As the newly-elected Croatian President Ivo Josipović prepares to take office, the recent freeze in Croatia’s relations with Serbia will provide an immediate—and unwelcome—test of his diplomatic mettle.

As we move into 2010, the future EU prospects of Serbia and Croatia look bright; their neighbour Bosnia, though, risks being left behind if it cannot overcome serious obstacles.

In 1995, the Croatian army launched a series of huge military operations, aimed at retaking those areas of Croatia that had been under the control of the secessionist Croatian Serbs. Though military successful, the operations displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians whose lives remain blighted by what happened in the summer of 1995.