Project duration: 06/2017 – 12/2017
Client: Croatian office of Hanns Seidel Stiftung
Team leader: Sandro Knezović, PhD
Through the project a comparative analysis was conducted of the Croatian foreign policy towards three regions – the Mediterranean, Central Europe and Southeast Europe – which have been highlighted in the Strategic Plan. The introduction presented a detailed analysis of the Strategic Plan of the Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, its defined goals and mission, and assessed how far and in what context the cooperation with the Mediterranean, Central Europe and Southeast Europe represented a priority for Croatia. Each region was analysed separately, and the opportunities and challenges for Croatia arising from the development of bilateral relations with the states of the region but also of a multilateral framework of cooperation were explored. Especially economic aspects of cooperation were analysed, representing key factors for the determination of regional affiliation and political influence. Also, the issue of the real regional presence of Croatia is related to the question of the Croatian national identity. As final product of this project, a written study has been published on the above issues, and was presented at the international meeting at which representatives of the executive and the legislative power took part, along with members of the diplomatic corps, the academic community, civil society and the media.
