Review article
https://doi.org/10.5559/pi 16. 31. 05
On Gaining the Independence of the Republic of Croatia and Its International and Diplomatic Affirmation: Between Opposition and Approval
Ana Holjevac Tuković
orcid.org/0000-0003-4098-8896
; Croatian memorial-documentation center of Homeland war in Zagreb
Dražen Živić
orcid.org/0000-0002-5293-568X
; Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar
Abstract
On June 25, 1991, the Croatian Parliament passed the Constitutional
Decision on Sovereignty and Independence and passed the Declaration on
the Establishment of the Sovereign and Independent Republic of Croatia. In
doing so, the Parliament declared and formalized the will of the people
and citizens of the Republic of Croatia, which was expressed at a referendum held five weeks earlier. By adopting these documents, and
without the possibility of reaching a new political agreement that would
dissolve the Yugoslav state and solve the political crisis, Croatia entered the
final phase of its independence-gaining process. However, inner Yugoslav
and additional international circumstances and relations did not provide a
favourable framework for the Croatian independence. In this process,
Croatia had to overcome a number of obstacles, an overall lack of
understanding, even resistance. Having understood the pressure of decisive
Croatian political leadership and the brutality of the Serbian armed
aggression, a number of actors on the international stage gradually built
their acceptance of the Croatian decision to leave the SFRY. They saw it as
the only rational answer to the Yugoslav crisis and the growing Greater
Serbian nationalism and expansionism. Three decades after these historic
decisions of the Croatian Parliament, it is now a good time to remember
the key national political and international legal acts that have led to the
international and diplomatic affirmation, as well as the recognition of the
Republic of Croatia. This is an opportunity to highlight the local and
international stakeholders who resisted this process, as well as those who
supported it.
Keywords
Republic of Croatia; 1991; independence referendum; international and diplomatic recognition
Hrčak ID:
276007
URI
Publication date:
6.1.2022.
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