Croatia–Italy relations
Template:Short descriptionScript error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". The foreign relations between Croatia and Italy are commenced in 1992, following the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the independence of Croatia. Relations are warm and friendly with robust bilateral collaboration.[1][2] The two nations have strong connectivity through tourism, immigration, foreign aid, and economic mutualism.
Italian is an official language in Croatia's Istria County (Istrian Italians), while Molise Croats inhabit the Italian city of Campobasso. The close multiculturalism between Croatia and Italy is broadly popular and favored domestically. Croatia and Italy are close military allies, especially through their naval and coastal forces, with membership in NATO. They share a 370 nautical-mile maritime border over the Adriatic Sea, with a small 12 mile region of Slovenia separating them by land.
Both countries are members of the European Union and Council of Europe, sharing the same official currency, the euro (€). Croatia has an embassy in Rome and general consulates in Milan and Trieste while Italy maintains an embassy in Zagreb and a general consulate in Rijeka, among other cultural organizations.
History
The foreign relations between Croatia and Italy are commenced in 1992, following the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the independence of Croatia. Italy was a key partner to Croatia following its statehood, providing critical political and economic support during the 2000s.[3] In 2007, Italy's president Giorgio Napolitano strained diplomatic relations by referring to the Yugoslav communist Partisans’ expulsions of Italians during the end of World War II, as the "barbarism of the century" and being a result of “Slav bloodthirsty hatred and rage”. This led to Croatia and Slovenia condemning the comment.[4] Croatian president Stjepan Mesić accused Napoletano of historical revisionism but the nations' diplomats quickly resolved the matter in Rome.[4]
Italy supported Croatia's admission to the European Union in 2013. A diplomatic row emerged between the two states in 2019, after Antonio Tajani, the President of the European Parliament, commented "Long live Trieste, long live Italian Istria, long live Italian Dalmatia, long live Italian exiles".[5] Tajani later apologized to the Croatian government clarifying his comments were not intended to imply that the Istrian and Dalmatian regions of Croatia were a part of Italy.[6] In 2023, after a decade of strong economic activity, Italy became Croatia's most important trading partner with a 45% increase since 2021, according to Tajani.[2] That year, the two nations signed a tri-party agreement with Slovenia to ease immigration in Southeast Europe.[7] Italy helped return a rare and "extremely valuable" 14th-century religious cross to Croatia, after a private citizen inadvertently bought it during an auction in London.[8]
Diaspora
There are around 19,500 people of Italian descent living in Croatia. There are also around 6,000 Molise Croats in Italy. In addition, there are around 21,000 registered immigrant Croatian workers in Italy.[9] Italian is an officially-recognized language in Croatia, with the majority of its speakers living in Istria County. Dalmatian Italians historically constituted a significant population of Dalmatia. Italian is a popular foreign language in Croatia, with 14% of Croatians able to speak it well enough to have a conversation, according to Eurobarometer.[10]
Military cooperation
Croatia and Italy are close military allies, especially through their naval and coastal forces. Both are members of NATO, effectively establishing a defense pact between the two countries through Article 5. The Italian Air Force temporarily protected Croatian airspace in 2024 while the Croatian Air Force completed aircraft maintenance and completed a procurement of 12 new fighter jets from France.[11]
Trade
The two countries share multiple bilateral free-trade agreements. Croatia exports around 14% of their total annual export to Italy.[12] Trade between the two states totaled €8.64 billion in 2023, reaching an all-time high.[2]
Fishing
Croatia and Italy both maintain exclusive economic zones over the Adriatic Sea. Italy disputed the reach of Croatia's zone around the Italian part of the Adriatic in January 2008 claiming it violated an earlier agreement they made over "Ecological and Fisheries Protection Zones".[13] The two states mutually settled the dispute later that year.[13] This zone is supervised by the Croatian Navy, which intercepted two Italian ships in 2008 and 2021, seizing their illegal fish, and escorting them back to Italian waters.[14][15]
Diplomatic missions
Croatia has an embassy in Rome, general consulates in Milan and Trieste, and consulates in Bari, Florence, Naples, and Padua.[16] Italy has an embassy in Zagreb, general consulate in Rijeka, Vice Consulate in Buje, Pula and Split, as well as Italian Cultural Institute and Foreign Trade Institute in Zagreb.[17]
Sister cities
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Croatia and Italy share a large number of sister cities between themselves.[18][19] Many of these cities have Croatian and Italian-language versions of their name due to historic cultural diffusion.
