The following page shows the
foreign relations of
Croatia from past history, current events, international
disputes and foreign support.
History
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 neighbors.
Key issues
over the last decade have been the implementation of the Dayton Accords and the Erdut Agreement,
nondiscriminatory facilitation of the return of refugees and displaced
persons from the 1991-95 war including property restitution for
ethnic Serbs, resolution of border disputes
with Slovenia
, Bosnia and
Herzegovina
, Serbia
and Montenegro
, and general democratization.
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 U.S. Improvement in these
areas severely hindered the advance of Croatia's prospects for
further Euro-Atlantic integration. Progress in the areas of Dayton,
Erdut, and refugee returns were evident in 1998, but progress was
slow and required intensive international engagement.
Croatia's unsatisfactory performance implementing broader
democratic reforms in 1998 raised
questions about the ruling party's commitment to basic democratic
principles and norms. Areas of concern included restrictions on
freedom of speech, one-party
control of
public TV and radio,
repression of independent media, unfair electoral regulations, a
judiciary that is not fully independent,
and lack of
human and
civil rights protection.
A
centre-left coalition government was elected in
early 2000.
The SDP-led government slowly
relinquished control over public media companies and did not
interfere with freedom of speech and independent media, though it
didn't complete the process of making Croatian
Radiotelevision
independent. Judiciary reforms remained a
pending issue as well.
Major Croatian advances in foreign relations during this period
have included:
The EU
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
.
Foreign
relations were severely affected by the government's hesitance and
stalling of the extradition of Croatian general Janko Bobetko to the International Criminal Tribunal for the
Former Yugoslavia
(ICTY), and inability to take general Ante Gotovina into custody for questioning by
the Court.
Refugee returns accelerated since 1999, reached a peak in 2000, but
then slightly decreased in 2001 and 2002. The
OSCE
mission in Croatia has continued to monitor the return of refugees
and is still recording civil rights violations.
Croatian Serbs continue to have problems
with restitution of property and acceptance to the reconstruction
assistance programmes. Combined with lacking economic opportunities
in the rural areas of
former Krajina, the return
process is highly troubled.
At the
time of Croatia's application to the European Union, three EU
countries were yet to ratify the Stabilization and Association
Agreement: the United
Kingdom
, the Netherlands
and Italy
.
The new
Sanader government repeated the
assurances that Croatia will fulfill the missing political
obligations, and expedited the extradition of several ICTY
indictees.
The European Commission replied to the answers of the questionnaire
sent to Croatia on April 20, 2004 with a positive opinion. The
country was finally accepted as EU candidate in July 2004. Italy
and Britain ratified the Stabilization and Association Agreement
shortly thereafter, while the ten EU countries that were admitted
to membership that year ratified it en masse at a
European Summit.
In December 2004, the EU leaders announced that accession
negotiations with Croatia would start on March 17, 2005 provided
that Croatian government cooperates fully with the ICTY. The main
issue, the flight of general
Gotovina,
however, remained unsolved and despite the agreement on an
accession negotiation framework, the negotiations did not begin in
March 2005.
On October 4, 2005 Croatia finally received green light for
accession negotiations after the Chief Prosecutor of the ICTY,
Carla Del Ponte officially stated
that Croatia is fully cooperating with the Tribunal. This has been
the main condition demanded by EU foreign ministers for accession
negotiations. The ICTY called upon other southern European states
to follow Croatia's good example.
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
surrender war criminals has ended successfully. The Croatian
Prime minister declared that full cooperation with the Hague
Tribunal will continue.
Current events
The main objective of the Croatian foreign policy is admittance to
the European Union. It applied in 2003, and began with accession
negotiations in 2005 (see also:
Accession of Croatia
to the European Union).
Government officials in charge of foreign policy include the
Minister of Foreign Affairs and
European Integration, currently
Gordan Jandroković, and the
President of the Republic, currently
Stjepan Mesić. The chief EU
negotiator is
Vladimir
Drobnjak.
