Croatia

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Croatia Image File history File links Croatian_Coat_of_Arms. ... The Republic of Croatia (Croatian: Republika Hrvatska) is a parliamentary democracy with an elected president. ...

Constitution President Stjepan Mesić Parliament Government Prime Minister Ivo Sanader Political parties Elections President: 2005 Parliament: 2003 Counties (Županija) Foreign relations EU accession

See also: History Politics of other countries

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This article treats the accession of Croatia to the European Union. Croatia applied for EU membership in 2003, and the European Commission recommended making it an official candidate in early 2004. Candidate country status was granted to Croatia by the European Council (the EU's heads of government) in mid-2004. The entry negotiations, while originally set for March 2005, began in October that year, also launching the screening process. The President of Croatia is the head of state. ... Stjepan Stipe Mesić (born December 24, 1934) has been the President of the Republic of Croatia since 2000. ... The parliament of Croatia is called Hrvatski Sabor in Croatian - the word sabor means an assembly, a gathering, a congress. ... List of prime ministers/premiers in the Croatian Government Prime Minister is officially called President of the Government (Croatian: Predsjednik Vlade). ... Ivo Sanader (born June 8, 1953 in Split, Croatia) is the current Prime Minister of Croatia (President of the Government). ... This article lists political parties in Croatia. ... Elections in Croatia gives information on election and election results in Croatia. ... The fourth presidential elections in Croatia took place in two rounds in January 2005. ... Elections for the Croatian Parliament were held on November 23, 2003. ... The counties of Croatia are called županije in Croatian, županija is the singular form. ... italy and croatia continue to debate. ... This is the history of Croatia. ... Information on politics by country is available for every country, including both de jure and de facto independent states, inhabited dependent territories, as well as areas of special sovereignty. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The European Commission (formally the Commission of the European Communities) is the executive body of the European Union. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The European Council, informally called the European summit, is a meeting of the heads of state or government of the European Union, and the President of the European Commission. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

After Slovenia, Croatia has recovered best from the break-up of the former Yugoslavia and so hopes to become the second former Yugoslav state to become a member. It has a stable market economy and better statistical indicators than some of the states that joined in 2004.

The European Union by 2007 and Croatia

Issues of dispute

ICTY cooperation

Croatia has had to extradite several of its citizens to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), an issue that was often contentious in local politics. The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, more commonly referred to as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), is a body of the United Nations (UN) established to...

Croatia's relations with the court had continuously been cited by the EU officials as something that required further improvement. Ratification of the EU Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Croatia had been stalled because of this. A European Union Association Agreement (Association Agreement) is a treaty between the European Union (EU) and a non-EU country that creates a framework for co-operation between them. ...

The European Council, after its summit of December 20, 2004, set the following March 17 as the date to start entry negotiations, provided that Croatia continued to cooperate fully with the ICTY. On March 16, 2005 – the day before talks were to begin – the EU postponed the commencement of negotiations, because the ICTY prosecution assessed the Croatian efforts to capture the fugitive general Ante Gotovina (indicted by the ICTY for war crimes and crimes against humanity, but at large since 2001) as neither timely nor sufficient. December 20 is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... March 16 is the 75th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (76th in Leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ante Gotovina Ante Gotovina (born October 12, 1955) is a former colonel-general of the Croatian Army who served in the 1991-1995 war in Croatia. ... A war crime is a punishable offense, under international law, for violations of the law of war by any person or persons, military or civilian. ... This article is in need of attention. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...

On December 7, 2005 Spanish Police finally arrested Ante Gotovina with the help of the Spanish and Croatian governments on the Spanish island of Tenerife, located in the Canary Islands. He was brought to The Hague to be tried for war crimes. With the arrest of Ante Gotovina this issue seems to be now resolved, and entry negotiations have began anew, after the certification of ICTY chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte that Croatia now fully cooperates with the ICTY. Flag of Tenerife Tenerife (English also Teneriffe), a Spanish island, is the largest of the seven Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Arms of The Hague Flag of The city of The Hague. ... Procureur (Prosecutor) of the ICTY Carla del Ponte Carla Del Ponte (born February 9, 1947 in Lugano, Switzerland) is currently a Chief UN War Crimes Prosecutor. ...

Border disagreements

Croatia must also contend with long-standing border issues with Slovenia – a series of border disputes could yet threaten Slovenia's support for Croatia's accession, but their otherwise good trade relations have so far precluded this.

See: Relations of Croatia with Slovenia italy and croatia continue to debate. ...

Land ownership

Free acquisition of real estate by foreigners is a sensitive issue in Croatia. Currently, foreign private persons are unable to buy land in Croatia.

This matter particularly concerns the Italians, especially in Istria. While its strong cultural and historic ties with Italy stem from having been part of the Republic of Venice for centuries, the events surrounding World War II are more pertinent to the current issues, when Istria changed hands between the Kingdom of Italy and SFR Yugoslavia. Numerous Italian politicians have expressed their discontent concerning the current inability of Italians to purchase land in Croatia, considering it discriminatory treatment, and stated that this issue should be resolved as soon as possible. Coat of arms Istria (Istra, pronounced in Croatian and Slovenian; Istria, pronounced in Italian, Istrien, pronounced in German) is the biggest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. ... The Most Serene Republic of Venice (Venetian: Serenìsima Repùblica Vèneta; Italian: ) was a Venetian city-state in Northeastern Italy, based around the city of Venice. ... Combatants Allies: Poland, British Commonwealth, France/Free France, Soviet Union, United States, China, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total dead: 50 million Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million Total dead: 12 million World War II... There have been several entities known as the Kingdom of Italy. ... The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from 1945 to 1992. ...

