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83-860: Democratic Union may refer to: Croatian Democratic Union Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mongolian Democratic Union Democratic Union of Alto Adige Democratic Union (Bosnia and Herzegovina) Democratic Union (Czech Republic) Democratic Union (Germany) Democratic Union (Greece) Democratic Union (Guatemala) Democratic Union (Israel) Democratic Union (Italy) Democratic Union (Morocco) Democratic Union (North Macedonia) Democratic Union (Poland) Democratic Union (Russia) Democratic Union (Slovakia) Democratic Union (Ukraine) See also [ edit ] People's Democratic Union (disambiguation) Democratic Alliance (disambiguation) Democratic Party (disambiguation) Topics referred to by

166-705: A World War II Chetnik leader. Years later, Croatian Serb leader Milan Babić testified that Momčilo Đujić had financially supported the Serbs in Croatia in the 1990s. Conversely, Franjo Tuđman made international visits during the late 1980s to garner support from the Croatian diaspora for the Croatian national cause. In mid-1989, political parties other than the Communist Party were first allowed, starting

249-639: A fear of a civil war in Yugoslavia. By mid-1991, the Croatian War of Independence had already started. Serb-controlled areas of Croatia were part of the three "Serb Autonomous Oblasts" later known as the Republic of Serbian Krajina , bulk of which would not be under Croatian control until 1995, and the remaining parts in 1998. Croatia was first recognized as an independent state on 26 June 1991 by Slovenia , which declared its own independence on

332-473: A guard on St. Mark's Square to prevent civilians from entering. From 26 October 2011 USKOK expanded its investigation about "Slush Funds" on the HDZ as a legal entity. Previously, the investigation had included only Ivo Sanader , treasurers Milan Barišić and Branka Pavošević , general secretaries Branko Vukelić and Ivan Jarnjak and spokesman Ratko Maček . Party president Jadranka Kosor stated that this

415-423: A key part of Sanader's reformist course, opposition to his leadership within and outside the HDZ was on the rise. This opposition manifested itself at the 2005 local elections and the defection of Glavaš, who not only successfully challenged Sanader's authority but also managed to nominally deprive Sanader of his parliamentary majority. Despite this defeat, the first Sanader-led government was able to survive until

498-569: A major backlash among the Croatian public. As the opposition party, the HDZ supported this popular discontent and actively resisted the transfers of generals to the ICTY. This gradually changed as the HDZ and its new leader Ivo Sanader began to distance themselves from the more extreme rhetoric, becoming perceived as moderates. This tendency continued when the HSLS shifted rightwards, making Sanader's HDZ and HSLS appear as like-oriented parties. This process

581-566: A purge of Serbs employed in public administration, especially the police. The Serbs of Croatia held a disproportionate number of official posts: in 1984, 22.6% of the members of the League of Communists of Croatia and 17.7% of appointed officials in Croatia were Serbs, including 28-31% in the Ministry of the Interior (the police). Whereas, in 1981, they represented 11.5% and in 1991, 12.2% of

664-434: A replacement for Stipe Mesić who had held the position for ten years. But Hebrang finished third, failing to reach the second stage in which SDP candidate Ivo Josipović overwhelmingly defeated former SDP member Milan Bandić . However, many Croatian people were dissatisfied with the government and protested on the streets against the HDZ government, demanding that new elections be held as soon as possible. The police placed

747-518: A single country. Prominent members of the SDS were Milan Babić and Milan Martić , both of whom later became high-ranking RSK officials. During his later trial, Babić would testify that there was a media campaign directed from Belgrade that portrayed the Serbs in Croatia as being threatened with genocide by the Croat majority and that he fell prey to this propaganda. On 4 March 1990, a meeting of 50,000 Serbs

