Foreign relations of Croatia

At the beginning of the dissolution of Yugoslavia, Slovenia formed an alliance with Croatia at the 14th Congress of the Yugoslav League of Communists in January 1989 to advocate for complete independence.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva participated in a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Berlin Process. The initiative was launched in August 2014.

Participants in the process are the countries of the Western Balkans and EU Member States, including Bulgaria.

Brnabic pointed out that the relations between Serbia and Croatia are important for the stability of the region, and that, consequently, it is necessary to improve the dialogue and intensify cooperation in resolving open issues.

Bosnia and Herzegovina's success in the European accession process contributes to the stability and prosperity of the Western Balkans and the European Union as a whole, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said on Thursday at a meeting she had with the Prime Minister of this country, Denis Zvizdic.

According to it, Belgrade and Pristina "agreed to press ahead with their efforts to implement existing agreements and to engage constructively in the dialogue for the normalization of relations, through the EU, with the aim of reaching a comprehensive and final agreement."

He stressed that the citizens of Serbia "have to be aware that without the effective and comprehensive normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina there will be no accession to the European Union."

This is stated in a report published ahead of this year's Munich Security Conference, dubbed, "The Great Puzzle: Who will pick up the pieces?"

The segment of the report dedicated to this region is entitled, "Western Balkans: With friends like these...," and it states that EU leaders "recognize the strategic importance of this missing piece in the 'jigsaw of Europe'."

Hungarian Foreign Affairs Minister Peter Szijjarto stated on Thursday in Bucharest, prior to the informal meeting of the foreign affairs minister of the EU (Gymnich), that the Western Balkans states should be integrated in the European Union at a much faster pace than currently.

He participates in a debate on the Austrian EU presidency in the European Parliament, reported NOVA TV. 

Speaking to the European Parliament, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz welcomed the return of the Western Balkans to the center of European events. Kurtz participated in the debate on the Austrian EU presidency in the last six months of 2018.

A joint initiative by Germany and France to address illicit firearms trafficking has moved the issue of controlling the illegal trade in small arms from the Western Balkans up the political agenda, the German Federal Foreign Office told BIRN.