The Zagreb Summit and Croatian Foreign Policy
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
JULY - DECEMBER 2000 iii' The Zagreb Summit and Croatian Foreign Policy Damir Grubisa * Original paper UDC 327(497.5:4-67EU) Received in December 2000 The policy of the six-parties Croatian coalition government, after the 2000 parliamentary and presiden- tial elections, opened the country and made possible a real transition from a nationalist post-communist impasse towards a democratic society. The response from the West was immediate and supportive showing that democracy is superior to the authoritarian rule. The idea of a summit of the European Union to be devoted to the development of the South-east European Region underwent several changes, from the idea ofa "Balkan Summit" in the first place, subsequently turning to the idea ofa "Western- Balkan Summit", to be eventually fixed as the "Zagreb Summit". The controversies were not only semantic: the idea of a Balkan summit opened the dilemma about the participants - who would be the participants. The aim of the European Union is to create a situation in which military conflict will become "unthinkable" and thereby to expand to South-east Europe the area of peace, stability, prosper- ity and freedom which the fifteen member states have created in the past fifty years. The Zagreb summit was called a "historic meeting ": a meeting of this kind in the Croatian capital would have been unthink- able a year ago, since Croatia was isolated from the rest of Europe and alienated from much of the rest of the region. The Zagreb Summit was a turning point for the whole region and its future implementation will be a test for each country in the region. Keywords: Zagreb Summit, EU, Croatia, transition, democracy. 1. Introduction thoritarianism, thus clearing the way for a real change of the collectivist society following the patterns of After the elections held on the 3rd of January democratic development and building a democrati- 2000, Croatia approached a new phase in its devel- cally elected and controlled government. opment, both internal and external, which marked The response from the West was immediate: the rupture with a nine-year period of nationalist, the Croatian events were not only seen as a break- authoritarian rule within the country and political through with the almost one decade long period of isolation towards the international community. The wars, aggression, ethnic cleansing and civil strife, new policy of the six-parties coalition government but as an encouragement and example for other so- opened the country and made possible a real transi- cieties in the region. Nationalism can be won on the tion from a nationalist post-communist impasse to- ground of real democratic elections and democratic wards a democratic society, open to the world and to articulation of interests, showing that democracy is its regional environment, Europe. The new policy of superior, in the long run, to any form of authoritar- the Croatian democratic government was cheered ian rule and statism. abroad and Croatia, for a short while, became the The European Union was the first to hail the "first good news" from the war-tom South-east Eu- changes that occurred in Croatia. The first foreign ropean region. Not only the Croatian electorate re- statesman to come to Croatia was the president of jected the rule of the nationalist party and its au- the European Commission, Romano Prodi, who brought the messages of support and friendship ex- • Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for International Rela- tions. tended to the new Croatian leadership that overthrew 118 CROATIAN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS REVIEW nationalism, setting the pattern for a contagious continuous involvement in the creation of conditions propagation of democratic impulses throughout the for the establishment of quality relations between region. states, as a need and an expression of its own inter- When France assumed the presidency of the ests, too - "it does not want to become a captive of European Union, time became ripe for a revaluation the region and thereby remain enclosed within its of the political situation in the region. In Spring borders". Regional co-operation, in the view of the Croatian President Stipe Mesic visited France and Croatian President, must not be an end in itself, but on that occasion the French President launched, of- it must be just one of the steps on the "hopefully not ficially, the initiative of a summit of the European too long road to the European Union". The Croatian Union to be devoted to the development of the South- view of the summit may be summarised in the final east European Region, i.e. the former Yugoslav po- message of the Croatian President's speech: The litical space. Gradually, the initiative materialised in Zagreb Summit was expected to layout the clear- the form of an EU summit to be held on the spot - in cut principles for the building of relations among the the capital of