830-738: A smaller state, which could include the territory captured from Croatia during the war. This plan was rejected by the UN General Assembly . Three more countries decided to recognize Croatia before the EEC-scheduled date of January 15: Estonia , the Holy See , and San Marino . The European Economic Community finally granted Croatia diplomatic recognition on 15 January 1992, and the United Nations did so in May 1992. In

913-639: A transition from the one-party system . A number of new parties were founded in Croatia, including the Croatian Democratic Union ( Croatian : Hrvatska demokratska zajednica ) (HDZ), led by Franjo Tuđman. In January 1990, the Communist Party fragmented along national lines, with the Croatian faction demanding a looser federation. At the 14th Extraordinary Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia , on 20 January 1990,

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996-546: A unified Yugoslav state—one in which all power would be centralized in Belgrade . In March 1989, the crisis in Yugoslavia deepened after the adoption of amendments to the Serbian constitution that allowed the Serbian republic's government to re-assert effective power over the autonomous provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina. Up until that time, a number of political decisions were legislated from within these provinces, and they had

1079-585: A vote on the Yugoslav federal presidency level (six members from the republics and two members from the autonomous provinces). In the Gazimestan speech , delivered on June 28, 1989, Milošević remarked on the current "battles and quarrels", saying that even though there were currently no armed battles, the possibility could not be excluded yet. The general political situation grew more tense when in 1989 Vojislav Šešelj publicly consorted with Momčilo Đujić ,

1162-709: Is a member of the Centrist Democrat International , International Democracy Union , and the European People's Party , and sits in the European People's Party Group in the European Parliament . HDZ is the first political party in Croatia to be convicted of corruption . The HDZ was founded on 17 June 1989 by Croatian dissidents led by Franjo Tuđman . It was officially registered on 25 January 1990. The HDZ held its first convention on 24–25 February 1990, when Franjo Tuđman

1245-461: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Croatian Democratic Union Recent referendums The Croatian Democratic Union ( Croatian : Hrvatska demokratska zajednica , lit.   ' Croatian Democratic Community ' , HDZ ) is a major conservative , centre-right political party in Croatia . Since 2016 , it has been

1328-402: Is outdated" and that it "does not correspond with the interest of Serb people". The party program endorsed redrawing regional and municipal lines to reflect the ethnic composition of the areas, and asserted the right of territories with a "special ethnic composition" to become autonomous. This echoed Milošević position that internal Yugoslav borders should be redrawn to permit all Serbs to live in

1411-532: The 2016 parliamentary election , in which he campaigned on a pro-European and moderate agenda. Plenković was appointed prime minister in October. In terms of ideology, the HDZ statute, as well as its President Andrej Plenković and Secretary Gordan Jandroković , define the political position of the party as centre-right. However, there have significant shifts in HDZ's ideological and political positions, and there are both moderate and right-wing factions within

1494-615: The Croatian Party of Pensioners . With such a broad and diverse mandate, the Sanader-led government vigorously pursued policies that amounted to the implementation of the basic criteria for joining the European Union , such as the return of refugees to their homes, rebuilding houses damaged in the war, improving minority rights, cooperating with the ICTY, and continuing to consolidate the Croatian economy. Despite this,

1577-527: The Erdut Agreement of November 1995, with the process concluded in January 1998. Since 2002, 8 October is celebrated as Croatia's Independence Day , while 25 June is recognized as Statehood Day . Previously, May 30, marking the day when the first democratic parliament was constituted in 1990, had been commemorated as Statehood Day. Although it is not a public holiday, 15 January is marked as

1660-628: The European People's Party (EPP). On 11 March 2014, the HDZ and Ivo Sanader were found guilty of corruption. Following the collapse of the Tihomir Orešković government in June 2016, Tomislav Karamarko resigned as HDZ leader. The party elected former diplomat and member of the European Parliament Andrej Plenković as the new president, who won on a policy platform "devoid of extremes and populism". Plenković won

