About: Croatia

The empty taste of Macron’s citizens’ consultations

Much ado about nothing. This is how we could sum up one of President Macron’s first citizens’ consultations, held in Croatia, writes Mario Munta.

Two ways to settle the border issue between Slovenia and Croatia

The international arbitration court decision is balanced and reasonable and Slovenians and Croats should be able to live with it, writes Žiga Turk.

EU enlargement: A six percent target for the Western Balkans

If the Western Balkans are to overcome almost three decades of economic stagnation and crisis, they will need to double their annual growth rates. This will need a fundamental rethink of the EU’s enlargement policy, argue Tobias Flessenkemper and Dušan Reljić.

Croatia at a crossroads

Croatia’s geostrategic position in the Balkans means the rest of Europe should pay attention to this weekend’s elections, writes Tomislav Karamarko.

Power to the people: Electrification is a winning strategy for Europe

As Europe gets ready for the next stage in the battle against climate change, electricity holds a vast potential that still lies untapped today, writes Kristian Ruby.

Balkan Mission Impossible for Mogherini

Europe’s foreign policy supremo, Federica Mogherini, is off on a mission even more difficult than getting Iran and the US to agree their nuclear deal, writes Denis MacShane.

Resilient but shaky Bosnia marks a year since EU application

In the year since Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) submitted its formal application to join the European Union, little has gone according to plan for the fragile country, writes Sanford Henry.

Knowledge: A Swiss Army knife for Brexit?

The Swiss and British referendums of 2014 and 2016, respectively, share some parallels. The way the Alpine republic resolved its dispute about free movement offers a number of lessons as the date for making Brexit official looms ever nearer, writes Giorgio Clarotti.

Croatia learns energy arbitration lessons the hard way

Croatia’s drawn out energy dispute with Hungary has possibly dampened its hopes of acting as an energy hub for the EU, as Brussels looks to bring in more gas from the east. The newest bloc member has a lot of work to do to repair rifts, writes Mehmet Öğütçü.

EU should play hardball with US on visa reciprocity

The EU should strongly insist that the US lifts the visa requirement for 70 million EU citizens, or it risks weakening its negotiating position on just about any issue with President-elect Donald Trump, writes MEP Momchil Nekov.

The Serbian referendum in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Cooperation between Republika Srpska and Russia has an adverse effect on Serbia and its EU accession efforts. This fits in with Moscow’s interests, since it wants to slow down NATO’s expansion into more Balkan states, writes Mateusz Seroka.

Is it time to extend maternity leave across Europe?

The rights of pregnant women and new mothers in the workplace need to be protected in a way that ensures the health of the both mother and child, while not damaging the woman’s career prospects or harming business, write Lucy Strang and Miriam Broeks.

Time has come for the European Parliament to tackle conflicts of interest

After almost four years since the European Parliament’s code of conduct was updated in the wake of a scandal, it is clear that it still lacks clarity, fails to provide appropriate limitations on MEPs’ second jobs and is only very weakly enforced, writes Paul de Clerck.

Commission should invoke Article 7 when media freedom is trampled

It is time for the European Commission to make sure that the EU lives up to its Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Treaty on European Union (TEU), write Professor Jackie Harrison and Dr Stef Pukallus.

Is the EU losing Serbia?

Serbia has been at the heart of the ongoing refugee crisis. It is time for the EU to reward its actions by opening the first negotiation chapter, writes Stevan Randjelovic.

An appeal from Central Europe on the refugee crisis

Unlike the former colonial powers, Central European states have little experience of co-existing with people of different cultures. But in refusing to help, they undermine the solidarity that other nations have shown towards them, write politicians, artists and intellectuals from Central Europe.

Croatia’s accession and the rule of law

Many observers, including the European Commission, have argued that Croatia needs to do more to show its commitment to judicial independence and the rule of law, writes Jean-Sylvestre Mongrenier.

The EU’s Balkan Week shows enlargement isn’t dead

Enlargement of the EU may not be in the spotlight these days, but with Croatia joining the EU on Monday and the door opening further to eventual Serbian membership, there is a lot happening, writes Dimitar Bechev.

Finding ways to keep enlargement hopes alive

Turkey and the Western Balkan countries require practical integration measures to bridge the gap in the European Union's enlargement process, say Andrea Despot, Dušan Relji?, and Günter Seufert from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP).

Western Balkans: A regatta in stormy weather

The European Union should adopt a "regatta" approach to membership hopefuls in the Western Balkans as a competitive race for accession should spur reforms in the countries concerned, argues Bojan Sarkic, a former senior Montenegrin diplomat.

Croatia as EU’s 28th member: Better late than never!

Croatia's membership of the European Union was delayed and the country was forced to be particularly tough on corruption because many in the EU believed Bulgaria and Romania's accession in 2007 was premature, argues Croatian journalist Augustin Palokaj. He provides an overview of the past, present and future of Croatia's EU journey.

Hasty Croatian EU accession would damage all concerned

Croatia has not yet fulfilled the requirements for accession to the European Union, particularly with regard to the rule of law, corruption and a competitive marketplace, argue Andrea Despot and Dušan Relji?, claiming that early membership would damage Croatia, other EU candidate members and the EU itself. 

A sceptical view of the Slovenia-Croatia arbitration agreement

Despite long-standing good neighbourly relations between Croatia and Slovenia, the border dispute between the two countries remains unresolved. The main issues are how much access Slovenia will be granted to the coastline and the high seas, and whether to settle the dispute on the basis of international law or historical reasoning, writes Žiga Turk, secretary-general of the Reflection Group for the future of Europe, in a May blog post.

Croatian president has initiated new policy towards Balkans

Croatian President Ivo Josipovic has adopted a new policy that is friendlier towards neighbouring countries. However, even though this may improve relations in the region, it has been a source of controversy at home, writes Marta Szpala of the Warsaw-based Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW), in an April paper.