Belonging where (and to whom)? Geopolitical orientations of Croatian presidents

Croatia's geopolitical path since gaining independence has been tied to ‘the West’ and European integration. Despite this, not all political actors have had a unanimous vision of how Croatia should be integrated into the global geopolitical order. Presidents are essential in representing the country abroad, making them important actors in foreign politics. To investigate different geopolitical visions in Croatian politics, this paper takes on the cases of four Croatian presidents from the time of parliamentarism: Stjepan Mesić, Ivo Josipović, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, and Zoran Milanović. Paying attention to changes over time, it seeks to highlight their attitudes towards the East vs. West divide, the European Union, the post-Yugoslav region, and favorable and unfavorable geopolitical allies. Each of the presidents stressed different orientations in terms of cooperation and allies. All four presidents supported Croatia’s path towards greater European integration, yet notable criticism of the EU has recently developed with Milanović. In Mesić’s case, there was an inclination towards countries of the Non-Aligned Movement and criticism of the US foreign policy. Josipović was inclined towards the European project and reconciliation within the post-Yugoslav region. Grabar-Kitarović stressed the Three Seas Initiative and NATO, whereas Milanović has been showing growing criticism towards ‘Brussels.’ In addition, the analysis will look at what relation the presidents’ positions were to the governments and the parties from which the presidents emerged.