Croatia Officially Signs Artemis Accords to Expand Global Space Cooperation

The Croatian government recently officially signed the United States-led Artemis Accords, becoming the 74th country in the world to join the international space exploration initiative. This signing ceremony marks the official extension of the Central and Southeast European nation's national development blueprint—situated on the Adriatic Sea—into the space domain, while declaring its political stance and determination regarding the peaceful use of space resources and international space cooperation in the future.

The Artemis Accords are a series of non-binding bilateral international agreements initiated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 2020, aiming to establish a set of common principles governing civil space exploration and the utilization of space resources. The core tone of the accords is founded upon the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, covering key principles such as transparency, interoperability, emergency assistance, the protection of space heritage, the legal extraction and utilization of space resources, and the prevention of harmful interference in outer space. Participating nations now include numerous like-minded democratic countries across Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Oceania.

For Croatia, joining this agreement holds not only symbolic diplomatic significance but also substantially promotes the integration of its domestic science and technology and academic sectors with the international community. As a European nation with a population of approximately 3.9 million and a rich maritime history and Mediterranean culture, Croatia has demonstrated notable potential in recent years in information technology, engineering research and development, and startup industries. By joining the Artemis Accords, local scientists and high-tech enterprises will have the opportunity to participate in a broader international space supply chain and engage in deeper technological exchanges with the United States and other allies in fields such as satellite data applications, Earth observation, and space science research.

From the perspective of geopolitics and global space governance, Croatia's accession reflects the strategic layout of the United States as it continues to expand its international space alliance network. With the advancement of missions to return to the lunar surface and future deep space exploration, Washington is actively utilizing the Artemis Accords to forge a consensus among the democratic camp on space rules, thereby balancing the growing and overtly competitive influence of countries such as China and Russia in the space domain. As European nations successively join, the accords are gradually shaping into the mainstream standards and value alliance of the future international space order.

For Taiwan, Croatia's accession to the Artemis Accords once again highlights that global high-tech and forward-looking strategic industries are accelerating toward multilateral cooperation and a "value alliance." Although Taiwan is not a formal signatory of the accords, it possesses indispensable critical capabilities in supply chains such as semiconductor manufacturing, precision machinery, and satellite components. By observing how small and medium-sized European countries like Croatia leverage participation in international space frameworks to enhance their technological visibility and industrial transformation, Taiwan can draw important lessons for understanding current international high-tech diplomacy as it faces a new landscape where the global space economy and geopolitics are intertwined.