Your EU accession is good not only for you but will be extremely good for EU member countries. I congratulate you and the Croatian people, she told reporters in Zagreb after talks with President Ivo Josipovic.

Ashton said she was glad to be in Zagreb during the final countdown to Croatia's accession, adding that Croatia had worked hard for that.

She highlighted the importance of Croatia's accession for the region, voicing hope that countries in the region would one day join the EU.

President Josipovic said Croatia's accession was the result of "a big and important effort" done in the country as well as the assistance and cooperation of the EU and all its members.

Speaking of the country's neighbours, he reiterated that Croatia advocated EU enlargement and that "Croatia will try, both politically and technically, to help its neighbours and friends to join the EU as soon as possible, by meeting the conditions we had to meet, of course."

Josipovic thanked Ashton for everything she had done for Croatia, hopeful they "would continue together to successfully implement the policy of completing Europe with all those countries that belong to Europe both historically and as civilisations."

Asked by the press if a deal Belgrade and Pristina reached on implementing a normalisation agreement was a requirement for Serbia to be given a date for the start of EU entry talks in June, Ashton said she would meet with the two countries' prime ministers in Brussels in a few days to consider the implementation of the agreement, which would be important for Serbia's progress towards EU membership.

Ashton also met with PM Zoran Milanovic and Foreign and European Affairs Minister Vesna Pusic. She was supposed to visit Croatia on April 18 as part of a Southeast European tour but the visit was postponed because she was busy with Serbia-Kosovo dialogue on the agreement on the normalisation of relations.