EP President Martin Schulz welcomed the news that preliminary results show around 67% of Croatian voters voted in favour of EU membership on Sunday. "The positive result of the referendum is a clear indicator of the continuing attractiveness of the EU. Membership is the right reward for the remarkable progress achieved by Croatia in its path to reforms in the recent years."
"The Croatian example sends a positive signal and an encouragement to the whole of South East Europe that when reforms are pursued, the EU responds accordingly, even if in the immediate future we need a phase of internal stabilisation," Schulz said in a statement Monday.
Croatia signed an EU accession treaty at the end of last year and will become the 28th member of the EU on 1 July 2013, after all 27 EU countries ratify the accord.
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