An Overshadowed Campaign in Two Croatian Dailies

Abstract

On 1 July 2013, Croatia became the newest member of the European Union (EU) after a decade-long accession process. Just prior to Croatia’s accession, the country held its first European Parliament (EP) elections, in April 2013, resulting in a interim ten-month mandate for the 11 newly elected Croatian members of the EP. Its second EP elections, this time for a full mandate, were held in May 2014 in conjunction with all the other EU member states. Thus within the course of one year, Croatia witnessed two election campaigns for the EP. At the time of the first elections, most of the media coverage focused on the salaries the potential MEPs would receive once elected. The standard salary for an MEP is nearly ten times Croatia’s average per capita salary. Very little of the coverage explored the candidates’ stances on issues and policy. Ideally, the role of the mass media in elections is to help people understand which elections are taking place and how they are conducted, what is to be expected from the elected members and how citizens can influence discussions concerning policy.¹ Many assumed that the second election campaign, the one for a full mandate for the Croatian MEPs, would be more complete and thorough. The campaign did partly improve, though not so much because the largest parties realized that EP elections have some significance as because the ruling party was afflicted by internal divisions and the replacement of the Minister of Finance.