- Template:Flagicon Biograd and Template:Flagicon Porto San Giorgio
- Template:Flagicon Bjelovar and Template:Flagicon Ascoli Piceno / Template:Flagicon Rubiera
- Template:Flagicon Crikvenica and Template:Flagicon Verbania
- Template:Flagicon Dubrovnik and Template:Flagicon Venezia / Template:Flagicon Ragusa / Template:Flagicon Ravenna
- Template:Flagicon Karlovac and Template:Flagicon Alessandria
- Template:Flagicon Križevci and Template:Flagicon Reana del Rojale
- Template:Flagicon Labin and Template:Flagicon Carbonia / Template:Flagicon Manzano / Template:Flagicon Sospirolo
- Template:Flagicon Lipik and Template:Flagicon Abano Terme
- Template:Flagicon Matulji and Template:Flagicon Castel San Pietro Terme
- Template:Flagicon Medulin and Template:Flagicon Montecarotto / Template:Flagicon Porto Tolle
- Template:Flagicon Novigrad and Template:Flagicon Sacile
- Template:Flagicon Omiš and Template:Flagicon San Felice del Molise
- Template:Flagicon Opatija and Template:Flagicon Carmagnola / Template:Flagicon Castel San Pietro Terme
- Template:Flagicon Osijek and Template:Flagicon Vicenza
- Template:Flagicon Pag and Template:Flagicon Carbonera / Template:Flagicon Zanè
- Template:Flagicon Poreč and Template:Flagicon Massa Lombarda / Template:Flagicon Monselice / Template:Flagicon Segrate
- Template:Flagicon Pula and Template:Flagicon Imola / Template:Flagicon Verona
- Template:Flagicon Rijeka and Template:Flagicon Este / Template:Flagicon Faenza / Template:Flagicon Genoa / Template:Flagicon Trieste
- Template:Flagicon Samobor and Template:Flagicon Parabiago
- Template:Flagicon Šibenik and Template:Flagicon Civitanova Marche / Template:Flagicon Muggia / Template:Flagicon San Benedetto del Tronto
- Template:Flagicon Slunj and Template:Flagicon Castel San Giovanni
- Template:Flagicon Split and Template:Flagicon Ancona
- Template:Flagicon Tisno and Template:Flagicon Bucine
- Template:Flagicon Trogir and Template:Flagicon Montesilvano / Template:Flagicon Porto Sant'Elpidio / Template:Flagicon Tione di Trento
- Template:Flagicon Varaždin and Template:Flagicon Montale
- Template:Flagicon Vinkovci and Template:Flagicon Camponogara
- Template:Flagicon Zadar and Template:Flagicon Ancona / Template:Flagicon Padua / Template:Flagicon Reggio Emilia
- Template:Flagicon Zagreb and Template:Flagicon Bologna / Template:Flagicon Molise
See also
- Foreign relations of Croatia
- Foreign relations of Italy
- Italian language in Croatia
- Croats of Italy
- Italians of Croatia
- Italy–Yugoslavia relations
References
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- ↑ Croatia seizes Italian boat days after fishery zone comes into force
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External links
- Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration: list of bilateral treaties with Italy
- Croatian embassy in Rome (in Croatian and Italian only) Template:Webarchive
- Italian embassy in Zagreb
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