Abstract:

The article analyses impact of national politics on vote for EU accession in 2012 referendum in Croatia. Croatian EU accession process was characterized by political conditionality related to legacy of the war and the relations with neighbours, Croatian political elites’ absence of vision about the role of Croatia in the EU and future direction of the EU, perception that economic crisis is caused by domestic factors, and pro-EU position of political elites and the media. Combined with low articulation of economic interests in Croatian politics, this created conditions where attitudes towards national political actors and institutions primarily shape citizens’ views of the EU. The article tests this hypothesis using survey data collected immediately before the Croatian accession referendum. Multinomial logistic regression shows that trust in political institutions and political efficacy have the strongest impact on support for EU accession. The analysis also shows that socioeconomic factors and economic evaluations do not have significant impact on views about EU accession.

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