, 1760 The first native Croatian ruler recognised by the Pope was duke
Branimir, who received papal recognition from
Pope John VIII on 7 June 879.
Tomislav was the first
king of Croatia, noted as such in a letter of
Pope John X in 925.
Maritime Republic of Ragusa (1358–1808) maintained widespread diplomatic relations with the
Ottoman Empire,
Republic of Venice,
Papal States and other states. Diplomatic relations of the Republic of Ragusa are often perceived as a historical inspiration for the contemporary Croatian diplomacy. During the Wars of the Holy League Ragusa avoided alignment with either side in the conflict rejecting Venetian calls to join the
Holy League. The
Yugoslav Committee, political interest group formed by
South Slavs from
Austria-Hungary during
World War I, petitioned
Allies of World War I and participated in international events such as the
Congress of Oppressed Nationalities of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Association for the Promotion of the
League of Nations Values was active in
Zagreb in the
interwar period organizing lectures by
Albert Thomas,
Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson and
Ludwig Quidde. During
World War II, the
Axis puppet state known as the
Independent State of Croatia maintained diplomatic relations
with several different countries in Europe.
Socialist Republic of Croatia within Yugoslavia While each constitution of Yugoslavia defined foreign affairs as a federal level issue, over the years Yugoslav constituent republics played increasingly prominent role in either defining this policy or pursuing their own initiatives. Number of diplomats from Croatia gained significant experience in the service to the prominent
Cold War era Yugoslav diplomacy. In June 1943
Vladimir Velebit became the point of contact for foreign military missions in their dealings with the
Yugoslav Partisans.
Ivan Šubašić (1944–1945),
Josip Smodlaka (
NKOJ: 1943–1945),
Josip Vrhovec (1978–1982) and
Budimir Lončar (1987–1991) led the federal level
Ministry of Foreign Affairs while numerous Croatian diplomats served in Yugoslav embassies or multilateral organizations. In 1956
Brijuni archipelago in
People's Republic of Croatia hosted the
Brioni Meeting, one of the major early initiatives leading to the establishment of the
Non-Aligned Movement. Between 1960 and 1967 Vladimir Velebit was executive secretary of the
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. During the
Croatian Spring Croatian economist Hrvoje Šošić argued for the separate admission of the
Socialist Republic of Croatia into the
United Nations similar to the membership of
Ukrainian and
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic which led to his imprisonment. In 1978, Croatia together with
SR Slovenia joined the newly established
Alps-Adriatic Working Group. The
breakup of Yugoslavia led to mass transfers of experts from federal institutions enabling post-Yugoslav states to establish their own diplomatic bodies primarily by employing former Yugoslav cadres. The 2001
Agreement on Succession Issues of the Former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia formally assigned to Croatia a portion of the diplomatic and consular properties of the previous federation.
Foreign policy since independence , 2007 On 17 December 1991 the
European Economic Community adopted the "
Common Position for the recognition of the Yugoslav Republics" requesting the Yugoslav republics wishing to gain recognition to accept provisions of international law protecting human rights as well as national minorities rights in hope that credible guarantees may prevent incentives for violent confrontations. Later that month
Croatian Parliament introduced the
Constitutional Act on the Rights of National Minorities in the Republic of Croatia opening the way for 15 January 1992 collective recognition by the Community. Croatia maintained some links beyond the Euro-Atlantic world via its observer status in the
Non-Aligned Movement which it enjoyed already at the
10th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in
Jakarta,
Indonesia. Following the
international recognition of Croatia in 1992 the country was faced with the
Croatian War of Independence between 1991 and 1995. A significant part of the country was outside of the control of the central government with the declaration of self-proclaimed unrecognized
Republic of Serbian Krajina. In 1992 signing of the
Sarajevo Agreement led to the cease-fire to allow
UNPROFOR deployment in the country. Diplomatic efforts led to unsuccessful proposals which included the
Daruvar Agreement and
Z-4 Plan. In 1995
UNCRO mission took over the UNPROFOR mandate yet soon after
Operation Storm led to a
decisive victory for the
Croatian Army with only the
Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia remaining initially as a rump territory of Krajina. A diplomatic solution that avoided conflict in Eastern Slavonia was reached on 12 November 1995 via the signing of the
Erdut Agreement with significant support and facilitation from the
international community (primarily the
United States, and with
United Nations and various
European actors). Temporary
UNTAES administration over the region opened the way for the signing of the
Dayton Agreement which ended the
Bosnian War. It also led to the signing of 1996
Agreement on Normalization of Relations between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Croatia. With the resolution of some of the major bilateral issues arising from the
Yugoslav Wars Croatian foreign policy has focused on greater Euro-Atlantic integration, mainly entering the
European Union and
NATO. The progress was nevertheless slow in the period between 1996 and 1999 with rising concerns over authoritarian tendencies in the country. In order to gain access to European and
trans-Atlantic institutions, it has had to undo many negative effects of the
breakup of Yugoslavia and the war that ensued, and improve and maintain good relations with its neighbours. Croatia has had an uneven record in these areas between 1996 and 1999 during the right-wing
