"Croatia is running its final 100 metres towards EU membership," Jandrokovic told reporters in Brussels after talks with Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos and EU enlargement commissioner Stefan Fuele. The two sides have reached agreement on 20 of the 35 chapters that must be negotiated for EU membership. Thirteen chapters are still under discussion, while two others are mere formalities that will automatically close at the end of the accession negotiations.

In Zagreb Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor warned that the last phase of EU talks would be "really difficult and demanding" but stressed she believed they would be concluded by the end of the year. "I believe that within the next six months we will reach a goal that we have set almost two decades ago, to conclude (membership) talks and enter EU," she said in a reference to Croatia's proclamation of independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.

The last three chapters that were opened on Wednesday are related to competition, justice and fundamental rights, and foreign and defence policy. "We have taken an irreversible step on the path toward the accession of Croatia in the European Union," said Moratinos, whose country's holds the EU rotating presidency until Wednesday at midnight, when Belgium takes over.

Source: 

AFP

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