As of 2004, Croatia has
diplomatic
missions in 124 locations around the world, including two
permanent missions to the
United
Nations.A complete listing of Croatian
embassies in foreign countries is
available at "
Diplomatic Missions and Consular Offices" at
the web site of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
International organizations
Republic of Croatia participates in the following international
organizations:
CE,
CEI,
EAPC,
EBRD,
ECE,
FAO,
G11,
IADB,
IAEA
,IBRD,
ICAO
,ICC,
ICRM
,IDA,
IFAD,
IFC
,IFRCS,IHO,
ILO,
IMF
,IMO,
Inmarsat,
Intelsat
,Interpol
,IOC
,IOM,
ISO,
ITU,
ITUC,
NAM (observer),
NATO,OAS
(observer),OPCW
,OSCE,
PCA,
PFP,
SECI,
UN,
UNAMSIL,
UNCTAD,
UNESCO
,UNIDO,
UNMEE,
UNMOGIP,
UPU
,WCO,
WEU (associate),
WHO,
WIPO,
WMO,
WToO,
WTO
Foreign support
Croatia receives support from donor programs of:
Between 1991 and 2003, the EBRD had directly invested a total of
1,212,039,000
EUR into projects in
Croatia.
In 1998, U.S. support to Croatia came through the Southeastern
European Economic Development Program (SEED), whose funding in
Croatia totaled $23.25 million. More than half of that money was
used to fund programs encouraging sustainable returns of refugees
and displaced persons. About one-third of the assistance was used
for democratization efforts, and another 5% funded financial sector
restructuring.
In 2003
USAID considered Croatia to be on a "glide path for graduation"
along with Bulgaria
. Its 2002/2003/2004 funding includes around
$10 million for economic development, up to $5 million for the
development of democratic institutions, about $5 million for the
return of population affected by war and between 2 and 3 million
dollars for the "mitigation of adverse social conditions and
trends". A rising amount of funding is given to cross-cutting
programs in anti-
corruption,
slightly under one million dollars.
The European Commission has proposed to assist Croatia's efforts to
join the European Union with 245 million euros from
PHARE,
ISPA and
SAPARD aid programs over the course of 2005 and
2006.
International disputes
Relations
with neighbouring states have normalized somewhat since the breakup
of Yugoslavia. Work has begun — bilaterally and within the
Stability Pact
for South Eastern Europe since 1999 — on political and economic
cooperation in the region.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Discussions continue between Croatia and
Bosnia and
Herzegovina on various sections of the border, the longest
border with another country for each of these
countries.
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
Zagreb
-Bihać
-Split
railway line
is still closed for major traffic due to this issue.
The border on the Una river between Hrvatska
Kostajnica on the northern, Croatian side of the
river, and Bosanska
Kostajnica on the
southern, Bosnian side, is also being discussed. A river island
between the two towns is under Croatian control, but is also
claimed by Bosnia. A shared border crossing point has been built
and has been functioning since 2003, and is used without hindrance
by either party.
The
Herzegovinian municipality of Neum
in the south
makes the southernmost part of Croatia an exclave and the two countries are negotiating
special transit rules through Neum to compensate for that.
Recently
Croatia has opted to build a bridge to the Pelješac
peninsula
to connect the Croatian mainland with the exclave
but Bosnia and Herzegovina has protested that it will close their
way to international waters
(although Croatian territory and territorial waters surround
Bosnian-Herzegovinan ones completely) and has suggested that the
bridge must be higher than 55 meters for free passage of all types
of ships. Negotiations are still being held.
Slovenia
Croatia
and Slovenia have several land and maritime boundary
disputes. Croatia seeks international arbitration, which at
first Slovenia opposed.
[538] Recently Slovenia proposed international
arbitration if this would include the entire border between Croatia
and Slovenia.
[539]
Slovenia
claims that the maritime border in Piran Bay
- known as Savudrija Bay by Croatians - does not go
through the middle of the bay, while Croatia claims it does.
This is causing problems for fishermen due to there being an
undefined area where the naval police of each country may
patrol.