1743-926: The President of Croatia replaced the President of the Presidency, in addition to other changes. The changes in the July 1990 Croatian Constitution did not relate to the status of the Serbs, which remained identical to the one granted by the 1974 Croatian Constitution (based on the 1974 Yugoslav Constitution ). Nationalist Serbs in Croatia boycotted the Sabor and seized control of Serb-inhabited territory, setting up road blocks and voting for those areas to become autonomous . The Serb "autonomous oblasts" would soon become increasingly intent on achieving independence from Croatia. After HDZ came to power, they conducted

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1826-533: The ultranationalist , fascist Ustaše , backed by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy within the territory of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia . From 1945 it became a Socialist federal unit of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia , a one-party state run by the League of Communists of Croatia created at the end of World War II in Yugoslavia . Croatia enjoyed a degree of autonomy within

1909-524: The 1986 Serbian SANU Memorandum and the 1989 coups in Vojvodina, Kosovo and Montenegro . As Slovenia and Croatia began to seek greater autonomy within the federation, including confederate status and even full independence, the nationalist ideas started to grow within the ranks of the still-ruling League of Communists. As Slobodan Milošević rose to power in Serbia, his speeches favored continuation of

1992-559: The Badinter Commission rendered a series of ten opinions. The Commission stated, among other things, that Yugoslavia was in the process of dissolution, and that the internal boundaries of Yugoslav republics could not be altered unless freely agreed upon. Factors in the preservation of Croatia's pre-war borders were the Yugoslav federal constitutional amendments of 1971 and 1974, granting that sovereign rights were exercised by

2075-595: The EU's Council of Ministers postponed Croatia's membership negotiations with the union on the grounds of its non-cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia over the case of indicted general Ante Gotovina . This setback brought an increase in Eurosceptic views among the Croatian public, which also affected support for the HDZ. Since accession to the EU was

2158-490: The European Union was soft Eurosceptic : there was no explicit opposition to the accession of Croatia to the EU , but the HDZ opposed some EU policies. Following the election of Ivo Sanader as the party president in 2000, the HDZ adopted a moderate centre-right position. Under Sanader, the party strongly pursued a pro-European policy, which continued under the leadership of Jadranka Kosor. Many observers considered

2241-494: The HDZ in those events is matter of controversy, even in Croatia, where some tend to view HDZ policy in the early stages of the conflict as extremist and a contributing factor in the escalation of violence while others (such as Marko Veselica 's Croatian Democratic Party ) see the HDZ as having appeased Serbia and the Yugoslav People's Army , therefore being responsible for Croatia's unpreparedness for defense. However,

2324-498: The HDZ won both the 1992 and 1995 parliamentary elections. As it strongly advocated Croatian independence, the HDZ was quite unpopular with the Serb minority and others who preferred to see Croatia remain inside the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia . This was one of the factors contributing to the creation of the Republic of Serbian Krajina and the subsequent armed conflict in neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina . The role of

2407-427: The HDZ, this process proved a useful distraction from dealing with the baggage of post-World War II communist nationalizations. It was the HDZ in 1992 which enacted into law the right of corporations (the vast majority of which were under state ownership) the right to finally formally register themselves as the owners of nationalized property, thus completing their version of a process of quasi-nationalization started by

2490-757: The Parliament, and the only parliamentary deputies missing were some from the Serb parties that had been absent since early 1991. Germany advocated quick recognition of Croatia, in order to stop ongoing violence in Serb-inhabited areas, with Helmut Kohl requesting recognition in the Bundestag on 4 September. Kohl's position was opposed by France, the United Kingdom , and the Netherlands, but

2573-598: The Yugoslav federation. At the turn of the 1970s, a Croatian national protest movement called the Croatian Spring was suppressed by Yugoslav leadership. Still, the 1974 Yugoslav Constitution gave increased autonomy to federal units, essentially fulfilling a goal of the Croatian Spring and providing a legal basis for independence of the federative constituents. In the 1980s, the political situation in Yugoslavia deteriorated, with national tension fanned by

