Government & politics — Croatia

• 25 June 1991 (from Yugoslavia)
• note - 25 June 1991 was the day the Croatian parliament voted for independence
• following a three-month moratorium to allow the European Community to solve the Yugoslav crisis peacefully, parliament adopted a decision on 8 October 1991 to sever constitutional relations with Yugoslavia
• notable earlier dates: ca. 925 (Kingdom of Croatia established)
• 1 December 1918 (Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (Yugoslavia) established)

• History: Several previous;
• latest adopted 22 December 1990 Amendments: Proposed by at least one fifth of the Assembly membership, by the president of the republic, by the Government of Croatia, or through petition by at least 10% of the total electorate; proceedings to amend require majority vote by the Assembly; passage requires two-thirds majority vote by the Assembly; passage by petition requires a majority vote in a referendum and promulgation by the Assembly; amended several times, last in 2014

Civil law system influenced by legal heritage of Austria-Hungary; note - Croatian law was fully harmonized with the European Community acquis as of the June 2010 completion of EU accession negotiations

• Chief of State: Presiden
• t Zoran MILANOVIC (since 18 February 2020) Head of Government: Prime Minister Andrej PLENKOVIC (since 19 October 2016); Deputy Prime Ministers Tomo MEDVED (since 23 July 2020), Davor BOZINOVIC (since 12 July 2019), Oleg BUTKOVIC (since 15 July 2022), Branko BACIC (since 17 January 2023),
• Anja SIMPRAG (since 29 April 2022) Cabinet: Council of Ministers named by the prime
• minister and approved by the Assembly Elections/Appointments: President directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 22 December 2019 with a runoff on 5 January 2020 (next to be held in 2024); the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually appointed prime minister b
• y the president and approved by the Assembly Election results: 2019: Zoran MILANOVIC elected president in second round; percent of vote in second round - Zoran MILANOVIC (SDP) 52.7%, Kolinda GRABAR-KITAROVIC (HDZ) 47.3% 2015: Kolinda GRABAR-KITAROVIC elected president in second round; percent of vote in second round - Kolinda GRABAR-KITAROVIC (HDZ) 50.7%, Ivo JOSIPOVIC (Forward Croatia Progressive Alliance) 49.3%

Description

Unicameral Assembly or Hrvatski Sabor (151 seats; 140 members in 10 multi-seat constituencies and 3 members in a single constituency for Croatian diaspora directly elected by proportional representation vote using the D'Hondt method with a 5% threshold; an additional 8 members elected from a nationwide constituency by simple majority by voters belonging to minorities recognized by Croatia; the Serb minority elects 3 Assembly members, the Hungarian and Italian minorities elect 1 each, the Czech and Slovak minorities elect 1 jointly, and all other minorities elect 2; all members serve 4-year terms

Elections

An early election held on 5 July 2020 (next to be held by 2024)

Election Results

• Percent of vote by party/coalition - HDZ-led coalition 37.3%, Restart coalition 24.9%, DP-led coalition 10.9%, MOST 7.4%, Green-Left coalition 7%, P-F-SSIP 4%, HNS-LD 1.3%, NS-R 1%, other 6.2%
• seats by party/coalition - HDZ-led coalition 66, Restart coalition 41, DP-led coalition 16, MOST 8, Green-Left coalition 7, P-F-SSIP 3, HNS-LD 1, NS-R 1, national minorities 8;

Note

• as of January 2024 - HDZ 62, SDP 14, Social Democrats 11, MOST 7, DP 5, HS 4, We Can! 4, HSS 3, SDSS 3, Focus 2, HDS 2, HSLS 2, IDS 2, BLOK 1, Center 1, GLAS 1, HNS 1, HRB 1, NS-R 1, NL 1, OIP 1, PH 1, RF 1, SSIP 1, independent 19
• composition as of January 2021 - men 100, women 51, percent of women 33.8%

• Highest court(s): Supreme Court (consists of the court president and vice president, 25 civil department justices, and 16 cri
• minal department justices) Judge selection and term of office: The president of Supreme Court is nominated by the president of Croatia and elected by the Sabor for a 4-year term; other Supreme Court justices are appointed by the National Judicial Council;
• all judges serve until age 70 Subordinate courts: Administrative Court; county, municipal, and specialized courts; note - there is an 11-member Constitutional Court with jurisdiction limited to constitutional issues but is outside of the judicial system

