Croatia FM Touts Stability As EU Draw

Pusic said in parliament on Thursday that stability was the most important argument in favour of Croatia's EU entry.

"We frequently hear money from EU funds being mentioned as the main argument in favour of EU accession. Even though it is an important argument, for Croatia... the most important argument in favour of EU entry is the stability of state institutions and the continuity of the state, without which there can be no economic recovery, human rights, or normal functioning of state institutions and confidence in them," Pusic said.

"All EU member countries have de facto secured such stability," Pusic said, speaking in a debate over a government report on the results of Croatia's EU accession talks.

Croatians on Sunday will vote in a referendum on the country's EU membership bid. While the government and the opposition have pushed hard for a 'yes' vote, a poll released yesterday showed that support for accession stood at 56 per cent, down from 60 per cent at the end of November.

Zagreb hopes to join the bloc in July 2013.  

Pusic told MPs that while some older members of the Union may have forgotten the importance of stability, in Croatia that is not the case. "We have in our personal experience an awareness of what it means to lack security, stability or even state institutions," Pusic said.

She added that state stability also mattered for investors and international financial institutions.

"EU funds alone will not help us if we are not able to define goals to put the country on the right track towards recovery," she said.

Pusic also recalled the long path Croatia had followed towards EU membership, noting that Zagreb was one of the first countries to face difficult new parts of the accession negotiations, including chapters on judiciary and fundamental rights.