Disputes – Croatia is Today Surrounded by Greater Concerns than Once Yugoslavia

Today, Croatia is facing greater challenges than it did in ‘those times’ even during Yugoslavia. Back then, we were taught that as a country we were surrounded by CONCERNS.

I never understood what kind of concerns we were surrounded by, except that three neighboring countries were from the Western, capitalist bloc, while the others were ‘even more socialist’ than the SFRY. However, that was the easiest way to memorize neighboring countries in geography class – Bulgaria, Romania, Italy, Greece, Austria, Hungary, and Albania.

>>>President Grabar Kitarović confirmed that no one has canceled her reciprocal visit to Serbia

But I do not recall border incidents and territorial claims, except in the agitprop brainwashing, like that in the JNA about the expected aggression from the north, from Hungary, so the entire defense strategy was based on that. Similar scenarios were probably played out in other parts of the country, which are close to the borders with Austria, Italy, Greece…

I do not know what kind of war scenarios are currently being discussed in the General Staff, but judging by the media echo, Croatia is not surrounded by CONCERNS but by CONCERNS. Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, in one day, and on foreign ground (Brdo near Kranj), answered questions about three neighboring interstate disputes.

One is about arbitration regarding the Croatian-Slovenian border and also about a new phase of the affair with Ljubljanska Bank and Slovenian threats that they will not ‘let us into Schengen’. The second dispute is with Serbia, which escalates after the recent Šešelj’s burning of the Croatian flag. The third is the problem of cooling relations with Sarajevo, which does not view the construction of the Pelješac Bridge favorably.

>>>Pejčinović: Vulin questioned the sovereignty of Croatia

To complete the environment, we also have Orbán’s Hungarian wire towards Croatia, so it is fortunate that the border with Montenegro is so short, although there is a potential dispute over Prevlaka, and that we do not have a land connection with Italy.

But let’s return to the current disputes. I believe that Croatia is right in all three cases, but I am somehow bothered that our politicians and diplomats often pour oil on the fire. So, if Šešelj and Vulin cannot be controlled, accepting arbitration is more beneficial to Croatia than Slovenia, and the Pelješac Bridge could have been negotiated a bit softer with BiH. But then the Croatian authorities would have to deal with more concerns within the country than they do now, when we are surrounded by heavy ‘concerns’.