Croatia’s Uneasy First Decade in the European Union

Abstract

Croatia celebrated a decade of membership in the European Union by joining the euro currency and the Schengen Area of free movement on January 1, 2023. At the same time, however, the country is struggling with the economic, social, and political consequences of its semi-peripheral status. A series of reform challenges remain unsolved, including the continued dominance of clientelistic networks. Amid a set of overlapping crises, from the global financial meltdown to the COVID-19 pandemic, the country has seen a revival of conservative and patriarchal ideologies.