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Perception and Communication Issues Between Croatia and The European Union – From Croatian Independence in 1991 to EU Accession in 2013

In 2013, Croatia became the 28th member of the European Union. However, the road to full membership was quite lengthy and marked by numerous ups and downs in mutual relations and accession negotiations. The paper deals with the communication aspects of the relationship between Croatia and the European Union, that is, their mutual perception in the period from Croatia’s independence in 1991 to full membership 22 years later. The paper demonstrates how the mutual relations and perceptions were, for years, burdened by numerous stereotypes from the past, the consequences of Yugoslavian propaganda, unrealistic expectations, the behavior of European institutions during the breakup of Yugoslavia and traumas from the Homeland Defense War, as well as insufficient and unsatisfactory communication between European and Croatian institutions. All this resulted in the continuous decline in confidence in the EU among Croatian citizens on the one hand, and the delay in membership negotiations on the other. This paper brings together in one place all relevant past findings, places them within the context of interrelations between Croatia and the European Union and brings original research on the perception of the European Union in Croatia just prior to full membership. Furthermore, the paper analyses the historical context of the mutual relations between Croatia and the EU.

image ; Croatia ; European Union ; perceptions ; communications

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