Thinking About It
October 19, 2006 “
By Robert J. Guttman
It is refreshing to actually see diplomacy that is successful for the current administration. As the Bush White House is fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and dealing with potential nuclear powers in North Korea and Iran and working on a Middle East peace and the war on terror the visit of the prime minister of Croatia can be considered a success this week.
Ivo Sanader, the prime minister of Croatia, met with President Bush, Vice-President Cheney and Secretary of State Rice on his trip to Washington, D.C. this week. He also spoke before our Center on Politics and Foreign Relations at Johns Hopkins SAIS yesterday.
Croatia, which was ending its war for independence only eleven years ago, has become a model for democracy for other Southeastern European nations.
The prime minister’s two major foreign policy goals are joining the European Union and NATO. President Bush said he would push for Croatia’s admission to NATO by 2008 and would bring up the subject at the NATO meeting in Latvia next month.
As the president stated, “It’s in the world’s interest that Croatia join NATO, as well as the European Union.”
It is quite remarkable to see Croatia, one of Europe’s leading tourist destinations today, talking about joining NATO and the EU. This part of Europe was one of the world’s trouble spots in the 1990s with the break-up of Yugoslavia and the violence in Bosnia.
When I asked the Croatian prime minister why Croatia wants to be part of the European Union he responded, “The EU is all about fighting for a secure and prosperous future for Europe. Why shouldn’t Croatia be part of it? Croatia is an open country. All Croatians know how important it is to be part of the EU. It is important for Croatian entrepreneurs to be part of the EU. I strongly advocate EU membership for Croatia.”
The prime minister has turned around his political party, the Croatian Democratic Union or HDZ, into a modern European organization with a new pro-EU and transatlantic outlook.
Sanader, who has his doctorate in romance languages and comparative literature from Innsbruck University in Austria and was once the manager of the Croatian National Theater, has committed 50 military policemen to the NATO-led peacekeeping effort in Afghanistan.
The prime minister, who proved to be an effective speaker with a sense of humor during his talk, has his work cut out for him in bringing his country into the EU and NATO: he will have to rally his countrymen and women and explain the benefits of membership in these organizations. And another challenge is the fact that the European Union has stated that there could be no more EU enlargement after Romania and Bulgaria join next year.
A forceful politician, Ivo Sanader, will not let these remarks stand in his way and will most likely have his country join the EU within the next few years.
As the Secretary of State Condi Rice stated after her meeting with the Croatian prime minister, “We agreed that despite world problems such as North Korea, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan, the southeastern part of Europe must not be forgotten.”
Hopefully, today’s trouble spots will become as peaceful and democratic as Croatia has in the last decade.
Robert J. Guttman
Director, CPFR Click here to return to the Thinking About It archive.
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