Croatia denies discrimination, indicating that Croatian legislature has predicted the same treatment to all EU citizens concerning this issue. It is also fact that the same kind of measures, concerning this issue, have been used also in many new EU member countries, before they have accessed EU. Examples of that include Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland, especially small Malta.

See: Relations of Croatia with Italy italy and croatia continue to debate. ...

Negotiation progress

² Including anti-discrimination and equal opportunities for men and women. The European Union (EU) was originally created by the six founding states in 1952, but has grown to its current size of 25 member states. ... The French term acquis (or sometimes acquis communautaire) is used in European Union law to refer to the total body of EU law accumulated so far. ... The French term acquis (or sometimes acquis communautaire) is used in European Union law to refer to the total body of EU law accumulated so far. ...

Timeline

October 29 is the 302nd day of the year (303rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 63 days remaining. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... A European Union Association Agreement (Association Agreement) is a treaty between the European Union (EU) and a non-EU country that creates a framework for co-operation between them. ... February 21 is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... October 9 is the 282nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (283rd in leap years). ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... April 20 is the 110th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (111th in leap years). ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... June 18 is the 169th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (170th in leap years), with 196 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... December 20 is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... March 17 is the 76th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (77th in Leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... February 1 is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... March 16 is the 75th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (76th in Leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... October 3 is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... October 20 is the 293rd day of the year (294th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 72 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... June 12 is the 163rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (164th in leap years), with 202 days remaining. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The term acquis (or sometimes acquis communautaire), deriving from French, is used in European Union law to refer to the total body of EU law accumulated so far. ...

Possible accession dates

In June 2006, the EU officials projected that the accession of Croatia would likely happen in 2010. The closure of negotiations for all chapters of the acquis communautaire is expected in 2008 or 2009, while signing the Accession treaty would happen in the year after. Before starting negotiations with Croatia, the acquis was divided into 35 chapters, 4 more than the previous 31; the new chapters, previously part of the agricultural policy and judiciary, are complex areas - their division into a few smaller chapters is meant to enable more efficient and expedient negotiations. 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2010 (MMX) will be a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The term acquis (or sometimes acquis communautaire), deriving from French, is used in European Union law to refer to the total body of EU law accumulated so far. ... 2008 (MMVIII) will be a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2009 (MMIX) will be a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Originally Croatia had been aiming for a 2007 accession date -- such an accomplishment would have broken Slovakia's record of 2.5 years of negotiations to complete the process. It has been remarked by Olli Rehn that the EU does expect a similar speed from Croatia. Still, the EU needs to solve its internal problems before accommodating any new member after 2007; under the current Treaty of Nice, the EU can not function with more than 27 member states. The EU Constitution would have had this problem solved, but its rejection made any future accession more difficult, requiring additional administrative reforms. 2007 (MMVII) will be a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Olli Rehn Olli Rehn (born 31 March 1962) is a Finnish politician, currently serving as European Commissioner for Enlargement. ... Nice Treaty The Treaty of Nice is a treaty adopted in Nice by the European Council to amend the two founding treaties of the European Union: the Treaty on European Union, or Maastricht Treaty, which introduced the Euro and the 3-pillar structure of the EU; the Treaty of Rome... The Treaty establishing a constitution for Europe is a proposed constitutional treaty for the European Union. ...

In June 2006 commissioner Rehn stated that there will be no further enlargement of the European Union in this decade other than the 2007 accession of Bulgaria and Romania, due to the impasse in EU treaty reform following the rejection of the European Constitution in France and The Netherlands. Nevertheless Croatia will probably be the "first to meet all necessary conditions" and therefore be "the next country on the list", according to Rehn^[1]. The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, commonly referred to as the European Constitution, is an international treaty intended to create a constitution for the European Union. ... The Netherlands (Dutch: Nederland) is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Dutch: Koninkrijk der Nederlanden). ...

A new EU treaty, which has been set for 2009, should erase all legal blocks currently preventing accession by Croatia to the Union. With the entry into force of that treaty - probably 2010 - Croatia could join the European Union.

See also

• Foreign relations of Croatia
• Enlargement of the European Union

italy and croatia continue to debate. ... The European Union (EU) was originally created by the six founding states in 1952, but has grown to its current size of 25 member states. ...

References

1. ^ Euractiv.com - Croatia will not join EU before 2010 - URL accessed on June 12, 2006.

External links

• Official website - Negotiations for the Accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union
• Official EU-website concerning enlargement
  • Website of the European Commission concerning the enlargement process
• BBC News: inside Europe: EU enlargement

European Union members and candidates

Austria • Belgium • Cyprus • Czech Republic • Denmark • Estonia • Finland • France • Germany • Greece • Hungary • Ireland • Italy • Latvia • Lithuania • Luxembourg • Malta • Netherlands • Poland • Portugal • Slovakia • Slovenia • Spain • Sweden • United Kingdom Countries acceding on January 1, 2007 (or 2008): Bulgaria • Romania Candidate countries in accession negotiations: Croatia • Turkey Candidate countries: Republic of Macedonia Potential candidate countries: Albania • Bosnia and Herzegovina • Montenegro • Serbia