Croats vote in favour of EU membership

Croatian voters gave the green light for their country's accession to the European Union in a referendum Sunday, dpa reported. "That's it! Tonight we embark on the road to the EU," Foreign and European Affairs Minister Vesna Pusic said. Two-thirds, or 67 per cent, of the ballots cast were in favour of membership, the state election commission said, citing partial results. Croatia is now set to become EU's 28th member state in July 2013, 22 years after it split from former Yugoslavia. The turnout was surprisingly low. Only one third of the 4.5 million registered voters had cast ballots by 4 pm (1500 GMT), with three hours of polling remaining. Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic told Nova TV that the low turnout disappointed him, but attributed it to fatigue caused by everyday problems and parliamentary elections that were held in December. Both Milanovic's centre-left coalition and his predecessor, now opposition leader Jadranka Kosor, urged Croats to vote for EU membership. Hardline nationalists had campaigned against it, saying that the country was surrendering its sovereignty to a sinking boat, in a reference to the bloc's ongoing financial woes. Opponents of the accession complained that they were gagged during the referendum campaign and said that the low turnout backed their claims that there is not enough support for the EU in Croatia. "There was no public debate, I never made it to TV to say a word," the leader of the I Love Croatia organization, Roko Sikic, told the 24 Sata daily online. "No country joined the EU on as few votes," Ante Sacic of the Action for Better Croatia said. "This is a defeat of Croatia's liberty." Of the former Yugoslav states, only Slovenia has joined the EU, in 2004. One of the pro-EU slogans for the referendum was "Europe or the Balkans," while opponents mockingly referred to the EU as "Euslavia."