Croatia

Having once been part of the Hapsburg Empire, then part of Tito’s Yugoslavia, Croatia did not experience much independence in the past. In the 1990’s, shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, and the disbandment of the Warsaw Pact, Croatia won its freedom from the Serbian majority. A long struggle for freedom and the war for independence from Yugoslavia, together with the Kosovo crisis, have posed some of the toughest challenges that any of this region’s countries had faced.

Following the crisis in 1999, the 2000 election led to improvements especially in the political climate. Despite such tremendous difficulties, Croatia is now heading to join the EU but in the meantime must continue to push through economic reforms to fight high unemployment, reduce inflation, restrain the fiscal deficit, sustain development across the regions and increase growth.

The country anticipates growth and investments over the next couple of years with the hope of renewing the wealth Croatia experienced being one of the richest Yugoslav republics.