In the parliamentary elections on December 4, 2011, the center-left alliance »Kukuriku« (SDP, HNS, HSU; IDS) won an absolute majority of the seats; On December 23, 2011, the parliament elected Z. Milanović (SDP) as the new Prime Minister. In a referendum on January 22nd, 2012, a majority of 66.3% of those who voted was in favor of the country joining the EU. After the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague, the Croatian ex-generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markač, who were convicted of war criminals(* 1955) acquitted on appeal on November 16, 2012, there were jubilation rallies in Croatia. On April 14, 2013 the elections for Croatian members of the European Parliament took place. The turnout was only 20.8%. On July 1, 2013, Croatia was admitted to the EU. According to globalsciencellc, Croatia initially refused to swiftly and completely adopt the EU agreements on the European arrest warrant. The EU responded by threatening financial sanctions. Croatia then implemented the agreements on January 1, 2014. In a referendum initiated by the Catholic Church and the HDZ on December 1, 2013, 65.9% of the voters voted for the constitutional anchoring of a definition of marriage as a cohabitation between man and woman. With the referendum, the conservative political forces wanted to prevent the introduction of same-sex marriage. The country’s economic situation remained tense. On January 28, 2014, the EU opened an excessive deficit procedure against Croatia and called for concrete measures to reduce the budget deficit and the debt ratio. In April 2014, the Commission suspended the proceedings again. In the elections to the European Parliament on May 25, 2014, the HDZ won with 41.4% of the vote. In the runoff election for the office of President on January 11, 2015, the HDZ candidate, the former Foreign Minister to reduce the budget deficit and the debt ratio. In April 2014, the Commission suspended the proceedings again. In the elections to the European Parliament on May 25, 2014, the HDZ won with 41.4% of the vote. In the runoff election for the office of President on January 11, 2015, the HDZ candidate, the former Foreign Minister to reduce the budget deficit and the debt ratio. In April 2014, the Commission suspended the proceedings again. In the elections to the European Parliament on May 25, 2014, the HDZ won with 41.4% of the vote. In the runoff election for the office of President on January 11, 2015, the HDZ candidate, the former Foreign Minister K. Grabar-Kitarović enforceagainst incumbent I. Josipović. K. Grabar-Kitarović won 50.7%, I. Josipović 49.3% of the vote. On February 15, 2015, K. Grabar-Kitarović was sworn in as the new President.
The dominant topic of the domestic political debates in the run-up to the parliamentary elections – in addition to the persistently high unemployment – became the refugee crisis in Europe from September 2015. After Hungary sealed off the border with Serbia on September 15, 2015, the refugees sought their way from Serbia via Croatia and Slovenia to Austria and Germany. Temporary border closings led to foreign policy tensions with Serbia. On October 25, 2015, Croatia took part in a crisis summit of eleven European countries in Brussels in order to find solutions to the refugee problem on the so-called Western Balkans route. By mid-November 2015, over 360,000 refugees had been smuggled through Croatia. From November 19, 2015, the authorities of Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia only let refugees from Syria,
From the elections on November 8, 2015, the national conservative party alliance “Patriotic Coalition” led by the HDZ emerged as the strongest force with 59 parliamentary seats. The left-wing alliance »Croatia is growing« around the SDP had 56 seats. 19 seats were held by the MOST group, which appeared for the first time. had positioned itself against the political establishment with an economically liberal reform program. After difficult negotiations, the national conservative camp around the previous opposition party HDZ and MOST agreed on a coalition led by the non-party manager T. Orešković, who was then led by President K. Grabar-Kitarović on December 23, 2015was commissioned to form a government. The new center-right cabinet was confirmed by Parliament on January 22nd, 2016. In connection with allegations of corruption against the wife of HDZ chairman Tomislav Karamarko (* 1959) which led to his resignation from the post of deputy head of government and from the HDZ chairmanship, the coalition broke in June 2016. On June 16, 2016, the parliament withdrew its confidence in the Orešković government, and on June 20, 2016, with a majority of 137 members, it resolved to dissolve parliament in order to allow early elections. This took place on September 11, 2016 and, contrary to the election forecasts, led to a victory for the HDZ list, which won 61 seats. The SDP alliance had 54 seats, MOST remained the third largest force with 13 seats. The new HDZ chairman A. Plenković agreed with MOST on a coalition under his leadership. The Plenković government was ratified by parliament on October 19, 2016. In the second HDZ / MOST coalition, too, considerable tensions quickly arose, which ultimately led to the failure of the government alliance. In connection with a serious financial crisis at the major food company Agrokor, the opposition had tabled a motion of no confidence in Finance Minister Zdravko Marić (* 1977), who had previously worked in a leading position in the company. Since MOST Marić refused to support, Prime Minister A. Plenković dismissed iton April 27, 2017 three MOST ministers. This meant that it was no longer possible to continue the coalition. HDZ’s successes in the local elections in May / June 2017 supported Plenković in the effort to form a new government. He finally agreed on a coalition with the liberal HNS, which won nine seats in the September 2016 elections. The new government alliance was confirmed on June 9, 2017 with a slim majority of 78 of the 151 MPs. Four members of the HNS parliamentary group had refused to support. In the long-standing border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia, the arbitration tribunal in The Hague issued a judgment on June 29, 2017, by which, among other things, the largest part of the Bay of Piran Slovenia was awarded. In addition, the arbitration ruling obliged Croatia to grant Slovenia a corridor into international waters. Croatia, which withdrew from the proceedings in 2015 because of Slovenian rule violations, did not accept the judgment.
