UK Prime Minister Baroness Margaret Thatcher was one of the most keen advocates of the Croatian independence during the Croatian War of Independence in the 1990s . In an interview for HRT in 1991 she said : Baroness Thatcher criticized John Major because of his appeasement to Slobodan Milošević , and the EU because it did n't immediately recognize that Serbia led aggression against Croatia . She said during her speech in the UN in September 1991 that " JNA and Serbia are leading aggression against Croatia . War in Croatia is not a battle of one ethnic group against other but battle of democracy against communism . " In her book '' Statecraft '' she wrote that " Yugoslavia was authoritarian and totalitarian communist state , a dungeon with a brutal Serb captors that had to fall apart . " At the request of the Croatian Ambassador in London Drago Štambuk , Baroness gave a press statement in which he called on the international community to stop the Serbian aggression . According to statement by Mr. Štambuk for Jutarnji list , one of her advisers told her : " Mrs. Thatcher , British government will crucified you because of what you do " , to which she replied : " If it is about crucifixion of me or Croatia , then it is better to crucify me . " She continued to support Croatia in public until 1993 Ahmići massacre because , as she wrote in her book '' Statecraft '' , " massacre in Ahmići convinced me that Croatia interpreted my visit to Zagreb as a signal that the world will turn a blind eye to such ( Croatian ) barbarism . " After Srbs committed Srebrenica massacre in 1995 , she again contacted Mr. Štambuk and asked him over the phone : " Are n’t they ( Serbs ) real animals ? " . She supported Croatian Operation Storm , but was n't satisfied with President Tuđman 's decision to stop near Banja Luka because she thought that he had to defeat remaining Serbian forces . According to the former Croatian US ambassador Miomir Žužul , she told him in 1997 : " When you decide to do something in politics , then it should be done by the end or you have to deal with the consequences , good or bad . The worst thing is if you stop halfway . When I went to the Falklands , they all tried to stop me . I knew that I will either succeed or I 'm done . But , if I went back I knew for sure that I would be done . " Baroness was awarded with Grand Order of King Dmitar Zvonimir in 1998 for her " exceptional contributions to the independence and integrity of the Republic of Croatia " . She visited Zagreb on September 16 , 1998 and was awarded with the title " honorary citizen of Zagreb " : During her speech she said : Relations have gone from strength to strength since the arrest of General Ante Gotovina and his transfer to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in December 2005 . Croatia 's relations with the UK are currently excellent . In March 2007 , both countries signed a UK-Croatia Strategic Partnership , by which the United Kingdom fully supported Croatia 's European Union and NATO entry bids . Now , both countries are full members of the European Union and NATO
Ahmići massacre
Ahmići massacre
Croatia–United Kingdom relations