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Books on Croatia
REPUBLICAN REFERENCE
Area (sq.km)
56,542
Population
4,422,248
Capital
Zagreb
Currency
Kuna
President
Stipe Mesic
Private sector
% of GDP
55%
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Update No: 089- (30/09/04)
Into the EU
Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria could all be part of the European Union by
2007, Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski said on September 27th, addressing
his Croatian counterpart, Stipe Mesic, who was on a two-day visit to the Polish
capital. "We believe that the schedule for admitting Croatia could be
successfully finalized by 2007, with Romania and Bulgaria right behind,"
Kwasniewski told a joint conference.
"Poland is ready to give political support (to Croatia) and to share its
experience in economic and judicial transformation, entry negotiations and the
first taste of life in the EU," said Kwasniewski.
The two heads of state also kicked off an economic forum attended by Croatian
and Polish businessmen.
Kwasniewski also voiced his support for Croatia's plans to join NATO, for which
a 2006 timetable has been set.
Croatia obtained official EU candidate status in June and is hoping to become a
full fledged member by spring 2005.
Minnesotan stands for presidency
Mesic faces an unusual challenger in presidential elections in January.
Boris Miksic, a successful Minnesota businessman and friend of the late Gov.
Rudy Perpich, returned to his Croatian birthplace in mid-September to begin his
campaign to become president of Croatia. Since 1995, Miksic has been Croatia's
honorary consul general in Minnesota. Last year, in a tune-up for his
presidential race, he ran for a seat in Croatia's parliament. He received just 2
percent of the vote, but he was running as an unknown independent among more
than 40 candidates, most of whom had party backing."I had nothing but a
positive response from the people," he said.
Slaven Jelenovic, managing editor of a Croatian news agency, gives the
55-year-old Miksic little chance in the January election.
"The current president has such a high approval rating that no one from the
current political scene, never mind an outsider, can pose a serious threat to
his reelection," Jelenovic said.
"Most people still don't know who [Miksic] is, and Croatians don't vote for
people they don't know politically," he said.
But Zbigniew Bochniarz, senior fellow and director of the Center for Nations in
Transition at the Humphrey Institute, said he wouldn't write off such a
candidacy. There have been precedents, he said: naturalized Americans who
"went home" and won high positions in such new democracies as
Lithuania and Latvia.
"These societies are tremendously open to embracing these people,"
said Bochniarz, who is Polish but has visited Croatia, studied its politics and
speaks the language.
"They need now to really strengthen their economy, and with his American
experience he would bring a lot of good ideas about tolerance and
multiculturalism to that part of the world," he said.
"This is something that might work. It could be a good match."
According to recent polls reported by Croatian news organizations, Mesic is the
most popular politician in the country. He is credited with following through on
promises to reduce the powers of the presidency, investigate illegal activities
by the previous regime and prepare the way politically and economically for
Croatia to join the European Union in 2007 and NATO sometime later.
Mesic also delivered indicted Croatian generals to The Hague war-crimes tribunal
and ordered an end to the country's support of Croatian super-nationalists in
Bosnia.
Miksic, who holds both U.S. and Croatian citizenship, said he would have many of
the same aims, but he believes Croatia needs to break out of a cycle of
left-right politics involving leaders bound to old parties and old traditions.
"We need new faces, new ideas," he said. "We need people who are
independent thinkers who have succeeded in life and proven themselves in
business or science."
In Croatia, where he expects to spend much of his time until the election, he
promises an advertising blitz to get his name and ideas before the public. He
plans to target younger voters "because many of them aren't
interested" in politics.
He said he would boost Croatian exports, reduce outside control of the nation's
banks and promote eco-tourism. "We have beautiful coasts and islands,"
he said. "There is a lot of talent in the people, and people who have left
-- who have gone to America or Australia and made success -- want to invest back
there.
