Croatia–NATO relations
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 NATO |
 Croatia |
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Croatia has been a member of military alliance NATO since 2009, supporting the organization through multilateral cooperation and defence policies. The country entered into Partnership for Peace in 2000, which began the process of accession into the alliance. It received an invitation to join at the 2008 Bucharest NATO summit and became a full member a year later on April 1.
History
[edit]20th century
[edit]Croatia's first relations with NATO were established in 1953. That year Yugoslavia entered into the Balkan Pact, a loose military alliance with Greece and Turkey, then both recent NATO members.[1] Croatia had considered holding a referendum on NATO membership. On March 23, 2007, the Croatian president Stjepan Mesić, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader and President of parliament Vladimir Šeks declared that the Croatian constitution does not require a referendum on this issue.[2] In 2006 the Croatian government was planning to start a media campaign to promote the benefits of membership. In February 2008 a project named Bolje pakt nego rat was formed by Transparency International Croatia and iDEMO, and financed by the United States embassy in Croatia, in order to promote the NATO membership through public discussions about its benefits.[3]
A May 2007 poll commissioned by the government showed that NATO membership was backed by 52% of the population, and 25% was against.[4] On January 4, 2008, Croatian Prime minister Ivo Sanader reached a coalition agreement with partners from HSS and HSLS to form a new government. According to a provision of the said agreement Croatia's entry into NATO would not be decided on a referendum.[5]
21st century
[edit]Croatia has been a member of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan since December 12, 2002.[6] In 2003 Croatia joined the Adriatic Charter along with other NATO aspirants.[7] In November, 2006 the State Committee for the Membership of Croatia in NATO was established, with Croatian president Stjepan Mesić serving as committee president, and speaker Vladimir Šeks and prime minister Ivo Sanader serving as its vice-presidents.[8] In June, 2007 the Croatian Parliament and the NATO parliamentary Assembly held a three-day conference in Dubrovnik entitled "Southeast Europe: Unfinished business", to discuss security and political issues in the region.[9] The Noble Midas 07 NATO exercise held in Croatia in October, 2007 was the first time in the alliance's history that it held a military exercise in a non-member country.[10] Croatia hosted a meeting of defense ministers on NATO's role in southeastern Europe in March, 2009.[11]
On January 1, 2008 Croatia abandoned military conscription and finished its transition to a fully professional army.[12] The Armed Forces of Croatia joined the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) in 2009.[13] The Croatian minister of foreign affairs Gordan Jandroković was invited to the movement's 15th Conference, held in Iran in July, 2008.[14] Croatian ambassador to Iran, Esad Prohić, served as Croatian representative.[15]
Croatian president Zoran Milanović stated that his country should block ratification of Finland and Sweden's NATO accession until electoral reform measures are implemented in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina, though the Foreign Minister expressed the government's support for any application.[16] On 28 April 2022, Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić-Radman announced that Croatia supported Finland and Sweden's applications for membership in NATO.[17] In July 2022, Croatia fully ratified Finland and Sweden's NATO membership application.[18]
As part of the further strengthening of the European deterrence against Russian aggression in Ukraine, NATO launched an enhanced vigilance activity in February 2022, which led to the formation of Croatian battlegroups in Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria in July.[19] The Croatian government provided over €300 million in military aid to Ukraine as part of broader efforts within NATO that year.[20] Since September 2025, Croatian diplomat Mirko Ujdenica has served as the chargé d'affaires to NATO.[21]
Negotiation timeline
[edit]| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Partnership for Peace | 2000-05-25 |
| Membership Action Plan | 2002-05-20 |
| Invitation to join | 2008-04-03 |
| Accession protocol | 2008-07-09 |
| Domestic ratification | 2009-03-25 |
| Ratification by: | |
 Belgium
|
2009-01-29 |
 Bulgaria
|
2008-10-23 |
 Canada
|
2009-01-14 |
 Czech Republic
|
2008-12-22 |
 Denmark
|
2008-12-09 |
 Estonia
|
2008-12-19 |
 France
|
2009-02-04 |
 Germany
|
2008-12-19 |
 Greece
|
2009-02-17 |
 Hungary
|
2008-09-15 |
 Iceland
|
2009-02-12 |
 Italy
|
2008-12-23 |
 Latvia
|
2008-09-18 |
 Lithuania
|
2008-10-06 |
 Luxembourg
|
2009-02-12 |
 Netherlands
|
2009-02-17 |
 Norway
|
2008-11-24 |
 Poland
|
2008-10-21 |
 Portugal
|
2009-02-13 |
 Romania
|
2008-10-21 |
 Slovakia
|
2008-10-24 |
 Slovenia
|
2009-02-09 |
 Spain
|
2008-12-18 |
 Turkey
|
2008-11-26 |
 United Kingdom
|
2008-12-19 |
 United States
|
2008-09-26 |
| Member of NATO | 2009-04-01 |
Foreign relations with NATO members
[edit]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Press: Već smo u NATO, uveo nas Tito Archived 2010-02-25 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Sanader Says There is No Need for Referendum on NATO Membership". Government of the Republic of Croatia. March 21, 2007. Archived from the original on April 8, 2009. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
- ^ "TIH i iDEMO predstavili projekt 'Bolje pakt nego rat'". Poslovni dnevnik (in Croatian). February 27, 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-06-11. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
- ^ "Poll Shows Public Support for NATO Membership Growing in Croatia". May 23, 2007. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
- ^ "Dovršen koalicijski sporazum HDZ-a i koalicije HSS-HSLS". sarajevo-x.com. 2008-01-04. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
- ^ "Participation of the Republic of Croatia in ISAF". template.gov.hr. Retrieved 2026-04-10.
- ^ "President Welcomes Signing of the Adriatic Charter Partnership (Text Only)". georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov. Retrieved 2026-04-10.
- ^ "Osnovan Državni odbor za članstvo Hrvatske u NATO-u". Archived from the original on 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
- ^ NATO seminars in Dubrovnik
- ^ Croatia hosts major Nato exercise, BBC
- ^ Southeast European defense ministers to meet in Croatia
- ^ FACTBOX: Balkan candidates offer NATO leaner military muscle, Reuters
- ^ Eduard Šostarić (13 October 2008). "Hrvatska vojska stiže na Kosovo u proljeće 2009" [Croatian Army arrives to Kosovo in spring of 2009] (in Croatian). Nacional. Archived from the original on 28 July 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
- ^ Jandroković pozvan na skup nesvrstanih u Teheranu, Slobodna Dalmacija
- ^ Vladi ne trebaju nesvrstani, Slobodna Dalmacija
- ^ "Croatia to back Finland's Nato bid despite President's threats to block application". Yle. 2022-04-26. Archived from the original on 1 June 2022. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
- ^ "Grlic-Radman: Croatia supports Nato membership for Finland and Sweden". www.n1info.hr. 28 April 2022. Retrieved 2022-04-28.
- ^ "Croatia ratifies Nato accession for Finland and Sweden". n1info.hr. 15 July 2022. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
- ^ "International deployment for the year 2022" (PDF).
- ^ "NATO Secretary General commends Croatia's contributions to NATO and support for Ukraine". North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). 12 January 2026. Retrieved 10 April 2026.
- ^ "Croatia - Permanent Representatives". Organization | NATO. Retrieved 2026-04-10.
External links
[edit]- Croatian mission to NATO Archived 2021-10-07 at the Wayback Machine
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