"Welcome to the European Union," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in Croatian on Sunday to 20,000 people gathered in the Zagreb square hosting the main celebration.
Moments later, the EU anthem, Beethoven's "Ode to Joy", marked Croatia's entry into the bloc as its 28th member and fireworks lit up the sky above the capital.
Croation is only the second former Yugoslav republic to join the bloc, after Slovenia.
"July 1... opens up a completely new perspective, a new world for us," Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic told parliament on Saturday, denying Croatia would be a burden on the EU.
Heads of state from all six ex-Yugoslav republics were among the guests, but the leaders of many EU member states including Britain, France and Germany were not be present.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel cited a full workload to excuse herself from the event, but both Croatian media and the opposition labelled her decision a "diplomatic slap".
http://www.aljazeera.com
30/6/13
GR
FR
DE
ES
IT
RU
EU
EU launches excessive deficit procedure against Croatia ...
ReplyDeleteThe European Union decided on Tuesday to launch a procedure against Croatia to reduce its deficit, just seven months after it joined the bloc.
"We have today opened an excessive deficit procedure for Croatia ... as well as recommendations setting out measures to correct the deficit by 2016," Greek finance minister Yannis Stournaras told a press conference after meeting EU counterparts in Brussels.
Voice of Russia, AFP
Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_01_28/EU-launches-excessive-deficit-procedure-against-Croatia-6659/
28/1/14