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2656-685: The basis of its request and a positive opinion of the Badinter Arbitration Commission. In its Opinion No. 5 on the specific matter of Croatian independence, the Commission ruled that Croatia's independence should not yet be recognized, because the new Croatian Constitution did not incorporate protections for minorities required by European Community. In response to this decision, the President of Croatia Franjo Tuđman wrote to Robert Badinter, giving assurances that this deficit would be remedied. Ukraine and Latvia were

2739-562: The coalition lists. The "Total seats" column includes sums of seats won by HDZ in election constituencies plus representatives of ethnic minorities affiliated with HDZ. The following is a list of presidential candidates endorsed by HDZ in elections for President of Croatia . The chart below shows a timeline of the Croatian Democratic Union presidents and the Prime Ministers of Croatia . The left bar shows all

2822-688: The communist regime after WWII, in different targeted areas for their gain. Property returned included possessions nationalized from the Catholic Church or widely known individuals such as Gavrilović, the owner of a major meat-producing factory in Petrinja, south of Zagreb. The 2000 parliamentary elections were held 3 January, weeks after Tuđman's death. The HDZ was defeated by a centre-left coalition of six opposition parties, led by Ivica Račan 's Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Dražen Budiša 's Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS). The election

2905-519: The countries agreed to pursue a common approach by following Germany's unilateral action. On 10 October, two days after the Croatian Parliament confirmed the declaration of independence, the EEC decided to postpone any decision to recognize Croatia for two months. German foreign minister Hans Dietrich Genscher later wrote that the EEC decided to recognize Croatian independence in two months if

2988-579: The delegations of the republics could not agree on the main issues in the Yugoslav federation. The Croatian and Slovenian delegations demanded a looser federation, while the Serbian delegation, headed by Milošević, opposed this. As a result, the Slovenian and Croatian delegates left the Congress. Having completed the anti-bureaucratic revolution in Vojvodina, Kosovo, and Montenegro, Serbia secured four out of eight federal presidency votes in 1991, and it

3071-671: The dissolution of its association with Yugoslavia , it introduced a three-month moratorium on the decision when urged to do so by the European Community and the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe . During that time the Croatian War of Independence started. On 8 October 1991, the Croatian Parliament severed all remaining ties with Yugoslavia. The Badinter Arbitration Committee had to rule on

3154-493: The end of the legislature. The subsequent parliamentary election in late November 2007 saw the HDZ hard-pressed both by the SDP -led leftist coalition and by the extreme right-wing Croatian Party of Rights and Croatian Democratic Assembly of Slavonia and Baranja . During the electoral campaign, a vigorous and sometimes ruthless reaction from the party and Sanader himself, together with some capital errors from SDP, convinced part of

3237-424: The eve of the 1990 parliamentary elections , the ruling League of Communists of Croatia saw such tendencies within the HDZ as an opportunity to remain in power. At the beginning of democracy the communists called HDZ "the party of dangerous intentions". The HDZ won a majority in the Croatian Parliament, and Croatia (then part of Yugoslavia ) became one of the few socialist countries where Communist single party rule

3320-464: The far-right electorate to support the HDZ to prevent what they perceived as the heirs of the former communist party to return to power. The party won a majority of both seats and votes in the election, and the first session of the newly elected parliament was called for 11 January 2008. However, the SDP repeatedly refused to acknowledge defeat, claiming that they had the most votes if the diaspora ballot

3403-621: The federal units, and that the federation had only the authority specifically transferred to it by the constitution. The borders had been defined by demarcation commissions in 1947. Ultimately, France and the UK backed down during the Security Council debate on the matter on 14 December, when Germany appeared determined to defy the UN resolution. On 17 December, the EEC formally agreed to grant Croatia diplomatic recognition on 15 January 1992, on

