The crux of Croatia

The crux of Croatia

Amid the sometimes stop-start process of European Union accession for the countries of the Western Balkans, Croatia has emerged as something of the poster boy; if expectations are fulfilled, the country will join the EU in July 2013.

Croatia, which applied in 2003 to join the EU and was granted candidate status the following year, has wrestled with many of the issues common to would-be EU states in the Western Balkans, or the former Yugoslavia, if you will. Co-operation with The Hague tribunal, steps against organised crime and corruption, and shaping up its market economy. Add to that the complication of its border dispute with Slovenia and the fact that Croatia was hard-hit by the global financial and economic crisis, and the fact that Zagreb managed to complete accession negotiations with Brussels in June this year is evidence of, ultimately, what all Western Balkans states are capable of achieving.

Along the way
Danijela Barišić, Croatia’s ambassador in Sofia since 2009, says that for Croatians outside the circles of high policy, at first the criteria required by the EU – among them, rule of law, democracy and a functioning market economy – may have seen like abstracts.

But as matters progressed, people saw the true meaning of the rule of law; that equality before the law means just that, and the powerful too can face their day in the dock.

The recent extradition to Croatia from Austria of former prime minister Ivo Sanader, who was head of government from 2004 to 2009 but after resigning faced allegations of corruption and money-laundering (Sanader denies the allegations) is a prominent example of this, but just one.

Further, economic reforms and the development of infrastructure mean, Barišić says, that "we see that we are part of Europe" and given that in the former Yugoslavia, and in a Croatia with a tradition of being orientated towards the West, "we never felt ourselves to be behind the Iron Curtain; so with finishing the negotiations and being set for EU membership, it’s like a long ride back home".

The crux of Croatia

Amid the sometimes stop-start process of European Union accession for the countries of the Western Balkans, Croatia has emerged as something of the poster boy; if expectations are fulfilled, the country will join the EU in July 2013.

Croatia, which applied in 2003 to join the EU and was granted candidate status the following year, has wrestled with many of the issues common to would-be EU states in the Western Balkans, or the former Yugoslavia, if you will. Co-operation with The Hague tribunal, steps against organised crime and corruption, and shaping up its market economy. Add to that the complication of its border dispute with Slovenia and the fact that Croatia was hard-hit by the global financial and economic crisis, and the fact that Zagreb managed to complete accession negotiations with Brussels in June this year is evidence of, ultimately, what all Western Balkans states are capable of achieving.

Along the way
Danijela Barišić, Croatia’s ambassador in Sofia since 2009, says that for Croatians outside the circles of high policy, at first the criteria required by the EU – among them, rule of law, democracy and a functioning market economy – may have seen like abstracts.

But as matters progressed, people saw the true meaning of the rule of law; that equality before the law means just that, and the powerful too can face their day in the dock.

The recent extradition to Croatia from Austria of former prime minister Ivo Sanader, who was head of government from 2004 to 2009 but after resigning faced allegations of corruption and money-laundering (Sanader denies the allegations) is a prominent example of this, but just one.

Further, economic reforms and the development of infrastructure mean, Barišić says, that "we see that we are part of Europe" and given that in the former Yugoslavia, and in a Croatia with a tradition of being orientated towards the West, "we never felt ourselves to be behind the Iron Curtain; so with finishing the negotiations and being set for EU membership, it’s like a long ride back home".

Standards
But Bulgaria and Romania are EU members, yet still subject to the Co-operation and Verification Mechanism to help bring the two 2007 entrants up to the bloc’s standards in justice and home affairs.

Against this background, Barišić is asked whether Croatia would face the same syndrome.

She says that for Croatia, the process of accession negotiations was different from those of its predecessors, and the country was able to show the implementation of reforms. This included, in the past six months, submitting reports to the European Commission and to the EU partners, reports on the judiciary and on the chapter on competition to show what had been done.

This sends a clear signal to investors about the stability and predictability of the economic environment, but in addition, after becoming prime minister in 2009, Jadranka Kosor was adamant that there would be, as Barišić puts it, "no untouchables" when it came to prosecutions regarding organised crime and corruption.

