Foreign relations of Croatia
Active in global affairs since the 9th century, modern Croatian diplomacy is considered to have formed following their independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.
They maintain colder, more tense relations with Serbia as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina due to historic nation-building conflict and differing political ideologies.
The economy of Croatia is one of the largest in Southeast Europe with $80.1 billion in nominal gross domestic product (GDP).
During the 1990s, Croatia sought to gain international recognition and join the United Nations (2000), later seeking entry into NATO (2009) and the European Union (2013).
The Association for the Promotion of the League of Nations Values was active in Zagreb in the interwar period organizing lectures by Albert Thomas, Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson and Ludwig Quidde.
Number of diplomats from Croatia gained significant experience in the service to the prominent Cold War era Yugoslav diplomacy.
In 1956 Brijuni archipelago in People's Republic of Croatia hosted the Brioni Meeting, one of the major early initiatives leading to the establishment of the Non-Aligned Movement.
The breakup of Yugoslavia led to mass transfers of experts from federal institutions enabling post-Yugoslav states to establish their own diplomatic bodies primarily by employing former Yugoslav cadres.
[10] On 17 December 1991 the European Economic Community adopted the "Common Position for the recognition of the Yugoslav Republics" requesting the Yugoslav republics wishing to gain recognition to accept provisions of international law protecting human rights as well as national minorities rights in hope that credible guarantees may prevent incentives for violent confrontations.
[11][12] Later that month Croatian Parliament introduced the Constitutional Act on the Rights of National Minorities in the Republic of Croatia opening the way for 15 January 1992 collective recognition by the Community.
A significant part of the country was outside of the control of the central government with the declaration of self-proclaimed unrecognized Republic of Serbian Krajina.
In 1995 UNCRO mission took over the UNPROFOR mandate yet soon after Operation Storm led to a decisive victory for the Croatian Army with only the Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia remaining initially as a rump territory of Krajina.
[14][15] Temporary UNTAES administration over the region opened the way for the signing of the Dayton Agreement which ended the Bosnian War.
[16] With the resolution of some of the major bilateral issues arising from the Yugoslav Wars Croatian foreign policy has focused on greater Euro-Atlantic integration, mainly entering the European Union and NATO.
In order to gain access to European and trans-Atlantic institutions, it has had to undo many negative effects of the breakup of Yugoslavia and the war that ensued, and improve and maintain good relations with its neighbours.
Croatia has had an uneven record in these areas between 1996 and 1999 during the right-wing HDZ government, inhibiting its relations with the European Union and the United States.
In 1997 United States diplomacy even called upon its European partners to suspend Croatia from the Council of Europe as long as country fails to show adequate respect for human and minority rights.
Nevertheless, Croatia managed to enter NATO's Partnership for Peace Programme in May 2000, World Trade Organization in July 2000, signing a Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU in October 2001, Membership Action Plan in May 2002, and joined the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) in December 2002.
The EU membership application was the last major international undertaking of the Račan government, which submitted a 7,000-page report in reply to the questionnaire by the European Commission.
Croatian president Stjepan Mesić participated in the NAM conferences in Havana in 2006 and Sharm el-Sheikh in 2009 using the country's post-Yugoslav link with the Third World in its successful campaign for the Eastern European Spot at the United Nations Security Council in 2008–2009 (in open competition with Czech Republic which was a member state both of EU and NATO).
At the time of Croatia's application to the European Union, three EU members states were yet to ratify the Stabilization and Association Agreement: United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Italy.
In December 2004, the EU leaders announced that accession negotiations with Croatia would start on 17 March 2005 provided that Croatian government cooperates fully with the ICTY.
Thanks to the consistent position of Austria during the meeting of EU foreign ministers, a long period of instability and the questioning of the determination of the Croatian government to extradite alleged war criminals has ended successfully.
[23] A referendum on EU accession was held in Croatia on 22 January 2012, with 66% of participants voting in favour of joining the Union.
Work has begun — bilaterally and within the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe since 1999 — on political and economic cooperation in the region.
Sections of the Una river and villages at the base of Mount Plješevica are in Croatia, while some are in Bosnia, which causes an excessive number of border crossings on a single route and impedes any serious development in the region.
The border between Croatia and Serbia in the area of the Danube is disputed while at the same time the issue is not considered of the highest priority for either country in their bilateral relations.
Slovenia was disputing Croatia's claim to establish the Ecological and Fisheries Protection Zone, an economic section of the Adriatic.