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3486-515: The first to react by recognizing Croatian independence in the second week of December. The following week, Iceland and Germany recognized it, on 19 December 1991, as the first western European countries to do so. In response to the decisions of the Badinter Commission, the RSK formally declared its separation from Croatia on 19 December, but its statehood and independence were not recognized internationally. On 26 December, Yugoslavia announced plans for

3569-574: The former Constitution of SR Croatia, which had also treated solely Croats as a constitutive nation, saying Croatia was "national state" for Croats, "state" for Serbs and other minorities. On 21 February 1991, Croatia declared its Constitution and laws supreme to that of the SFRY, and the Parliament enacted a formal resolution on the process of disassociation ( Croatian : razdruženje ) from SFR Yugoslavia and possible new association with other sovereign republics. Over two hundred armed incidents involving

3652-482: The initial HDZ rule were tried and convicted for abuses, though in general the privatization process implemented by the HDZ remained unaltered. This period proved to be a low point for the HDZ; many thought the party could not recover. These people included Mate Granić, who, together with Vesna Škare-Ožbolt , left to form the centre-right Democratic Centre (DC). When the International Criminal Tribunal (ICTY) began to prosecute Croatian Army commanders, this provoked

3735-547: The leaders of the Ustaše -led Independent State of Croatia . Its discourse had a strong emotional appeal, evoking "fears, desires, material and symbolic benefits" to win over those who sought Croatian sovereignty over communism and drawing upon Croatian nationalist traditions. It did not recognize the plurality of identities when addressing its citizens, viewing them as "Catholic Croats" with anti-Serbian sentiments regularly appearing during its assemblies. The HDZ's position regarding

3818-454: The leadership of Tomislav Karamarko from 2012 to 2016 as a return of nationalism in the party. After Andrej Plenković, viewed as a moderate, came to power in 2016, the party moved back to a centre-right position. The HDZ has been described as Christian-democratic and pro-European. The HDZ is responsible for implementing the "femicide" law, which criminalizes the killing of women, usually by men, because of their gender. This makes Croatia

3901-409: The local elections held in May 2009, the HDZ, against all expectations, managed to grow again, coming ahead of the SDP. However, HDZ support did weaken in the larger cities. On 1 July 2009, Ivo Sanader abruptly announced his resignation from politics and appointed Jadranka Kosor as his successor. She was confirmed as the new leader of the party on 3 July and was appointed by president Stipe Mesić as

3984-697: The matter. Finally, Croatian independence was internationally recognized in January 1992, when both the European Economic Community and the United Nations granted Croatia diplomatic recognition , and the country was accepted into the United Nations shortly thereafter. During the World War II period from 1941 to 1945, Croatia was established as a puppet state called the Independent State of Croatia , governed by

4067-575: The moratorium expired, and the Croatian Parliament severed all remaining ties with Yugoslavia. That particular session of the parliament was held in the INA building on Pavao Šubić Avenue in Zagreb due to security concerns provoked by recent Yugoslav air raid ; Specifically, it was feared that the Yugoslav Air Force might attack the parliament building. This decision was reached unanimously in

4150-413: The new Croatian Parliament held its first session. President Tuđman announced his manifesto for a new Constitution and a multitude of political, economic, and social changes, including a plan for Yugoslavia as a confederation of sovereign states. On 25 July 1990, Croatia made constitutional amendments that asserted and effected its sovereignty – the "Socialist" prefix was dropped from the country's name,

4233-470: The party convention. Pašalić then left the HDZ to form the Croatian Bloc party. At the 2003 Croatian parliamentary election , the party won 33.9% of the popular vote and 66 out of 152 seats. Although it failed to win a clear majority in the Croatian Parliament , even with the help of the allied DC and HSLS, it formed a government with the nominally left-wing Independent Democratic Serb Party and

