Former Parliament Speaker Vladimir Seks said the EU accession was "the finale of a long voyage of Croatia and the Croatian people to a safe haven."
He said "a magnificent arc has come round in which Croatia pursued its strategic interests after settling its position in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, after which it won its independence and became a member of all relevant world organisations."
By joining the EU, Croatia is completing its historical cycle and politically returning to the European community of peoples and states from which it was "torn by force" about 70 years ago, Seks said, adding that this was the "happy ending of a difficult but proud voyage."
"We wanted to achieve only three goals when we fought in the 1990s. We wanted a free Croatia and to be in Euro-Atlantic institutions, in NATO and the European Union," said Homeland War Veterans Minister Predrag Matic.
"We have a free Croatia, we joined NATO five years ago and we are finally joining the European Union," he said, adding that "now is the time for an upgrade."
"Entry into an elite society, a society of those who are better than us, will encourage us to become better and more advanced, because this too was the goal of the Croatian defenders, for Croatia to be a free and law-based state, a country of prosperity for all citizens," he said.
"It has taken a long time, we have achieved very high standards on that road which the other countries aspiring to join the EU will have to achieve too," said Labour Minister Mirando Mrsic.
Croatia will get financial aid "from the EU funds, but that aid will have to be earned and we will have to explain why we need those funds, we will have to have projects," he said, adding that the EU would "also raise the standards of state organisation in Croatia."
Croatian member of the European Parliament Andrej Plenkovic of the opposition HDZ party said "we are completing a transition which was very long, which had its good and bad sides. We are turning a new page in Croatian history with a great responsibility towards challenges that lie ahead, primarily economic and social ones."
Central bank governor Boris Vujcic said Croatia's entry into Europe, "where it has always belonged, is opening up new possibilities for investment, for activating available funds, and it's up to us how we will use the opportunities."
There are two opportunities, he said, "to position ourselves as a country attractive for investing and doing business, and to be efficient in attracting EU funds... In both cases we can learn from the experiences of others from the last two enlargement rounds. Those recent experiences clearly show us what works and what doesn't."