[1] The survey was carried out by the Mediana agency. See D. Butković, ‘Samo 23% Hrvata za ulazak u EU! Čak 95% smatra presudu nepravednom’, Jutarnji, 16 April 2011, jutarnji.hr.
[2] ‘Standard Eurobarometer 80 – Autumn 2013’, The European Commission, December 2013, europa.eu.
[3] ‘Standard Eurobarometer 98 – Winter 2022–2023’, The European Commission, February 2023, europa.eu.
[4] ‘Corruption Perceptions Index – Croatia, Transparency International, transparency.org.
[5] See ‘Real GDP per capita’, ec.europa.eu/eurostat.
[6] Data from: ‘Share of travel and tourism’s total contribution to GDP in European Union member countries (EU 27) and the United Kingdom (UK) in 2019 and 2022’, Statista, 2023, statista.com.
[7] ‘Turizam je više od aktivnosti u slobodno vrijeme i zahtijeva stručnu i kvalificiranu radnu snagu’, The Ministry of Tourism and Sport of Croatia, 29 May 2023, mint.gov.hr.
[8] ‘Popis 2021’, Croatian Bureau of Statistics, dzs.gov.hr.
[9] Z. Galić, ‘Iseljavanje visokoobrazovanih: prihodi, ali i korupcija, opći osjećaj netrpeljivosti u društvu…’, Ideje.hr, 14 November 2019, ideje.hr.
[10] Izvješće o korištenju Europskih i strukturnih fondova, The Croatian Parliament, April 2021, per: strukturnifondovi.hr.
[11] Introducing the 2021 annual reports of the European Court of Auditors, ETO, eca.europa.eu.
[12] The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) accused the former minister of defrauding the national and EU budgets by purchasing software at an inflated price. See ‘Four arrested for suspected fraud at Croatian Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds’, 10 November 2021, eppo.europa.eu.
[13] ‘Hrvatska ubrzala iskorištenost sredstava kohezijskih fondova Europske unije, iza Hrvatske 12 država Europske unije’,
The Ministry for Regional Development and EU Funds, 3 November 2022, razvoj.gov.hr.
[14] Under the 1699 Treaty of Karlowitz, the Republic of Dubrovnik ceded a slice of the Adriatic coast including Neum to the Ottoman Empire to separate itself from the Republic of Venice. The area later became part of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
[15] Program konvergencije Republike Hrvatske za razdoblje 2023. – 2025, The Ministry of Finance of Croatia, April 2022, per: commission.europa.eu.
[16] Bosnia and Herzegovina is a federal state that consists of two entities: Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The latter is mainly populated by Croats and Muslims.
[17] Bosnia and Herzegovina’s last population census took place in 2013, so the country’s current ethnic composition may differ significantly from the one presented in this paper.
[18] The office was established under the Dayton Agreement. The High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina has extensive legislative authority and the power to remove politicians from their positions in both of the constituent parts of the country.
[19] For example, Schmidt used his prerogatives on election night in October 2022, when he pushed through an amendment regarding the composition of the upper house of parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The change gave a privileged position in this entity to politicians from HDZ BiH, the main party of the Bosnian Croats.