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4316-542: The party with different interpretations of its basic positions. The HDZ leaders during the 1990s described their party as centrist and Christian-democratic , although in practice they pursued ultranationalistic policies. However, the party was at the time mostly characterized as further to the right than in recent years. At its beginning, the HDZ was an ethnically exclusive party that emphasized Croatian identity. Slogans such as "God and Croats" and "Croats get together" were common, which were incidentally also used by

4399-399: The period following the declaration of independence, the war escalated, with the sieges of Vukovar and Dubrovnik , and fighting elsewhere, until a ceasefire of 3 January 1992 led to stabilization and a significant reduction in violence. With the end of 1991, the second Yugoslavia effectively ceased to exist as a state , with the prime minister Ante Marković and the president of

4482-440: The policies of Tuđman and the HDZ shifted according to the circumstances. The HDZ also began to lead Croatia toward a political and economic transition from socialism to capitalism. Notably, HDZ governments implemented privatization in the country in a manner that critics consider sub-optimal, and at times possibly illegal, due to the selective nature of the privatizations (see Croatian privatization controversy ). According to

4565-573: The presidency Stjepan Mesić resigning in December 1991, and a caretaker government representing it until the country's formal dissolution in April 1992. The war effectively ended in August 1995 with a decisive victory for Croatia as a result of Operation Storm . Croatia established its present-day borders when the remaining Serb-held areas of eastern Slavonia were restored to Croatia pursuant to

4648-459: The president of the HDZ, and the right bar shows the corresponding make-up of the Croatian government at that time. The blue (HDZ) and red ( SDP ) colours correspond to which party led the government. The last names of the respective prime ministers are shown, the Roman numeral stands for the cabinets . Independence of Croatia After the country formally declared independence in June 1991 and

4731-407: The previous Sanader government, but the HDZ suffered some internal turmoil as ministers Berislav Rončević and Damir Polančec left their posts after allegations of corruption. Along with several anti-corruption investigations, the party had to deal with an economic crisis. It began tackling the issue in April 2010 with a recovery program. In the next presidential elections, Croatia was looking for

4814-442: The prime minister-designate. Two days later the Sabor confirmed Kosor as the new prime minister , the first woman to hold the position. In the same resignation speech, Sanader also appointed Andrija Hebrang , who had formerly held the posts of defence minister and health minister , as HDZ candidate for the incoming presidential election , decreasing any speculation about his own ambitions for that position. The "Fimi media"

4897-470: The province of Dalmatia as Croatia was hosting the 1990 European Athletics Championships in Split . On 21 December 1990, a new " Christmas Constitution " was passed, that adopted a liberal democracy . The constitution defined Croatia as "the national state of the Croatian nation and a state of members of other nations and minorities who are its citizens: Serbs... who are guaranteed equality with citizens of Croatian nationality...." The status of Serbs

4980-470: The rebel Serbs and Croatian police were reported between August 1990 and April 1991. On 19 May 1991, the Croatian authorities held the Croatian referendum on independence . Serb local authorities called for a boycott of the vote, which was largely followed by Croatian Serbs. In the end, a majority of Croatians endorsed independence from Yugoslavia, with a turnout of 83.56% and the two referendum questions answered positively by 93.24% and 92.18% (resp.) of

5063-470: The ruling political party in Croatia under the incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenković . It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Croatia , along with the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SDP). It is currently the largest party in the Sabor with 55 seats. The HDZ governed Croatia from 1990 before the country gained independence from Yugoslavia until 2000 and, in coalition with junior partners, from 2003 to 2011, and since 2016. HDZ

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5146-463: The same day as Croatia. But by 29 June, the Croatian and Slovenian authorities agreed to a three-month moratorium on the independence declaration, in an effort to ease tensions. The Brijuni Agreement was formally signed in a meeting of the European Community Ministerial Troika, the Yugoslav, Serbian, Slovenian and Croatian authorities on 7 July. Lithuania was the sole state that recognized Croatia on 30 July. The Badinter Arbitration Committee

