Croatia joins EU as 28th member state

Following lengthy but fruitful negotiations, Croatia joined the European Union on July 1st. Some 170 foreign leaders, including European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and the President of the European Council, Herman van Rompuy, took part in the celebration in Zagreb, Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán also attended the even , while Hungary's Deputy PM Tibor Navracsics particppated at a festivity In Osijek, neak the Hungarian border.

Talking to Diplomacy & Trade earlier this year, the Croatian Ambassador to Hungary, Gordan Grlic-Radman stressed that Croatia had worked hard for more than a decade to reach EU membership and that Hungary had been one of the biggest friends of his country in this process (accession talks were wrapped up during the Hungarian EU Presidency), and also one of the first countries to recognize the independence of Croatia as Yugoslavia was falling apart.

“The European Union is a club that has achieved, over the past decades, great success in bringing stability to this continent. After the Cold War, it gave an opportunity to the countries of Eastern Europe to be part of this club with its economic order and free market. We should be responsible members in this club and we should take advantage of its benefits. Its principles oblige us, although, we are aware of its heterogeneity and the challenges it is going through,” the Ambassador said.