"There is no Croatia's path to the European Union, because the country had always been and is part of Europe. There is only Croatia's path to European institutions, as a true European country," said Posselt, who is also a member of the International Paneuropean Union.
Posselt said this during a talk which he gave at the Croatian Cultural Society.
He stressed there were those within the European Union who were not aware of this fact or those who because of their own interests or historical prejudice represented an obstacle to Croatia's path of becoming the 27th member of the bloc.
These "artificial obstacles" are attempts to connect Croatia's admission to that of Turkey or Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia, he said adding that given the benevolence of some influential EU member states towards Croatia "situation is developing surprisingly well for Croatia".
Posselt said Croatia had an opportunity to become a full member by the end of this decade, while the integration of the rest of Southeast Europe into the bloc was a task for the next decade.