5229-472: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Democratic Union . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Democratic_Union&oldid=992599832 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Political party disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

5312-436: The third country in Europe to have "femicide" as part of its law. The following is a summary of the party's results in legislative elections for the Croatian Parliament . The "Total votes" and "Percentage" columns include sums of votes won by pre-election coalitions HDZ had been part of. After the preferential votes were included in the election system, the votes column also includes the sum of votes for HDZ's candidates on

5395-470: The total number of votes. On 25 June 1991, the country declared its independence from the SFRY, finalizing its effort to end its status as a constituent republic. That decision of the parliament decision was partially boycotted by left-wing party deputies. The European Economic Community and the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe immediately urged both Croatia and Slovenia that they would not be recognized as independent states because of

5478-446: The total population of Croatia. An even greater proportion of those posts had been held by Serbs in Croatia earlier on, which created a perception that the Serbs were guardians of the communist regime. President Tuđman made several clumsy remarks — such as the one from an 16 April 1990 speech that he was 'glad that his wife is not a Serb' that the Croatian historian Ante Nazor has described as something taken out of context. All this

5561-449: The war had not ended by then. With the war still ongoing when the deadline expired, Germany presented its decision to recognize Croatia as its policy and duty. Germany's position was supported by Italy and Denmark. France and the UK attempted to prevent German recognition by drafting a United Nations resolution requesting that no country take unilateral actions which could worsen the situation in Yugoslavia. Starting in late November 1991,

5644-524: The war. The political crisis escalated when the Serb-populated areas attempted to form an enclave called Serbian Krajina which intended to separate from Croatia if Croatia itself attempted to separate from Yugoslavia. The Serb leadership in Krajina refused to recognize the government of the Republic of Croatia as having sovereignty over them. The crisis began in August 1990 with the Log Revolution as Croatian Serbs cut down trees and used them to block roads. This hampered Croatian tourism and caused alarm in

5727-496: The winner and thus replaced Kosor as leader of the opposition . Karamarko announced that he would reestablish connections between Croatia and the Croatian diaspora . Karamarko earlier announced that, after a process of the detudjmanization of the HDZ, he would return to the policies of Franjo Tuđman. He also stated that he could be "neither for Ante Pavelić nor Josip Broz Tito ", as both of them represented totalitarian systems. On 1 July 2013, HDZ received full member status of

5810-479: Was a corruption scandal which resulted from former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader stealing money from the state budget. USKOK has charged former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, Fimi media CEO Nevenka Jurak, former treasurer of the Croatian Democratic Union Mladen Barišić, former spokesperson of the Croatian Democratic Union Ratko Maček and former chief accountant Branka Pavošević with damaging the state budget by 70 million kuna or approximately 9 million euros. The HDZ

5893-413: Was able to heavily influence decision-making at the federal level, because unfavorable decisions could be blocked; this rendered the governing body ineffective. This situation led to objections from other republics and calls for reform of the Yugoslav Federation. In February 1990, Jovan Rašković founded the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) in Knin . Its program stated that the "regional division of Croatia

5976-406: Was changed from an explicitly mentioned nation ( narod ) to a nation listed together with minorities ( narodi i manjine ). This constitutional change was also read by the majority of Serb politicians as taking away some of the rights that the Serbs had been granted by the previous Socialist constitution, and it fuelled extremism among the Serbs of Croatia. This was not based on the literal reading of

6059-406: Was completed in 2002 when Ivić Pašalić , leader of the HDZ hardliners and perceived to be associated with the worst excesses of Tuđman's era, challenged Sanader for the party leadership, accusing him of betraying Tuđman's nationalist legacy. At first it looked that Sanader would lose, but with the help of Branimir Glavaš and the tacit support of liberal sections of Croatian public opinion, he won at

