euinside in Croatia
On the 1st of July 2013, Croatia is expected to become the 28th member of the European Union after it ended successfully the accession negotiations. The accession of a second country from former Yugoslavia to the EU (after Slovenia) is a big step forward for the region, as the expectations are this to serve as a catalyst for the European integration processes in the Western Balkans in the future. These processes have already been increasing after Montenegro started officially accession talks in 2012 and Serbia got a candidate country status; with Macedonia the European Commission has introduced a new approach - high level dialogue, while waiting for a solution to the dispute with Greece in order for the real accession talks to start; Bosnia and Herzegovina too is about to start on a journey to EU membership.
Because of this stir euinside decided to follow the events more closely and in July 2012 we have opened an office in Zagreb. From there we will be following the last steps of Croatia toward membership and also how are the other former Yugoslav republics moving onto this path. This is our main subject on Zagreb's accession, but please do follow the other subject of ours on the Western Balkans, where there are articles from the past 3 years of accession efforts of the countries in the region.

The football World Cup in Russia started with the familiar ethno-nationalism in the region of former Yugoslavia. Then, it evolved into a very rare unity and brotherhood among the peoples in the ex-state to return, again, in the channel of nationalism, leaving bitterness and disappointment behind ...

Serbia and Croatia know very well they have to repair their relations. The former to be able to join the EU, and the latter to avoid being perceived by its partners as an opportunist. It seems, however, that both countries are doing their utmost to show that a repair is impossible. The latest in ...

In the past years, Croatia has turned into one of the most attractive tourist destinations in the EU, outperforming its competitors from the Northern Mediterranean (Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta and Spain) in attracting international tourists. According to the Croatian ministry of tourism, 2017 w ...

Croatia made its choice for its future in the EU by choosing, out of the several options of integration, to be in the core of the EU, which this autumn begins a major overhaul that will deepen the integration in areas like defence, security, justice, the euro area. Croatia Prime Minister Andrej ...

Someone I know recently asked me whether Russia is leading a hybrid war in Croatia. I had no hesitation in answering - the whole situation around Agrokor is an example of this, but there are other examples as well. Just two days after this conversation (August 13), one of the most popular Croati ...

The European Parliament elections will most likely take place on 23-26 May 2019 across the EU. What they may be remembered with is the conflict between French President Emmanuel Macron and some of the big European political families and especially the European People's Party's. After winnin ...

With 110 "for", 30 "against", and two abstentions the Croatian parliament ratified last week the Istanbul Convention aimed at fighting against violence against women and domestic violence. Just a few years ago, this piece of news would have hardly made its way to the headlines because there ...

The EU's newest member state is starting for a new objective - membership, first in Schengen, and then in the euro area. The Croatian government expects preparations for Schengen to be completed in 2019 and for the euro area it will take more time. To Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic this is an e ...

You will probably not believe it, but in the Balkans the lack of rule of law and the tolerance of corruption have some fun aspects. This is the case with the theft of the most contentious reform in Croatia by ... Montenegro. No, this is not a joke and it's not a product of a local satiric site ...

The Conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party is the biggest and convincing winner in the second round of the local elections in the country, but the dilemma remains at national level whether a stable coalition partner will be found or snap elections will be the way to go. The governm ...