Uncertain start” “

Will negotiations on the entry of the Republic of Croatia into the European Union begin on 17 March 2005? That is the question that is hanging like a sword of Damocles over Croatian society at the present time. Never before, it would seem, has there been a case of a candidate country having so uncertain a start in its EU entry negotiations, even if in April last year the European Commission communicated its positive response to the application presented by the Croatian government for full membership of the Union. But on one condition: that the Croatian government do everything in its power to ensure that the general of the Croatian armed forces Ante Gotovina, accused of war crimes committed during the Balkan conflict in 1995, be traced, apprehended and handed over to the International Penal Tribunal in The Hague. That has not yet happened: the “Gotovina case” reveals the complexity of the process of Croatia’s overtures to the Union, and underlines the fact that the main obstacle to her membership application is neither economic, nor constitutional, nor cultural, but political in nature. Yet all the country’s parliamentary political forces, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, declare themselves favourable to entry into the EU. The Croatian Catholic Church supports and is following with close attention Croatia’s bid to join the EU, even if she does not conceal the threats and dangers. The Episcopal Conference headed by the archbishop of Zagreb, Cardinal Josip Bozanic, is on the side of all those who see Croatia as an integral part of the EU: with all its history, and its cultural and religious heritage, Croatia belongs to the European family from which it was separated by the Communist regime. This concept was reaffirmed on several occasions by the Croatian Episcopal Conference in 2003 and by Cardinal Bozanic himself, who is also vice-president of the Council of the European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE), in the following year. What is still lacking is any systematic attempt by the Church to raise the awareness of believers in the questions that concern the EU. The lack of any reference to the Christian roots in the preamble of the European Constitution, for example, was of little interest to the 80% of the population who declare themselves Catholic. The right ways and methods need to be found for a presence in society to prevent the Church from losing any contact with the world of culture, art, the media and science. It should not be forgotten, however, that the existing cultural and intellectual “classes” were formed during Communism and rapidly transformed into a secular “class” that ignores, or tries to present in a negative way, everything to do with Christianity and the Church. They create opinions and assert that religion should remain a “private matter”. They don’t understand the way in which the relation between State and Church has been developed in the various European countries, nor do they even admit that Christianity has contributed and still contributes to the development of democracy and society.