6142-417: Was deliberately distorted by Milošević's media in order to artificially spark fear that any form of an independent Croatia is a new " ustashe state": in one instance, TV Belgrade showed Tuđman shaking hands with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl , accusing them of plotting to impose "a Fourth Reich". The new Tuđman government was nationalistic and insensitive towards Serbs, but did not pose a threat to them before

6225-637: Was elected its president. When the party was founded, the government of the Socialist Republic of Croatia had just introduced a multi-party system in Croatia and scheduled elections for the Croatian Parliament. The HDZ began as a nationalist party but also included former partisans and members of the Communist establishment, such as Josip Manolić and Josip Boljkovac . President Tuđman and other HDZ officials traveled abroad and gathered large financial contributions from Croatian expatriates. On

6308-456: Was faced with bad poll ratings and a large clean-up task that was still underway when Sanader left. The officials used the 2009 convention to elect Jadranka Kosor party president by acclamation. Andrija Hebrang accepted his designation as the presidential candidate only at the end of July, after he underwent a thorough medical examination , to exclude any remaining trace of a previous carcinoma . The Kosor government remained mostly unchanged from

6391-680: Was felt to be an overly long HDZ rule. Another major drawback was the Slovenian blocking of several chapters of Croatia's EU accession terms until border disputes between the two countries had been settled. Although this ultimately led to an indefinite suspension of the Croatian EU accession negotiations, it did not affect the government's popularity. In this case, as would be expected, considering Croatian staunch patriotism and national self-consciousness , all parties and nearly every Croatian citizen were absolutely adamant in refusing at any cost any concessions over matters of national interest . In

6474-568: Was held at Petrova Gora . People at the rally shouted negative remarks aimed at Tuđman, chanted "This is Serbia", and expressed support for Milošević. In late April and early May 1990, the first multi-party elections were held in Croatia, with Franjo Tuđman 's win resulting in further nationalist tensions. A tense atmosphere prevailed in 1990: on 13 May 1990, a football game was held in Zagreb between Zagreb 's Dinamo team and Belgrade's Crvena Zvezda team. The game erupted into violence between football fans and police. On 30 May 1990,

6557-467: Was not taken into account. The HDZ gained the support of the "yellow–green coalition" (HSS-HSLS) and of the HSU and national minorities representatives; Sanader formed a second government . Although that government had a larger majority than the former one, its existence remained troubled because of the worsening of the previously good economic situation and a weariness of Croatian public opinion about what

6640-408: Was one of the most critical moments of the HDZ. The HDZ became the first political party in Croatia to be charged with corruption. After the 2011 parliamentary elections , the HDZ become the opposition after 8 years in government. The HDZ won its smallest number of votes since its founding, 563,215. On 20 May 2012, HDZ held a presidential election in which, a day later, Tomislav Karamarko become

6723-513: Was replaced by anti-Communist single party rule. 30 May 1990, the day the HDZ formally took power, was celebrated as Statehood Day . A presidential election was held in 1992, and Tuđman, who would remain as undisputed party leader until his death in 1999, was elected president. The party governed Croatia throughout the 1990s and under its leadership, Croatia became independent (1991), was internationally recognized (1992), and consolidated all of its pre-war territory (by 1998). During that period,

6806-453: Was seen as a referendum on the HDZ with a poor economy, corruption and crony capitalism being major factors in their ouster. At the subsequent presidential election , HDZ candidate Mate Granić who was favored to win in the weeks prior to the parliamentary elections, finished third and therefore failed to enter the second round of voting, won by Stipe Mesić . In the period from 2000 and 2003, several businessmen who became tycoons under

6889-701: Was set up by the Council of Ministers of the European Economic Community (EEC) on 27 August 1991 to provide legal advice and criteria for recognition to former Yugoslav republics. The five-member commission consisted of presidents of constitutional courts in the EEC. On 7 October, the eve of expiration of the moratorium, the Yugoslav Air Force attacked Banski dvori , the main government building in Zagreb . On 8 October 1991,

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