According to this article from the United Kingdom Telegraph, Slovenia has blocked the EU from reaching agreements with Croatia in areas of key policy reform. These issues must be handled before 2011 in order for Croatia to be fully recognized in the EU. The source of this veto stems from a long-standing border dispute that emerged after the break up of Yugoslavia. Slovenia has vowed to block the next 11 negotation hurdles, which could ultimately freeze Croatia's progress in becoming the 28th member state of the EU.
This is a very important issue for Croatia's media progress. They are considered "free" according to Freedom House, and the progress in transition toward democracy has been cited as one of the main reasons. The progress Croatia has made in terms of joining the EU has been an important aspect of that. Reporters Without Borders cited similar progress but noted that 2008 showed some decline from previous years, largely due to some political tension during a parliamentary election. In the wake of this setback, blockage from the EU would not be good for the progress that Croatia has shown, and it is important that it can overcome these negotiation hurdles before 2011 in order to maintain the characteristics of a free media country. Hopefully, this will be resolved and the democratic transition process can continue with the aid of the European Union.
- Matt Orminski (Croatia)
Saturday, February 21, 2009
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