Tag: Croatia

New EU member Croatia backtracked in its first row with the bloc's executive Commission on Wednesday, agreeing to fully apply the EU extradition law after Brussels raised the prospect of sanctions.

Croatia, who joined the EU on 1 July, is already entangled in a major conflict with the European Commission. In late June, Zagreb changed its legislation, not allowing the European Arrest Warrant to apply for crimes committed before 2002. 

An English-language sign at the fishermen's pier in the Croatian town of Umag reads: "This fishing port was rebuilt with the support of the European Union".

Neven Mimica has received the backing from the European Parliament yesterday (12 June), paving the way for him to become Croatia's first commissioner when the country joins the EU on 1 July. Parliament also agreed that 11 present EU member countries would lose a seat each, and Germany three, to make room for the 15 new Croatian deputies.

Neven Mimica, a senior minister in the Croat government, was appointed as the European Commission's 28th member, the EU Executive announced yesterday (25 April). Mimica will take up his duties in the Consumer Protection portfolio on 1 July, after a hearing in the European Parliament.

Slovenia ratified Croatia's European Union accession treaty today (2 April) after the two ex-Yugoslav republics agreed last month to set aside a 20-year old dispute over a shuttered bank that had blocked Zagreb's entry path.

Eleven countries will each lose one seat in the European Parliament after the next elections to make room for Croatia, which is expected to join the EU on 1 July and will also forfeit one of the seats allocated to it. 

The prime ministers of Serbia and Croatia expressed their readiness to resolve tensions at a meeting in Belgrade yesterday (16 January). EurActiv Serbia reports.

Germany's Foreign Ministry reassured Croatia that the country is on track to join the Union on 1 July 2013, following a surprising statement from Bundestag leader Norbert Lammert, who said that the former Yugoslav republic was not ready to join and that EU  enlargement should be frozen.

Croatia, which is due to join the EU on 1 July 2013, has objected to Slovenia’s request to obtain protected geographical status for ‘Kranjska klobasa’ - a sausage named after the Slovenian region of Kranjska - news media in the neighbouring countries report.

A musician and composer, Ivo Josipović, the president of Croatia, sees Europe as an opera with a happy ending. The eurozone crisis has sidelined the fundamentals of the union, and people take their anti-war community for granted, but it is perceived differently outside the EU borders, he said in an interview with EurActiv.

Two-thirds of Croatians voted in favour of joining the European Union in a referendum held yesterday (22 January), and if the ratification of the accession treaty goes smoothly in EU nations, Croatia will become the 28^th Union member on 1 July 2013. EurActiv reports based on the coverage by Lider, its Croatian partner.

Croatia and Slovenia agreed yesterday (January 17) on the appointment of judges to arbitrate their border dispute, easing the way for Croatia's accession to the European Union.

Croatians may get the chance to vote on the country's EU accession in late January, the head of the national committee monitoring accession negotiations with the European Union said yesterday (14 December). 

The European debt crisis appeared to claim its latest victims over the weekend when the ruling parties in eurozone member Slovenia and EU candidate country Croatia lost heavily in national elections.

Croatian President Ivo Josipović said that he is willing to broker an agreement to defuse tensions with Serbia, which indicted Croatian nationals on war crimes charges stemming from the fratricidal wars between 1991 and 1995.

Croatia will seal its EU accession in a treaty signing ceremony in Warsaw on 19 December, the Polish EU presidency announced yesterday (29 September).

If a referendum on the country's EU accession were held today, 52% of Croats would vote in favour, a poll revealed yesterday (26 July). Croatia is due to hold a referendum within 30 days of signing its accession treaty, probably by the end of the year.

Former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader was taken to prison in Zagreb late on Monday (18 July) after being extradited from Austria, the Croatian agency HINA reported.

At the two-day EU summit opening today (23 June) in Brussels, EU leaders are set to agree that Croatia's accession talks be concluded before the end of the month. However, the EU hopeful is under pressure from the Netherlands to accept post-accession monitoring until it has joined the border-free Schengen space, EurActiv has learned.

Croatia has not yet fulfilled the requirements for accession to the European Union, particularly with regard to the rule of law, corruption and a competitive marketplace, argue Andrea Despot and Dušan Reljić, claiming that early membership would damage Croatia, other EU candidate members and the EU itself. 

Following a dinner of EU foreign ministers yesterday (23 May), contradictory statements were made regarding Croatia's last few miles on the road to EU accession.

Public support for EU accession in Croatia has reached an all-time low after The Hague sentenced two former Croatian generals to heavy prison terms, according to reports in the country's press.