Meeting with Ambassadors: Croatia

Tuesday 12. January 18:00 - Friday 15. 19:15
Location: DGAP, Berlin

 

How is the growing skepticism within the Croatian society towards the European Union to be explained? What are the core demands the newly elected president of the country is facing and which are the reasons for the current economic difficulties as well as the ongoing delay of reforms in Croatia? These were the major questions discussed by the ambassador of Croatia H.E. Miro Kovač, Eastern Europe expert and professor at the University Bucharest Dr. Franz-Lothar Altmann and scholar of literature Dr. Alida Bremer in the DGAP on December 17th. “Meeting with Ambassadors”, taking place once a month, is jointly organized by Inforadio Berlin Brandenburg and the DGAP.

Ambassador Kovač said that the growing EU-skepticism within Croatia is mainly the result of the long lasting accession process as well as the painful consequences of some of the requested reforms. Irrespectively, the ambassador expects a clear approval of an accession by the Croatians. Eastern Europe expert Altmann named the missing support of the European Union during the border row with Slovenia as an additional reason for growing EU-skepticism in Croatia. Literature scholar Bremer said that the Croatian wish for independence had been strongly linked with the idea of an EU-membership already in the time of the Soviet Union, which she said also explains the growing impatience in the country.

With respect to core demands faced by the newly elected Croatian president, the ambassador named the fight against corruption and a new form of communication within Croatian politics. Dr. Altmann described the removal of further structural deficits with the ultimate aim of EU-membership as well as the continuation of rapprochement with Serbia as additional demands.

Ambassador Kovač said that the current economic difficulties as well as the ongoing delay of reforms can be traced back to the inability of the Croatian economy to compete by western standards following the country’s independence as well as the at the time imperfect distribution of resources. Dr. Altmann named the high national debt, further enhanced in its negative impact through the financial crisis, and the “oversized” administration as additional factors hindering economic improvements.

Since January 2007 Inforadio Berlin Brandenburg records the radio show “Weltsichten. Inforadio ganz international – Die Botschaftermatinée” in the DGAP. Every four weeks Sabine Porn welcomes a German-speaking ambassador and two other guests and talks about the country as well as its people, politics, culture and history. The conversation will be broadcasted on Sunday, January 24th at 11:05 am. It is also available on www.inforadio.de. The next event is expected to take place on March 9th.

For further information on Croatia, please contact DGAP-expert Cornelius Adebahr: adebahr@dgap.de.

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