With the exception of a few marginal parties which probably do not cover more than three per cent of the electorate, the entire political scene viewed EU accession as its main goal, he said at a talk at St. Clement of Ohrid University.
Unlike Bulgaria which had only one transition, from socialism to capitalism, Croatia had several transition periods, from war to peace, from undemocratic to democratic rule, and ownership transformation, said Josipovic.
The creation of a new society brought many expectations and they were not always met, as democracy and independence did not answer all the questions that Croatian citizens had, he added.
One of the reasons why Croatia's road to EU membership was longer than expected was that European countries paid more attention to other countries and wanted Croatia to be completely ready when it joined, which was somewhat unjust because Croatia was asked to do more than other countries, including Bulgaria and Romania, said Josipovic.
The talk marked the end of Josipovic's official visit to Bulgaria. From Sofia, he is travelling to Belgrade for an official visit beginning on Wednesday during which he will meet with top officials for talks on outstanding bilateral issues, and with representatives of the Croatian minority and Serb associations of war refugees and the missing. This will be Josipovic's first visit to Serbia since Tomislav Nikolic was elected president.