Reuters said that "European Union leaders gave the go-ahead on Friday for Croatia to join the EU, after six years of preparations marred by slow democratic reforms in Zagreb and the EU's reluctance to expand."
Croatia should be able to wrap up accession negotiations next week, with the European Council leaders warning the government in Zagreb "that it has to continue to fight widespread corruption with 'vigour'," the British news agency reported.
"However, its efforts will face more EU scrutiny in the coming months, and its hopes of joining the EU in July 2013 could be jeopardised if reform slip-ups persuade some of the EU's national parliaments to delay ratifying the accession treaty," it added.
"Monitoring up to accession of these reform efforts will give the necessary assurance to Croatia and current member states," EU leaders were quoted as saying in a draft summit statement.
According to Reuters, "One reason behind Croatia's leap towards accession in recent months, EU diplomats say, was the arrest of former prime minister Ivo Sanader, who had been sought on charge of abuse of power."
"Croatia also got a push from the Hungarian government, which lobbied strongly to wrap up negotiations during its six-month presidency of the EU that ends next week," it added.
This news agency described Croatia as the richest of EU hopefuls in the Balkans "which relies heavily on tourism".
Croatia is hoping that accession will bolster its appeal to foreign funds at a time when Europe's financial woes have slashed direct investment in the region, the agency added.
The Austrian APA and French AFP news agencies, too, reported about the Council's decision as being a present to Croatia on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of its independence.
Croatia has reason to celebrate, not only because of the 20 years of its independence but also because of its forthcoming accession to the European Union, APA said, adding that translation into Croatian was available during Friday's news conference on the Council's decision in Brussels.
This leading information service provider in Austria also wrote about the monitoring of Croatia and about "appropriate measures" to be taken in the event of absence of progress.
The Agence France Presse said that Croatia would be the second former Yugoslav country after Slovenia to join the EU. According to the AFP, the statement from today's meeting in Brussels insists on the continuation of reform efforts, notably in the judiciary and fundamental rights.
The AFP said the introduction of monitoring of compliance with membership requirements was a result of Europe's lack of trust following the admission of Romania and Bulgaria.
The Serbian Beta news agency quoted EU leaders as saying that Croatia's EU membership would give new momentum to the European prospects of the Western Balkans.
The Slovenian STA news agency quoted Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor as saying that today's decision was the best possible present to her country on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of its independence.