Related
to the border in Piran Bay is Slovenian access to international
waters in the form of a corridor which would require Croatia to
cede its exclusive rights over at least some of its territorial
waters to the west of Umag
. The
United
Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea states that a coastal
state is able to assert its exclusive right to manage all natural
resources in a band up to from its shore (an 'exclusive economic
zone'), and thus Slovenia's claim to access to the open sea may
have a weak legal basis
[540]. However, when Slovenia notified the
UN Secretariat in 1995 of
its succession to Yugoslavia's ratification of the Convention, it
included a note saying that this system of exclusive economic zones
has become part of
international
law and asserted its rights as a geographically disadvantaged
state
[541]. Although the convention does make it clear that
any decision to declare an exclusive economic zone should be made
in co-operation with all interested parties, Croatian sources claim
that Slovenia's self-description as a geographically disadvantaged
state amounts to an admission that it is a country without access
to international waters
[542]. The situation has become more complex that it
almost derailed Croatia's application to Nato if it had not been
for Slovenia backing down but it has potentially delayed if not
derailed Croatia's application to European Union as talks have been
called off until "positive development" has occurred.
[543]
A small
number of pockets of land on the right-hand side of the river
Dragonja in Istria
have
remained under Croatian jurisdiction after the river was re-routed
after the Second World War.
This area is located near the Sečovlje-Plovanija official border
crossing point (set up by an interim agreement of the two countries
in the 1990s).
The area
around the peak of the Žumberak
mountain is assigned partly to Slovenia and partly
to Croatia (the Sveta
Gera
area). However, an old
Yugoslav People's Army barracks
building on the Croatian part of the border is still occupied by a
small number of
Slovenian army
personnel.
Slovenia
is disputing Croatia's claim to establish an economic section of
the Adriatic
, requiring direct access to the international
waters. Croatia decided to pursue a policy of stricter
control over fishing and other economic use of the sea. This policy
has been in place since late 2004 but excludes the EU countries
(namely, Slovenia and Italy).
Other issues that have yet to be fully resolved include:
Montenegro
In late
2002, Croatia and Serbia and
Montenegro adopted an interim agreement to settle the disputed
Prevlaka
peninsula at the entrance of the Bay of Kotor
in Croatia's favour, allowing the withdrawal of the
UN monitoring mission
. This agreement applies to Montenegro since its independence. Countries agreed to
settle all possible disputes at International Court of Justice in
Hague.
Serbia
Due to
the meandering of the Danube, the eastern border of Baranja with Serbia according to
cadastral delineation is not followed, as each country controls
territory on their side of the main river flow.Further south, near
Vukovar
and near Šarengrad
, there are two river islands (Vukovarska
ada
and Šarengradska ada
) which have been part of SR Croatia (during
Yugoslavia) but during the war they came under Serbian
control.Croatia is asking that the islands be returned
because of the
Badinter
Arbitration Committee decision from 1991 that all internal
borders between Yugoslav republics have become international.
Serbia is refusing
to return the islands (and disregards the committee decision) with
the explanation that they are nearer to the Serbian side of the
river so they are Serbian [544]. Military occupation of the islands ended
recently after an incident in which Serbian military opened fire
and arrested the mayor of Vukovar Vladimir
Štengel with 19 other Croatian civilians and 8 children who
were going to visit Zvezdan Kisić
the mayor of the Serbian town Bačka
Palanka
[545]. These islands are now under Serbian
police control.
Italy
Croatia
and Italy continue to
debate bilateral property and ethnic
minority rights issues stemming from border changes after
World War II.
There are a number of people who are Italian citizens but who had
previously been citizens of Yugoslavia before they opted to Italy,
shortly after World War II - known as the
esuli (exiles)
or
optanti (volunteers).
A later contract between SFR
Yugoslavia
and Italy
prevented the restitution of their property since a deal was made
that treated this seized property as war
reparations.
Nevertheless, there are now at least two groups of people
dissatisfied with the situation:
- people who were exiled during a period not covered by the
aforementioned agreement (post 1956?) who demand that their
property be returned
- the people who were exiled and/or their children who wish to
buy real-estate in the same areas (if not the same buildings or
land)
Neither of these was allowed to pursue in Croatia legally. However,
after adoption of the new laws in Croatia (that were required for
the accession of Croatia to the EU), it is now allowed to citizens
of all member states of the EU to buy real-estate in Croatia.
Another problem that arose a couple of years ago deals with the
fishing zones in the Adriatic sea. Italy denies the right of
Croatia to proclaim its own fishing zone before January 1, 2008,
because that would break an earlier agreement with Italy and
Slovenia . At the same time Italy, without breaking the agreement,
has proclaimed its own zone.
