Wammen said that the reason why the Danish parliament would be among the last to ratify the Croatian treaty was of a procedural nature and not because Denmark had suspicions about Croatia's readiness for EU membership.

We expect to complete this job in early May. In that way Denmark will do its part of the job so that Croatia can become a full member on July 1, Wammen told a joint press conference with Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Minister Vesna Pusic.

Denmark has supported Croatia's European path from the start and the fact that we are among the last should not be seen as if we did not want that, he added.

Wammen said that the government in Copenhagen did not expect any unpleasant surprises and believed that Croatia would join the bloc on July 1 as planned. Neither Denmark nor any other members will stand in Croatia's way, he stressed.

Denmark is one of the five EU member states that have not yet ratified Croatia's EU accession treaty and one of the four that have begun the ratification process. Slovenia is the only country that has not yet launched the necessary procedure in parliament because of its dispute with Croatia over the now defunct Slovenian bank Ljubljanska Banka.

Wammen said that after his meeting with Pusic he was even more convinced that the Croatian government and parliament would meet the remaining requirements before the next European Commission report and that good solutions would be found to the remaining issues.

Croatia is on the right track to the EU, the Danish minister said.

Pusic said that Wammen had arrived in Croatia at a right time to get first-hand information about progress in meeting the remaining membership criteria before the Commission's final monitoring report in spring. She described political and economic relations between Croatia and Denmark as excellent, as well as their cooperation in European institutions.

Croatia is interested in intensive cooperation once it joins the Union, Pusic said.