20 counties (zupanije, zupanija - singular) and 1 city* (grad - singular) with special county status; Bjelovarsko-Bilogorska (Bjelovar-Bilogora), Brodsko-Posavska (Brod-Posavina), Dubrovacko-Neretvanska (Dubrovnik-Neretva), Istarska (Istria), Karlovacka (Karlovac), Koprivnicko-Krizevacka (Koprivnica-Krizevci), Krapinsko-Zagorska (Krapina-Zagorje), Licko-Senjska (Lika-Senj), Medimurska (Medimurje), Osjecko-Baranjska (Osijek-Baranja), Pozesko-Slavonska (Pozega-Slavonia), Primorsko-Goranska (Primorje-Gorski Kotar), Sibensko-Kninska (Sibenik-Knin), Sisacko-Moslavacka (Sisak-Moslavina), Splitsko-Dalmatinska (Split-Dalmatia), Varazdinska (Varazdin), Viroviticko-Podravska (Virovitica-Podravina), Vukovarsko-Srijemska (Vukovar-Syrmia), Zadarska (Zadar), Zagreb*, Zagrebacka (Zagreb county)

• Bloc for Croatia or BLOK or BZH [Zlatko HASANBEGOVIC]
• The Bridge or MOST [Bozo PETROV] (formerly the Bridge of Independent Lists)
• Center or Centar [Ivica PULJAK] (formerly Pametno and Party with a First and Last Name or SSIP)
• Civic Liberal Alliance or GLAS [Ankar Mrak TARITAS]
• Croatian Demochristian Party or HDS [Goran DODIG]
• Croatian Democratic Alliance of Slavonia and Baranja or HDSSB [Branimir GLAVAS]
• Croatian Democratic Union or HDZ [Andrej PLENKOVIC]
• Croatian Democratic Union-led coalition (includes HSLS, HDS, HDSSB)
• Croatian Party of Pensioners or HSU [Veselko GABRICEVIC]
• Croatian Peasant Party or HSS [Kreso BELJAK]
• Croatian People's Party - Liberal Democrats or HNS or HNS-LD [Mirko KOROTAJ, acting]
• Croatian Social Liberal Party or HSLS [Dario HREBAK]
• Croatian Sovereignists or HS [Marijan PAVLICEK]
• Determination and Justice Party or OIP [Karolina Vidović KRISTO]
• Focus on the Important or Focus [Davor NADI]
• Green-Left coalition [collective leadership] (includes MOZEMO!, NL)
• Homeland Movement or DP [Ivan PENAVA] (also known as Miroslav Škoro Homeland Movement or DPMS)
• Independent Democratic Serb Party or SDSS [Milorad PUPOVAC]
• Istrian Democratic Assembly or IDS [Dalibor PAUS]
• New Left or NL [Ivana KEKIN]
• People's Party - Reformists or NS-R [Radimir CACIC]
• Pulse of Croatia or HRB [Ante PRKACIN]
• Restart Coalition (includes SDP, HSS, HSU, GLAS, IDS, NS-R)
• Righteous Croatia or PH [Milan VRKLJAN]
• Social Democratic Party of Croatia or SDP [Peda GRBIN]
• Social Democrats or SD [Davorko VIDOVIC]
• We Can! or Mozemo! [collective leadership]
• Workers' Front or RF [collective leadership]

• No Citizenship by descent only: At least one pa
• Yes Residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years

AIIB, Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CD, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EMU, EU, FAO, G-11, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MINURSO, NAM (observer), NATO, NSG, OAS (observer), OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, SELEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMIL, UNMOGIP, UNWTO, UPU, Wassenaar Arrangement, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Chief of Mission

Ambassador Nathalie RAYES (since 25 January 2024) Embassy: Ulica Thomasa Jeffersona 2, 10010 Zagreb Mailing address: 5080 Zagreb Place, Washington DC 20521-5080

Telephone

[385] (1) 661-2200

FAX

[385] (1) 665-8933

Email address and website

• ZagrebACS@state.gov
• https://hr.usembassy.gov/

Chief of Mission

Ambassador Pjer SIMUNOVIC (since 8 September 2017)

Chancery

2343 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

Telephone

[1] (202) 588-5899

FAX

[1] (202) 588-8937

Email address and website

• washington@mvep.hr
• https://mvep.gov.hr/embassy-114969/114969

Consulate(s) General

Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle (WA), Washington, DC Consulate(s): Anchorage (AL), Houston, Kansas City (MO), New Orleans, Pittsburgh (PA)