Many people in some western countries still think Croatia is in a state of war; mention it and people instantly think of dilapidation caused by years of civil war in Yugoslavia. Maybe not a place where you'd think that the internet and politics go hand-in-hand as in some more developed countries. Well if you thought that, think again.

There are parliamentary elections there this year, and the campaigning is already underway. The big fight is between the current majority party (since 2005 elections), the Croatian Democratic Union (Hrvatska demokratska zajednica) and a mix of liberals/democrats that make up a left coalition in the current parliament. The biggest of these parties is Croatia's Social Democratic Party (Socijaldemokratska partija Hrvatske) or SDP.

Both parties have web presences, but the SDP must have realised that the internet could help win elections in this country where young people are more connected than ever, as its online activities put some major western European parties to shame.

Highlights:

- A party YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/SDPHrvatske. This is a great way of making politics bite-sized, and accessible to different audiences
- The main party website is better looking, well laid out and more accessible than competing parties: http://www.sdp.hr vs. http://www.hdz.hr
- Individual blogs from the major figures in the party: http://marinjurjevic.blog.hr/, http://marijalugaric.bloger.hr/, http://milanovicsdp.blog.hr/, http://stazicsdp.blog.hr/, http://davorkovidovic.blog.hr/
- Members intranet: http://moj.sdp.hr

Labels: Croatia, Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, Hrvatska, SDP, Social Democratic Party