Differences in Diplomatic and Media Rhetoric Regarding Croatia's Conditions for Serbian EU Accession Negotiations

Abstract

The process of stronger connecting of countries belonging to the Old Continent in the form of the European Union is moving towards the East, which made Serbia start its negotiation process for a full EU membership. The Croatian view on this process is specific and largely based on negative past experience of living together in one country, which ended up in the Homeland War (internationally called Yugoslav war), whose memories are still fresh. Therefore, this process is of great importance for the Croatian politics. Serbian political elites and media advocate for fast accession to the EU, whereas a significant number of Croatian politicians show not only caution and distrust, but to some extent even the fear of this integration. To become a full member state, Serbia must undoubtedly fulfil strong accession criteria. From the beginning of the negotiation process, Croatia started with a rather harsh political rhetoric of setting different conditions and using its recently established right of being an EU member state to force Serbia to compromises in solving still open legal disputes.
The main goal of this paper is to demonstrate by using adequate methods and modern metrics how differences in statements given by various diplomatic-political circles in comparison to specific media announcements may with their varieties and various interpretations generate instability in both countries.
The purpose of this paper is the research and analysis of diplomatic statements and media announcements on this matter in order to gain a better understanding of bilateral relations between two countries and of perception by its citizens - Croatia as the full member state and Serbia as the candidate country.
Results of this research imply the presence of a conflict situation in the negotiation process and a negative turn in geopolitical perception which is of a decreasing probability to solve open issues in bilateral negotiation. The Governments of both countries must raise their efforts in communication to reach valid decisions based on more rational assessment and subsequently inform their public on the discussions in an adequate and correct manner.