Croatia

Croatia exists because Yugoslavia fragmented along ethnic fault lines—and because the Adriatic coastline became too valuable for Western Europe to ignore. This is a country forged in war: the 1991-1995 Homeland War killed over 14,000 Croatians and displaced hundreds of thousands more. Three decades later, Croatia has completed one of the most successful post-conflict integrations in European history, joining the EU in 2013, the eurozone in 2023, and the Schengen Area the same year.

Croats had lived under various empires for centuries—Roman, Byzantine, Hungarian, Habsburg, Ottoman at the margins—before being incorporated into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes after World War I, later renamed Yugoslavia. Josip Broz Tito's communist federation held together through authoritarianism and the threat of Soviet intervention. His death in 1980 began the unraveling. By 1991, Franjo Tuđman's Croatian Democratic Union had won elections on a nationalist platform, and a May referendum—boycotted by ethnic Serbs—approved independence with 94% support.

What followed was brutal. The Yugoslav People's Army, increasingly under Serbian control, allied with local Serb militias who declared the unrecognized 'Republic of Serbian Krajina.' The 87-day siege of Vukovar in late 1991 became a symbol of resistance and atrocity. By 1995, Operation Storm crushed the separatist entity but triggered the exodus of most of Croatia's ethnic Serb population. Eastern Croatia was peacefully reintegrated under UN administration by 1998. The Dayton Peace Agreement ended the broader Yugoslav wars, but the wounds took decades to heal—if they have.

Tuđman ruled until his death in 1999, democratic in form but authoritarian in practice. Only his passing opened space for genuine reform and the long march to EU membership. Croatia applied in 2003, became a candidate in 2004, began negotiations in 2005, and joined on July 1, 2013—the process slowed by a border dispute with Slovenia and concerns over judicial reform and corruption.

The 2023 integrations into the eurozone and Schengen Area marked the completion of Croatia's European journey. The euro replaced the kuna; the border checkpoints with Slovenia disappeared. Access to ECB reserves strengthened financing capacity. All three major credit rating agencies now rate Croatia in the A category—Moody's upgraded it to A3 in November 2024. GDP per capita reached 78% of the EU average by end of 2024.

The economy has outperformed most of the EU, growing 3.9% in 2024 and averaging 4.8% from 2022-2025. Tourism drives roughly 25% of GDP, with the Dalmatian coast and Dubrovnik drawing visitors who outnumber residents many times over in summer. Prime Minister Andrej Plenković won a third term in April 2024, forming a coalition with the far-right Homeland Movement—the same nationalist current that Tuđman represented, now normalized within European conservatism.

EU funds of €10 billion for 2021-2026—about 12% of GDP—remain only 30% absorbed, representing both opportunity and administrative challenge. Skilled labor shortages constrain growth; young Croatians can now work anywhere in the EU without barriers, and many do.

By 2026, Croatia will likely continue its convergence toward EU living standards while managing the tensions between tourism-driven coastal prosperity and struggling interior regions. The country that fought its way out of Yugoslavia has now anchored itself firmly in European institutions—but the political coalition that governs represents the unresolved questions about nationalism, identity, and what 'homeland' means in a borderless Europe.