A decade in the EU, Croatia aids Balkan hopefuls

Croatia’s prime minister promises to redouble efforts to help other countries in the region join the European Union as it prepares to mark a decade of EU membership

Croatia's prime minister promised on Wednesday to redouble efforts to help other countries in the region join the European Union as it prepares to mark a decade of EU membership. “We completed the integration process in 2013 ... and we want to help (others) overcome their obstacles and to join us as soon as possible,” Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said during a visit to North Macedonia. Croatia was the most recent country to join the EU, on July 1, 2013. On Jan. 1 this year, it became the 20th member of the euro area.

Plenkovic praised the decision made last year to add Moldova, Ukraine and Bosnia to the list of EU candidate countries, but added that not enough progress had been made in integrating countries like North Macedonia and neighboring Albania.

North Macedonia was granted EU candidate status in 2005 but since then, its application has stalled.

Plenkovic urged the small Balkan country to follow through on a pledge to amend its constitution, a move that would speed up its membership process. “Now is the moment to change the constitution. It will increase the dynamics of the accession process,” Plenkovic told a joint news conference held with North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski.

Croatia, North Macedonia and Bosnia were all part of the former Yugoslavia, which disintegrated during the 1990s. Since that time, their fortunes have radically diverged. North Macedonia has promised neighboring Bulgaria, an EU member since 2007, to add a reference in its constitution to the existence of an ethnic Bulgarian minority. In exchange, Bulgaria would lift objections to the start of EU membership talks for North Macedonia. North Macedonia's center-left government is struggling to gain the cross-party support needed for a constitutional amendment.