Further, Kosor and her Slovenian counterpart Borat Pahor were able to work out a solution to the border dispute, to handle it through the Court of Arbitration.

Of the process of negotiation and implementation, Barišić says: "I think the job we have done during these six years of negotiations really proved that we are fully prepared to be a fully-fledged member of the EU. Yes, we had some shortcomings but we did our best and we carried out the reforms… there is no fear that we will be different or that we are becoming a member of the Union prematurely".

Sofia scene
Barišić speaks highly of how Bulgaria has engaged with Croatia to be of assistance in Zagreb’s engagements with the EU.

Bulgaria was and is giving Croatia "constant support," Barišić says. "This has been really good, because Bulgaria has been willing to share with us some negative experiences, in order for us not to make the same mistakes".

She adds that, with Bulgaria and Romania in the EU and with Croatia to join, the other countries of the Western Balkans will be surrounded by EU states, which in turn will be helpful to the region of the former Yugoslavia.

The message to the other countries is one of willingness to facilitate, she says: "It’s not that we think you are incapable of achieving something, but we are here to show you what we have done and to help you avoid the same mistakes – and in order to do better than we did".

Croatia passes on to other Western Balkans countries the translated documents from the acquis communautaire "and I think that makes their work easier; not done, of course, but easier".

She adds: "And, let me say, we speak with the ‘same language’ because we have more or less the same history, the same social systems with socialism in the past, so we understand each other better…it’s easier to speak with your neighbour than with someone far away".

Barišić adds a tribute to the initiatives taken by Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolai Mladenov, given that when he took office in early 2010, he announced that the Western Balkans would be a major foreign policy priority. She also points out the fact that in recognising the Benghazi-based Transitional National Council as legitimate representatives of the Libyan people, Bulgaria and Croatia acted together, with a simultaneous announcement.

Goran Hadžić
For Serbia, the arrest of Goran Hadžić, the 1990s commander of rebel Serbs in Croatia, now facing war crime charges at the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, was a closing milestone in the issue of Belgrade’s co-operation with the tribunal.

For Croatia, which has been engaged in a lengthy and sensitive process of reconciliation with Serbia, the Hadžić arrest on July 20 also represents a "step forward," Barišić says.

The recent meeting of the Serbian, Croatian and Bosnia and Herzegovina presidencies is evidence of progress in the relations among these countries, she says.

"We are able to talk about everything. We are also improving our economic relations; after all, once we were in the same country and we know each other, our resources and our needs".

Making economies
As noted, Croatia was severely affected by the global economic crisis.

"Now, looking at the data from Eurostat (the EU’s statistics office) we shall be going into recovery next year and this will continue in the years after that. Matters are still proceeding slowly and need to improve faster, and of course foreign direct investment has fallen too," Barišić says.

A strong beacon has been tourism – even before the crisis hit, Croatia scored a hit in the memorable slogan stakes with its "the Mediterranean as it once was" campaign on international television. Currently, foreign tourist visits to Croatia are 10 per cent higher than in 2010. Barišić adds that the country is not relying solely on tourism but also on reforms to the industries it inherited, as well as reforms implemented because of the economic crisis, such as last year’s increase in value-added tax.

Bilateral trade with Bulgaria is hardly at satisfactory levels, adding up to a little more than 120 million euro, with the balance strongly in favour of Bulgaria, exporting more than double what the country of about 4.4 million people manages to send in the opposite direction.

Direct flights between Zagreb and Sofia along with significantly improved road infrastructure between the two countries could change this, Barišić believes, while adding that there is an advantage when Croatian and Bulgarian business people meet: "Once Croatians get here, there is mutual understanding, no real language barrier, a discovery that ‘we have many things in common, it is easy to co-operate’."

Croatian road construction firms, already well-versed in dealing with difficult terrain, are bidding in Bulgarian tenders. Another economic engagement is the large number of Bulgarian tourists visiting Croatia in summer, while Croatians favour Bansko and Borovets as ski destinations.

Overall, as to Croatia’s economy, Barišić believes that confirmation of the country’s EU accession and the approach of its July 2013 accession date should send a signal that, among other advantages, the country has a stable and reliable market economy, in itself a lure to foreign investors.

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