State structure and political system of Croatia
Croatia is a single and indivisible democratic and social unitary state with a republican form of government. The 1990 Constitution is in force. Administrative division: 21 districts (counties), including Zagreb, which has the status of a district, 123 cities (the largest are Zagreb, Split, Rijeka, Osijek, Zadar and Slavonski Brod) and 425 communities. The head of state is the president, who is elected for a five-year term. The first president, Franjo Tudjman, was elected in August 1992. After his death (1999), Stepan Mesich was elected president on February 7, 2000. The highest legislative body is the unicameral (before March 2001 – bicameral) parliament – the Croatian Sabor, in which, according to the Constitution, at least 100 and no more than 160 deputies are elected for 4 years. The Sabor, elected on November 23, 2003, consists of 152 deputies. Chairman – Vlgdimir Sheks. Executive power is exercised by the government the chairman of which is appointed by the president, its composition and program of activities are approved by the Sabor. The text of the oath of the chairman and members of the government in the Sabor approves the law. Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, leader of the CDU party, which returned to power after a four-year hiatus.
There are currently approx. 90 parties. Representatives of about half of them took part in the 2003 parliamentary elections. Representatives of 16 parties entered the Sabor. The victory was won by the CDU party, which received 66 deputy mandates against 46 in the previous elections. The center-left coalition, which ruled in 2000–03, led by the Social Democratic Party (SDP), was defeated. His reasons were the collapse of this coalition (all members went to the polls on their own), as well as the failure to fulfill pre-election obligations to improve the living standards of the people. The SDP, which acted in a number of constituencies in alliance with the Liberal Party (PL), Libra or the Istra Democratic Union (IDS), won a total of 43 votes and went into opposition. The Croatian People’s Party (HNP) and the Croatian Law Party (HPP) also became opposition parties. The transfer of executive power took place in normal conditions. The HDZ, which did not have enough mandates to reach a parliamentary majority, received the right to form a new government only after it concluded agreements on its support with other parties, including with a bloc consisting of the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLP) and the Democratic Center (DC), as well as with the Independent Democratic Serbian Party (SDSP), etc. The absence of a predominant parliamentary majority in the CDU is fraught with difficulties that the government led by Ivo Sanader may face in the future in implementing its economic policy.
In the field of foreign policy, the country strives for broad and comprehensive international cooperation, but accession to the EU and NATO plays a paramount role. In February 2003, an official application for EU membership was submitted. The country is an active participant in regional cooperation within the framework of the Stability Pact, SEEC, the Central European Initiative, the Adriatic-Ionic Initiative, SEKI, etc. The reform in the Armed Forces is carried out according to NATO military standards.
Science and culture of Croatia
According to andyeducation, the education system in Croatia is three-tiered. The first stage is a compulsory general education basic 8-year school. The second is secondary schools, which include 4-year gymnasiums and 4-5-year specialized secondary schools. The third stage is higher educational institutions with 4- and 5-year education and 2-year higher schools. Croatia has 5 public universities: in Zagreb, Split, Rijeka, Osijek and Zadar. Under Croatian law, education is free. In the 2001/02 academic year, 838 thousand people studied at all levels of education. The higher scientific institutions are the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, the Academy of Medical Knowledge and the Academy of Technical Knowledge. Prominent scientists of Croatian nationality: physicists R. Boshkovic and N. Tesla, I. Vucetich (one of the founders of fingerprinting), chemists – Nobel Prize winners L. Ruzicka (1939), V.
Prominent representatives of Croatian culture: in literature – I. Gundulich, N. Зринский, Ф. K. Frankopan, A. Mihanovich, L. Гай, В. Назор, М. Krlesha; in sculpture – I. Мештрович, Ф. Кршинич, А. Augustinian; in painting – Yu. Клович, М. Kralevich, J. Rachic, V. Betsic, L. Babich, J. Тильяк, Э. Murtich and the primitive artists I. Generalich, E. Pritz, I. Latskovich, in music – V. Lisinsky, J. Runyanin, I. Pogarelic.
