Croatia

Our relationship with Croatia

We have a warm relationship with Croatia built on historical ties and strong family links through the Croatian expatriate community in New Zealand. Croatian immigrants began arriving in New Zealand from the 1850s and today there are more than 100,000 New Zealanders of Croatian heritage. There are also more than 2,700 Croatian nationals living in New Zealand.

Our links were further strengthened in 2013, following the establishment of reciprocal visa free status to Croatian tourists wishing to visit New Zealand and Croatia joining the European Union. Croatia’s parliament also maintains a Croatian-New Zealand Inter-parliamentary Friendship Group and prior to COVID-19 there was an increase in high-level visits from Croatia to New Zealand.

New Zealand and Croatia cooperate well in multilateral settings, based on shared values and perspectives as small states committed to international peace and prosperity, democracy, open trade, human rights, environment, and the rules-based international system. 

New Zealand and Croatia also have shared interests in the United Nations’ peacekeeping efforts. New Zealand played a peacekeeping role during and following the Balkans war, and Croatia is active in peacekeeping operations and post-conflict recovery.

Working Holiday Scheme

Information on New Zealand’s Working Holiday Scheme with Croatia(external link) is available on the Immigration New Zealand website.

Trade

New Zealand’s trade with Croatia is available on the New Zealand Trade Dashboard(external link).

A number of New Zealand companies are present in Croatia through industries like shipbuilding, meat products and wine. There are good prospects for expanding trade and economic links with Croatia. MFAT and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise are working in Croatia to promote doing business with New Zealand.

Embassies

• New Zealand is represented in Croatia by the New Zealand Embassy, Rome
• New Zealand has consular services in Zagreb
• Croatia is represented in New Zealand by the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia
• Croatia have consular services in Auckland and Nelson

Recent official visits

New Zealand to Croatia

• July 2014: Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully visited Dubrovnik for the Croatia Forum
• July 2013: Social Development Minister Paula Bennett visited

Croatia to New Zealand

• August 2017: President of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović visited
• March 2014: Prime Minister Zoran Milanović and Defence Minister Ante Kotromanović visited