"We have a population of 4.5 million people, about the same as Minnesota,
but the economy is about one-fifth the size. Croatia could be the next
Switzerland if we had good leadership.
"I wouldn't be running if I didn't think I had a good chance," Miksic
said. "But if I don't succeed, maybe I will show the path to someone
else."
Croatian tourism numbers up 4%
Visitor numbers to Croatia grew 4% in the first 8 months of the year as the
former Yugoslav republic continued to rebuild its tourism industry from the
ashes of the Balkan wars in the 1990s, New Europe reported recently. The Tourism
Board said more than 7m tourists visited the country from January to august, 4%
more than in the same period in 2003. Most of the visitors were Germans,
Italians, Slovenians and Czechs, it added. During the same period there were
40.4m overnight stays, a rise of 1% against the same time last year. Croatia is
hoping tourism revenues this year will rise 7% to US$8.5bn. Croatia's economy
was hard-hit by the 1991-95 war of independence from the former Yugoslavia.
Tourism, a vital revenue earner for Croatia, has recently recovered to pre-war
levels.
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FOREIGN ECONOMIC COOPERATION
Croatia sees Bosnia as economic partner - president
Croatia today sees a trade and economy partner in Bosnia-Herzegovina and not a
partner in political trade in borders, territory or people, Croatian President,
Stjepan Mesic, said in Bosnia's Gradacac recently, HINA News Agency reported.
Mesic, who arrived in Gradacac from Brcko District as part of a one-day visit to
Bosnia, together with the head of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency, Sulejman
Tihic, addressed entrepreneurs who gathered at an international fair of
agriculture and food-processing industry.
"Croatia today needs Bosnia, but Bosnia also needs Croatia, not only
because of the history but also because of a joint future," Mesic said at a
panel discussion "Bosnia and Croatia on a path towards the EU" in
which he took part together with Tihic.
"European integration processes will not be completed until all
Southeastern European countries are in one part of that process and we cannot
find such a future in changing borders, but in cross-border cooperation, "
Mesic said.
"Meeting European standards is primarily in the interest of citizens and
only then a condition for membership of NATO and the EU," Tihic said.
Speaking about the two countries' economic cooperation, Mesic said that all
trade of western and eastern Europe was going through Croatia and added that the
fastest way of connecting Croatia's north and south was through Bosnia. The
Croatian president also stressed the importance of the southern Croatian port of
Ploce and said it could become a port for the supply of the entire region.
The chairman of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency expressed hope that the issue
of agriculture would be raised to state level because, in his opinion, this
would be one of the EU conditions.
"When it comes to Croatia, we have solved the most important issues,"
Tihic said.
Mesic called for the strengthening of economic cooperation. He also advocated
the two countries' joint presentations to third markets such as Pakistan.
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FOREIGN ECONOMIC RELATIONS
South Africa, Croatia sign trade agreement
South Africa and Croatia on August 20th signed a trade agreement to
facilitate business relations between companies in the two countries, New Europe
reported.
Speaking during the signing ceremony in Pretoria, South Africa's Trade and
Industry Minister, Mandisi Mpahlwa, described the trade agreement as a
significant step towards strengthening bilateral trade relations between South
Africa and Croatia.
Mpahlwa expressed the determination by the two countries to use the bilateral
engagements to strengthen the multilateral trading system.
"The agreement broadly commits the two countries to raise the profile of
South Africa-Croatia relations as well as to establish an inter-governmental
committee on trade for the effective implementation of the agreement,"
Mpahlwa stated.
He said the two countries would grant Most Favoured Nation (MFN) treatment to
each other in accordance with the principles contained in the World Trade
Organisation agreement.
Meanwhile, the Croatian Foreign Minister, Miomir Zuzu, said his country and
South Africa were relatively newly established democracies with similar
developmental challenges.
According to him, it is in these new economies where opportunities for growth
are very high and the development of modern technologies is inevitable, as more
and more of the multinational corporations relocate to their markets.
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