American policy towards Croatia in the age of Trump.
How has the US policy towards Southeast Europe changed in the last 15 months, since the inauguration of President Donald Trump? It is evident that – compared to North Korea (where Trump’s policy seems to be producing results), the Middle East, repositioning towards Russia and China – the Balkans region is not in the focus of Trump’s administration. However, several trends do emerge, reports Večernji List on May 2, 2018.
First, under Trump, there is a lesser degree of micromanagement which used to be conducted under Obama and Bush not just by US ambassadors in the regional countries but also by officials from Washington. Trump is not interested in interfering with the internal affairs of states of the region in order to resolve an issue which might be a problem not only for the country in question but also for broader values and interests which the United States promotes in the world.
Is this good or bad news? You can find diplomats and other interlocutors on both sides of the issue. However, we should not forget that it was such micromanagement from Washington which, for example, saved Croatia from the idea of a Slovenian referendum that would undoubtedly delay its entry into NATO, or convinced the ICTY chief prosecutor that his insistence on documents from the time of the Operation Storm should cease. As for the Operation Storm itself, it is worth recalling that Trump’s Defence Secretary James Mattis has provided perhaps the most vocal American support for the operation when he praised it in the company of Damir Krstičević, Croatia’s defence minister and one of the commanders of the operation.
Which leads us to another trend in US policy towards the Balkans, a trend which represents continuity between Trump and earlier administrations in terms of finding the best way for achieving regional stability – the support for Euro-Atlantic integration for the countries in the region. In this effort, Croatia has a role of an example. The United States Embassy in Zagreb often cites as one of its goal support for Croatia to serve with its internal and external policies as an example that neighbours can copy.
Within the context of this goal, Americans have always considered it crucial that Croatia should actively pursue the policy of reconciliation with Serbia, fully integrate minorities into its national and local politics, conduct war crimes trials, encourage the return of refugees, be an example in resolving open border disputes and in the fight against corruption… The fact that there is no change in this regard has been demonstrated by the enthusiasm with which the US embassy reacted to President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović’s invitation to Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić to come to an official visit to Croatia.
Despite some analysts seeing alleged significant changes in the US policies towards the region, those who look more closely at issue can see that US strategic goal remains reconciliation and maintaining good-neighbourly relations in the Balkans.
Translated from Večernji List (reported by Tomislav Krasnec).
