"The text of the fiscal stability pact was agreed today and it will be signed in March. It does not directly refer to Croatia but it will refer to it very much in the future,“ Milanovic told the press after the summit.

"This is something that will most definitely refer to Croatia in the future. We have to talk about it in Croatia and we have not yet launched a debate about it," said Milanovic, adding that national debts and budget deficits „is what burdens Croatia and we will have to deal with that."

European leaders agreed on a permanent rescue fund for the euro zone on Monday and 25 of the 27 EU states backed a German-inspired pact for stricter budget discipline, even as they struggled to rekindle growth from the ashes of austerity.

Only Great Britain and the Czech Republic refused to sign a fiscal compact in March that will impose quasi-automatic sanctions on countries that breach European Union budget deficit limits and will enshrine balanced budget rules in national law.

The accord was eagerly greeted by the European Central Bank which has long pressed euro zone governments to put their houses in order.

Milanovic said the participation of the Czech Republic was not yet certain due to a very complex constitutional procedure.

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said a deal was needed this week to be finalised in time to avert a chaotic Greek default in mid-March when it faces huge bond repayments.

After the summit Milanovic told the press he had an opportunity to talks to his European colleague "at and around the table." "I will not use the word lobbying because this is a wrong word, we do not lobby here, but we also talked about the ratification of Croatia's EU Accession Treaty because it is in our interest that this be done as soon as possible.