Croatia to Ink EU Accession Treaty on December 9

Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor shows a copy of the draft of the accession agreement between the European Union and Croatia on 17 September 2011.

Croatia will sign its accession treaty to the European Union on December 9 in Brussels, the Balkan country's PM Jadranka Kosor has announced.

"It is great news for Croatia, great news for the Croatian government and great news for me as the prime minister," Kosor commented after a cabinet meeting in Zagreb on Thursday, as cited by DPA.

The Prime Minsiter pointed out that it was during her term that Croatia took the crucial steps needed to unblock its EU membership bid. The resolution of a paralyzing border dispute with EU-member Slovenia and a crackdown on organized crime and corruption were among the achievments Kosor took credit for.

Once signed, the treaty will have to be approved by referendum in Croatia and ratified by the parliaments of the EU's existing 27 members. The procedure should be completed in time for the Balkan country to become the bloc's 28 member on July 1, 2013.

Croatia, which applied for the EU membership in 2003, will be the second former Yugoslav republic to join the bloc after Slovenia, which became a member in 2004.

The December 9 signing ceremony in Brussels is just five days after the parliamentary elections scheduled in Croatia. Jadranka Kosor's Croatian Democratic Union has experienced a drop in popularity ahead of the elections and is believed to have slim chances of winning.

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