Gregorić, PhD, Institute of Philosophy, Croatia Prof Mirko Planinić, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Croatia Prof Vlatko Silobrčić, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Croatia Tomislav Stojanov, PhD, University of Nottingham, UK Supporters (alphabetically): Tome Antičić, PhD, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Croatia Prof Marija Brajdić Vuković, Institute for Social Research in Zagreb, Croatia Prof Neven Budak, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Croatia Prof Hrvoje Buljan, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Croatia Prof Blaženka Divjak, Faculty of Organization and Informatics, University of Zagreb, Croatia Mladen Domazet, PhD, Institute for Political Ecology, Croatia Prof Josip Glaurdić, Université du Luxembourg, Luxembourg Prof Ita Gruić Sovulj, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Croatia Prof Željko Ivezić, University of Washington, USA Prof Dejan Jović, Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb, Croatia Prof Hrvoje Klasić, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Croatia Prof Hrvoje Kraljević, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Croatia Dragomira Majhen, PhD, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Croatia Prof Siniša Malešević, University College, Dublin, Ireland Prof Guy Paić, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico Prof Nenad Pavin, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Croatia Prof Darko Polšek, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Croatia Petra Posedel Šimović, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Croatia Prof Aleksandra Rađenović, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland Nenad Raos, PhD, research advisor, retired, Croatia Prof Hrvoje Šikić, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Croatia Prof Zvonimir Šikić, University of Zagreb, retired, Croatia Prof Aleksandar Štulhofer, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Croatia Prof Iva Tolić, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Croatia Prof Maja Vehovec, University of Rijeka, retired, Croatia Prof Igor Žutić, University of Buffalo, USA