Croats wary of EU's Balkan free trade proposal
A European Union proposal to form a free-trade zone in the Balkans is opposed by most Croats, wary of associations reminiscent of Yugoslavia from which it seceded in bloodshed in 1991, according to a poll published today. The survey in the newspaper Vecernji List showed about 56 per cent were not in favour of the idea, believing Croatia should instead insist on broadening the Central European Free Trade Association (CEFTA) to include the Balkans. Also, 45 per cent of the 500 people surveyed by the newspaper said the new trade zone was nothing short of an attempt at re-creating Yugoslavia. Only 14.4 percent of Croats supported the idea of forming a Balkan free-trade zone, as presented by European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn in Brussels last week. Rehn said this would help the countries of the so-called Western Balkans Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro, Albania and Macedonia -- better prepare for joining the bloc.
Croatia opened EU membership talks last October, the only one among them to have done so. It is also the most advanced economically and its companies started expanding in the region.
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