Diplomatic Relations
Europe
Africa
| Country |
Formal Relations Began |
Notes |
|
1992-10-15 |
|
|
1994-11-16 |
|
|
2001-03-26 |
|
|
1995-05-18 |
|
|
1994-08-13 |
|
|
1999-09-17 |
|
|
1999-06-29 |
|
|
1995-10-17 |
|
|
1992-10-01 |
|
|
1999-06-04 |
|
|
1995-10-17 |
|
|
2001-10-22 |
|
|
1998-10-16 |
|
|
1993-02-17 |
|
|
1995-10-19 |
|
|
1998-11-06 |
|
|
200-03-30 |
|
|
1997-04-08 |
|
|
1995-09-20 |
|
|
2004-11-11 |
|
|
1997-09-03 |
|
|
1992-06-26 |
|
|
1996-08-23 |
|
|
1993-01-07 |
|
|
1993-05-23 |
|
|
1997-10-01 |
|
|
1997-09-30 |
|
|
1992-11-19 |
|
|
1992-07-17 |
|
|
1993-12-20 |
|
|
1993-07-02 |
|
|
1993-12-20 |
|
|
1993-01-30 |
|
|
1999-03-10 |
|
|
1995-09-20 |
|
Asia
Middle East
| Country |
Formal Relations Began |
Notes |
|
1994-07-08 |
See Armenia–Croatia relations
|
|
1993-01-18 |
|
|
1992-04-18 |
See Croatia–Iran
relations
Both countries established diplomatic relations on April 18, 1992
when Iran became the 7th country to recognize the newly-independent
Croatia. Croatia has an embassy in Tehran and Iran maintains an
embassy and a cultural centre in Zagreb. |
|
2005-01-05 |
|
|
1997-09-04 |
|
|
1994-06-29 |
|
|
1994-08-10 |
|
|
1994-12-05 |
- Both countries established diplomatic relations on December 5,
1994.
- Croatia is represented in Lebanon through its embassy in Cairo
(Egypt) and through an honorary consulate in Beirut.
- Lebanon is represented in Croatia through its embassy in Vienna
(Austria).
- Both countries are full members of the Union for the
Mediterranean.
|
|
1992-12-05 |
|
|
1995-06-08 |
|
|
1997-08-29 |
|
|
1992-06-23 |
|
|
1993-01-17 |
|
Central Asia
| Country |
Formal Relations Began |
Notes |
|
1996-01-03 |
|
|
1995-01-26 |
|
|
1992-10-20 |
|
|
1996-12-23 |
|
|
1996-07-02 |
|
|
1995-02-06 |
|
South Asia
| Country |
Formal Relations Began |
Notes |
|
1992-07-09 |
|
|
1998-02-06 |
|
|
1994-07-20 |
|
|
1997-02-14 |
|
Southeast Asia
| Country |
Formal Relations Began |
Notes |
|
1999-09-03 |
|
|
1996-09-10 |
|
|
1992-09-03 |
|
|
1996-03-04 |
|
|
1992-05-04 |
|
|
1993-02-25 |
|
|
1992-11-23 |
|
|
1992-09-09 |
|
|
2003-02-05 |
|
|
1994-07-01 |
|
East Asia
Pacific
| Country |
Formal Relations Began |
Notes |
|
1992-02-13 |
|
|
2000-12-14 |
|
|
1992-02-25 |
|
|
1994-03-08 |
|
Caribbean
| Country |
Formal Relations Began |
Notes |
|
1999-09-20 |
|
|
1992-09-23 |
|
|
2000-05-19 |
|
|
1996-10-09 |
|
|
1997-12-10 |
|
|
1994-10-07 |
|
Americas
South America
Central America
| Country |
Formal Relations Began |
Notes |
|
1996-01-23 |
|
|
1995-10-19 |
|
|
1996-02-22 |
|
|
1997-07-24 |
|
|
1992-12-22 |
|
|
1999-09-20 |
|
|
1996-03-29 |
|
|
1996-06-12 |
|
North America
Sources:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of
the Republic of Croatia
Collection of International Treaties (entry on
Syria)
Collection of International Treaties (entry on
Lebanon
See also
References
External links
Romanian Embassy in Zagreb
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Embassy of Japan in Zagreb
