On this day 32 years ago, Croatia became an internationally recognized country.
On 15 January 1992, Croatia was recognised by the 12 members of then-European Community, as well as by Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Hungary, Malta, Norway, Poland and Switzerland. On 16 January, Croatia was recognised by Argentina, Australia, the Czech Republic, Chile, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Slovakia, Sweden and Uruguay. It had been previously recognized by Slovenia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Latvia, Iceland, Estonia, the Holy See and San Marino. By the end of that January, Croatia was recognised by 44 countries, and that number continued to grow in the following months. Croatia’s status as a sovereign and independent country was underscored by end-1992, having joined various international organizations, from the OSCE to the UN.
“This day is important to us in a number of ways. It is the day when back in 1992 we waxed emotional over the successes of our diplomacy and received news about our international recognitions. Having achieved victory in the Homeland War and having liberated the occupied territories in 1995, peaceful reintegration of the Danube River Region was launched with the help from the UN and completed on 15 January 1998. Exactly 26 years ago, Croatia finally became territorially whole and sovereign within its internationally recognized borders, marking the realization of centuries-long aspirations of the Croatian people. Today, Croatia is a member state of the EU and NATO, as well as of various other global and regional organizations, initiatives and processes. Last year we joined the Schengen Area and the eurozone. These achievements are thanks to many, notably first Croatian president Franjo Tuđman, our defenders, and Croats at home and abroad. Each in their own way contributed to achieving freedom, territorial unity, democracy, the rule of law and international affirmation,” Grlić Radman emphasized.
On this day we also mark the 26th anniversary of the successful completion of the peaceful reintegration of the Danube River Region and its return into Croatia’s constitutional and legal order.
The process was launched on 15 January 1996, with the passing of Resolution 1037 and establishment of UNTAES, and completed exactly two years later, when the temporarily occupied parts of Osijek-Baranja and Vukovar-Srijem counties were reintegrated into the constitutional and legal order of then fully sovereign Croatia, avoiding further casualties.
UNTAES was the most successful peacekeeping mission in the UN’s history and represents a model for resolving similar crises worldwide.
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