It is “more accurate” than Soviet-aligned, but it’s still going to offend people, for sure. Former-Socialist would offend less people. If you want to be completely accurate, you could just write: Launching an automotive startup in Croatia is no walk in a park.”

If you’re well aware of the facts, why insist on remaining 100% factually wrong, in naming Croatia or Yugoslavia as a “Soviet-aligned” country? Just edit it and be done.