Croatia–Sweden relations are foreign relations between

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Both countries established diplomatic relations on 29 January 1992. Croatia has an embassy in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. Sweden has an embassy in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

. Both countries are members of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

. Croatia fully supported Sweden's application to join

, which resulted in membership on 7 March 2024.

History

Several terrorist acts carried out by Croatian separatists affiliated with the

Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croats, Croatian fascist and ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaša – Croatian Revolutionar ...

movement were carried out in Sweden during the 1970s. On 10 February 1971, two Croats men entered the Yugoslav Consulate in

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

. They gathered and restrained all the consulate staff on the premises, at knife and gunpoint. After just over one day's siege and fruitless negotiations with the

Swedish police The Swedish Police Authority () is the national police, police force (''Polisen'') of Sweden. The first modern police force in Sweden was established in the mid-19th century, and the police remained in effect under Municipalities of Sweden, local ...

, they gave up and were arrested. Den 7 April 1971, at the Yugoslav Embassy in

, the Croats Miro Barešić and Anđelko Brajković penetrated the building and killed ambassador

Vladimir Rolović Vladimir Rolović (21 May 1916 – 15 April 1971) was a Yugoslav politician, diplomat, and a former high officer of the State Security Administration (UDBA). Holder of the "Commemorative Medal of the Partisans of 1941" and as a former commander o ...

. On 15 September 1972, three Croatian men hijacked the

Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 130 Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 130 was an aircraft hijacking which took place in Sweden and subsequently in Spain on 15 and 16 September 1972. While en route from Torslanda Airport in Gothenburg to Stockholm Arlanda Airport, three armed memb ...

and held 86 passengers and 4 crew members hostage. Sweden recognized Croatia on 16 January 1992, following its independence from the

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

. On 23 January 1992, the Swedish government decided to establish diplomatic relations with Croatia. The agreement came into effect on 29 January 1992. Sweden opened an embassy in Zagreb on 9 March 1992. Croatian president

Zoran Milanović Zoran Milanović (; born 30 October 1966) is a Croatia, Croatian politician and the incumbent president of Croatia. First elected in 2020, he was re-elected in 2025 with 74% voter support. Prior to assuming the presidency, he was the prime min ...

stated that his country should block ratification of Sweden's

accession until

electoral reform Electoral reform is a change in electoral systems that alters how public desires, usually expressed by cast votes, produce election results. Description Reforms can include changes to: * Voting systems, such as adoption of proportional represen ...

measures are implemented in neighbouring

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

, though the Foreign Minister expressed the government's support for any application. In July 2022, Croatia have fully ratified Sweden's

membership application.

NATO

While Croatia became a member of

in 2009, Sweden has only initiated accession process in 2022. Croatian parliament voted nearly unanimously in support of Sweden's accession into the alliance.

Resident diplomatic missions

* Croatia has an embassy in

. * Sweden has an embassy in

. File:Engelbrektsplan 2.JPG, Embassy of Croatia in Stockholm

References

External links

Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration: list of bilateral treaties with Sweden

Swedish embassy in Zagreb

Bilateral relations of Sweden {{Bilateralrelations-stub

History

NATO

Resident diplomatic missions

See also

References

External links