the country that marked the first score countries in the region, and to "send a clear message in withering away with nationalist rule. The idea of to the citizens of these countries that they are wel- a summit underwent several changes, from the idea come to the Union - at the rate which they are capa- of a "Balkan Summit" in the first place, subsequently ble of achieving, that is, individually, or in a regatta turning to the idea of a "Western-Balkan Summit", and not in a convoy". to be eventually fixed as the "Zagreb Summit". The The metaphor of the "regatta" versus the "con- controversies were not only semantic: the idea of a voy" approach was emphasised many times before Balkan summit opened the dilemma about the par- and during the Zagreb Summit. This was reiterated ticipants - who would be the participants. The con- by the Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan, who cept of a Balkan summit would have inevitably inverted the values of the regional-individual ap- dragged also such countries as Albania, Bulgaria, proach to the EU: while President Mesic started from Turkey and would have broadened the problems to the regional but concluded with the "regatta, and not be tackled at that meeting. The concept of a "West- convoy" metaphor, the departure was the principle ern-Balkan summit" caused a lot of discussions of individual approach to the European Union ac- within Croatia, since the very notion of "Western companied with the determination to protect Balkan" was disputed by some political forces that Croatia's territorial integrity, Prime Minister Racan clearly rejected Croatia's Balkan identity and estab- pointed out that Croatia never forgets about her own lished the borders of the Balkan peninsula at the share of responsibility for the stability and wellbe- border between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, ing of the region. Thus, Croatia will act as guarantor wrongly assuming that the Balkan is a geopolitical and factor of stability in the region, as a generator of term from which modern Croatia want to dissociate. good neighbourly relations, open for economic co- The old nationalist Government under President operation and joint action ... "Croatia is a country Tudjman, in fact, rejected Croatia's geographical combining the features of the Mediterranean, the location as being part of the Balkans, developing the Danube, Central and South-eastern Europe, the theory that Croatia belongs to Mitteleuropa - Mid- Pannonian plains and the rugged Dinara mountain dle Europe solely. During the election campaign the chains". The term "Balkan" was omitted, but it was opposition force, and especially the Social-Demo- done, allegedly, for domestic purposes. cratic Party argued that Croatia's identity cannot be The Prime Minister's speech was not deliv- reduced only to the "Mitteleuropean" side, but has ered at the very Summit, but immediately after it, in to encompass also its Mediterranean and Balkan part; a ceremony marking the official launching of nego- that is, Croatia is not solely a Middle European, but tiations on the Stabilisation and Association Agree- also a Mediterranean and a Balkan country. ment between the Republic of Croatia and the Euro- pean Union. Thus the Zagreb Summit ended not only 2. "Zagreb Summit" with a final declaration, much debated during the preparations, but also with the start of negotiations Eventually it was decided to name this sum- between the EU and Croatia, becoming thus the most mit as, simply, the "Zagreb Summit", eluding any tangible result for Croatia. However, this was only geographical specification.All these dilemmas were, the culmination of a process of coming near, dra- in a way, expressed in the opening speeches of the matically accelerated by the parliamentary and presi- Croatian President and the Croatian Prime Minister dential elections in Croatia in January and March at the Zagreb meeting. Despite the fact that Croatia 2000. However, it should not be forgotten that the accepts regional co-operation and is prepared for EU Council of Ministers in 1997 established the JULY - DECEMBER 2000 119 political and economic conditions for the develop- launch a new phase of closer co-operation between ment of bilateral relations with Croatia, that were the European Union and the individual countries of labelled by the EU as the "Regional Approach". In South-east Europe, based on the SAA process. But 1999 the EU proposed a new Stabilisation and As- Prodi wanted also to state, for the record, that no sociation Process for the five countries of South- east- one was suggesting to recreate the former Yugosla- em Europe, including Croatia. The milestone of the via, and what they were talking about was building 2000 change of government in Croatian politics and co-operation between independent sovereign coun- the new political climate offered the opportunity for tries, not only through the Stability Pact to which _a rapid progress in the relationship between Croatia the EU is a major contributor.