Croatia's new path means new hope for Europe

The Republic of Croatia was established as a sovereign state in 1991out of the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia. A small croissant-shaped country of just over four million people north of Bosnia and east of Italy, Croatia has not had it easy in the last decade. Its first few years of independence included a messy war both within its own territory and in Bosnia-Herzegovina, a time in which strong nationalism was prevalent in politics and society as the politicians strove to achieve a pure state by witch-hunting most minorities in the country. Croatia's first president was Dr. Franjo Tudjman, an ex-Yugoslav general and revisionist historian who, in his quest for power and an independent Croatia, accentuated nationalism and religion ultimately in order to establish himself at the top. He ruled the country together with his Croatian Democratic Union party (HDZ) throughout the '90s until his death in early December, 1999. What he left to this small nation was rampant unemployment, negative economic growth, extensive poverty, corruption and a despicable human rights record which has cost Croatia western aid and strained diplomatic relations both with the European Union and with the US.