since the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, Croatia and Slovenia have each claimed sovereignty over Piran Bay and four villages, and Slovenia has objected to Croatia's claim of an exclusive economic zone in the Adriatic Sea; in 2009, however Croatia and Slovenia signed a binding international arbitration agreement to define their disputed land and maritime borders, which led Slovenia to lift its objections to Croatia joining the EU; in June 2017 the arbitration panel issued a ruling on the border that Croatia has not implemented; as a member state that forms part of the EU's external border, Slovenia has implemented the strict Schengen border rules to curb illegal migration and commerce through southeastern Europe while encouraging close cross-border ties with Croatia; Slovenia continues to impose a hard border Schengen regime with Croatia, which joined the EU in 2013 but has not yet fulfilled Schengen requirements
dispute remains with Bosnia and Herzegovina over several small sections of the boundary related to maritime access that hinders ratification of the 1999 border agreement; since the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, Croatia and Slovenia have each claimed sovereignty over Piranski Bay and four villages, and Slovenia has objected to Croatia's claim of an exclusive economic zone in the Adriatic Sea; in 2009, however Croatia and Slovenia signed a binding international arbitration agreement to define their disputed land and maritime borders, which led to Slovenia lifting its objections to Croatia joining the EU; Slovenia continues to impose a hard border Schengen regime with Croatia, which joined the EU in 2013 but has not yet fulfilled Schengen requirements
Illicit drugs
minor transit point for cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin bound for Western Europe, and for precursor chemicals
primarily a transit country along the Balkan route for maritime shipments of South American cocaine bound for Western Europe and other illicit drugs and chemical precursors to and from Western Europe; no significant domestic production of illicit drugs
Refugees and internally displaced persons
stateless persons: 10 (2020)
note: 522,757 estimated refugee and migrant arrivals (January 2015-July 2021)
stateless persons: 2,900 (2020)
note: 727,610 estimated refugee and migrant arrivals (January 2015-May 2021); flows slowed considerably in 2017; Croatia is predominantly a transit country and hosts about 340 asylum seekers as of the end of June 2018