HDZ government, inhibiting its relations with the
European Union and the
United States. In 1997 United States diplomacy even called upon its European partners to suspend Croatia from the
Council of Europe as long as country fails to show adequate respect for human and minority rights. Lack of improvement in these areas severely hindered the advance of Croatia's prospects for further Euro-Atlantic integration. Progress in the areas of Dayton, Erdut, and refugee returns were evident in 1998, but progress was slow and required intensive international engagement. Croatia's unsatisfactory performance implementing broader democratic reforms in 1998 raised questions about the ruling party's commitment to basic democratic principles and norms. Areas of concern included restrictions on freedom of speech, one-party control of public TV and radio, repression of independent media, unfair electoral regulations, a judiciary that is not fully independent, and lack of human and civil rights protection. With the 1999 death of President
Franjo Tuđman,
2000 Croatian parliamentary election as well as corresponding regional changes such as the
Overthrow of Slobodan Milošević, the
European Union organized the 2000 Zagreb and 2003
Thessaloniki Summits in which European integration perspective was discussed for all the countries in the region. The new
SDP-led
centre-left coalition government slowly relinquished control over public media companies and did not interfere with freedom of speech and independent media, though it did not complete the process of making
Croatian Radiotelevision independent. Judiciary reforms remained a pending issue as well. The government's foreign relations were severely affected by the hesitance and stalling of the extradition of Croatian general
Janko Bobetko to the
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and inability to take general
Ante Gotovina into custody for questioning by the Court. Nevertheless, Croatia managed to enter NATO's
Partnership for Peace Programme in May 2000,
World Trade Organization in July 2000, signing a
Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU in October 2001,
Membership Action Plan in May 2002, and joined the
Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) in December 2002. The EU membership application was the last major international undertaking of the
Račan government, which submitted a 7,000-page report in reply to the questionnaire by the
European Commission. Negotiations were initiated with the achievement of the full cooperation with the
Hague Tribunal in October 2005. Croatian president
Stjepan Mesić participated in the NAM conferences in
Havana in 2006 and
Sharm el-Sheikh in 2009 using the country's post-Yugoslav link with the
Third World in its successful campaign for the Eastern European Spot at the
United Nations Security Council in 2008–2009 (in open competition with
Czech Republic which was a member state both of EU and NATO). Refugee returns accelerated since 1999, reached a peak in 2000, but then slightly decreased in 2001 and 2002. The
OSCE Mission to Croatia, focusing on the governed by the
UNTAES, continued to monitor human rights and the return of refugees until December 2007 with the OSCE office in Zagreb finally closing in 2012.
Croatian Serbs continue to have problems with restitution of property and acceptance to the reconstruction assistance programmes. Combined with lacking economic opportunities in the rural areas of
former Krajina, the return process was only partial.
Accession to the European Union At the time of Croatia's application to the European Union, three EU members states were yet to ratify the Stabilization and Association Agreement: United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Italy. The new
Sanader government elected in
2003 elections repeated the assurances that Croatia will fulfill the missing political obligations, and expedited the extradition of several ICTY inductees. The
European Commission replied to the answers of the questionnaire sent to Croatia on 20 April 2004 with a positive opinion. The country was finally accepted as EU candidate in July 2004. Italy and United Kingdom ratified the Stabilization and Association Agreement shortly thereafter, while the ten EU member states that were admitted to membership that year ratified it all together at a 2004 European Summit. In December 2004, the EU leaders announced that accession negotiations with Croatia would start on 17 March 2005 provided that Croatian government cooperates fully with the ICTY. The main issue, the flight of general
Gotovina, however, remained unsolved and despite the agreement on an accession negotiation framework, the negotiations did not begin in March 2005. On 4 October 2005 Croatia finally received green light for accession negotiations after the Chief Prosecutor of the ICTY
Carla Del Ponte officially stated that Croatia is fully cooperating with the Tribunal. This has been the main condition demanded by EU foreign ministers for accession negotiations. The ICTY called upon other southern European states to follow Croatia's good example. Thanks to the consistent position of
Austria during the meeting of EU foreign ministers, a long period of instability and the questioning of the determination of the Croatian government to extradite alleged war criminals has ended successfully. Croatian Prime minister
Ivo Sanader declared that full cooperation with the Hague Tribunal will continue. The accession process was also complicated by the insistence of
Slovenia, an EU member state, that the
two countries' border issues be dealt with prior to Croatia's accession to the EU. Croatia finished accession negotiations on 30 June 2011, and on 9 December 2011, signed the
Treaty of Accession. A
referendum on EU accession was held in Croatia on 22 January 2012, with 66% of participants voting in favour of joining the Union. The ratification process was concluded on 21 June 2013, and entry into force and accession of Croatia to the EU took place on 1 July 2013. The Council of Europe was led by Croatian diplomat
Marija Pejčinović Burić from 2019 to 2024. ==Foreign affairs==