Announcing the programme for the tenth Europe Week in Croatia, Ministry State Secretary Andrej Plenkovic said that this year marking Europe Week was especially important as Croatia was at the final stage of its accession negotiations with the European Union.
He said that the public therefore had the right to be fully informed of all aspects of the negotiating process.
Plenkovic cited results of the latest opinion polls showing that if a referendum on Croatia's EU entry were to be held now, 76 percent of eligible voters would turn out and of them, 56 percent would vote for EU membership. Currently 40 percent of Croatians are against accession, with seven percent of voters being indecisive.
This is a good opportunity for conducting public discussions on the benefits of EU membership and for raising awareness of what it would mean for Croatia, Spanish Ambassador Manuel Salazar Palma said at the presentation of the programme.
The head of the European Union Delegation in Zagreb, Paul Vandoren, said that the European Union was an ongoing process.
This process has brought Europe peace, stability and prosperity and this is probably the most important reason why Croatia should enter the EU, the EU ambassador said.
In response to questions about a date for Croatia's admission, he declined to speculate, explaining that a high-quality completion of the membership talks was more important than the entry date.
Vandoren said that Croatia's membership talks were progressing very well and that there existed some important issues which should be solved.
The final stage is always the most difficult, the ambassador said in this context.
Plenkovic added that the Croatian government, the negotiating team and diplomats would do their best to wrap up the country's EU entry talks by the end of this year.