On 1st July , 2023 10 years of Croatia in the EU is being celebrated.
The Eu Commissioner Dubravka Šuica and the Prime Minister Andrej Plenković spoke at the celebration in Zagreb at the occasion of 1o Croatian years in the EU about the Croatian way to the EU and the future challenges of the country in the frame of the European integration.
Plenković stressed the long lasting and difficult access procedure due to the instable political situation in the region in the nineties. Nevertheless the county made a huge progress at the end of the 2oth century in order to join the countries, which began with the integration process earlier.Plenković also expressed his opinion that Croatia will be – in the next ten years- fully integrated with other member countries.
Dubravka Šuica, the Vice-President of the EU Commission for Democracy and Demography, stressed the mutual strenghtening of Croatia and the EU. In spite of its size Croatia developed to a strong, influential and successful European member.
Croatia became pre-accession member in 2003, between 2005 and 2011 the access negotiations were going on. At the referendum in 2012 the majority of the inhabitants ( 66% ) decided for the access to the EU.
In the first half of 2020 Croatia for the first time presided the Council of Europe. From its entry to the EU Croatia has implemented numerous reforms and with 1st January 2023 joined the Schengen Area and EU Zone.