ABSTRACT
The act of leaving the last Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia by the Croatian and Slovenian party delegations marked the beginning of Yugoslavia's break-up. The independence proclamation was postponed for three months because of pressure from the EU, following tensions between the Yugoslav National Army and Slovenia and Croatia. Croatia was one of the most developed republics in the former Yugoslavia. The anti-inflationary recovery was combined with adverse balance of payments. While imports started flowing freely, Croatian exports picked up more slowly. They were additionally affected by the strictly managed floating exchange rate of the Croatian kuna (HRK), which underpinned the stabilization program and weakened the competitiveness of Croatian production. International involvement in Croatian social policy consisted of humanitarian intervention, post-conflict reconstruction and systemic reform initiation. Croatian social policy-making was influenced by the agenda of the international financial institutions that acted in a non-imposing way, at least until the effects of the crisis hit Croatia as well.
