European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek on Friday welcomed the European Commission's recommendation for closing Croatia's European Union accession negotiations, expressing confidence that the member-states would accept the recommendation as soon as possible.
Croatia has made a great step today on its road towards the European Union, Buzek said.
Croatia's admission will enlarge the area of peace, democracy and rule of law. It will be a signal to the entire region that the EU door remains open for all countries meeting the requirements. The European Parliament will welcome Croatia with open arms. We hope that on 1 July 2013, we will be able to celebrate the arrival of the EU's 28th member, said Buzek.
He also congratulated the Croatian government and people on this great achievement.
The European Commission's decision was also warmly welcomed by the co-chair of the EU-Croatia Joint Parliamentary Committee, Gunnar Hoekmark, saying it paved the way for the member countries to adopt a quick decision on the completion of the negotiations.
Croatia is proof that the new enlargement model, reinforced by a strong system of benchmarks, works. When applied strictly, the system silences those sceptics who would like to claim that the EU is tired of enlargement, said the Swedish MEP.
The Green Group in the European Parliament also welcomed the Commission's recommendation.
We are glad that Croatia is in the final stage of the accession process, the group's spokeswoman, Franziska Brantner, said in a statement.
She called on Croatia to continue with reforms and solving problems in the judiciary and fundamental rights.
Some of those problems are still there and cannot be solved overnight. Croatia must therefore continue meeting reform requirements and the Commission must monitor Croatia's progress from the completion of the negotiations until EU accession, Brantner said.
The president of the European People's Party, Wilfried Martens, congratulated Croatian Prime Minister and HDZ leader Jadranka Kosor on the successful reforms that led to the European Commission's recommendation for closing the accession negotiations.
"I would like to warmly congratulate PM Jadranka Kosor for today's historic announcement by the European Commission. PM Kosor and her government have worked very hard to implement the necessary reforms, so today's announcement is well deserved," Martens said.
"Thanks to Jadranka Kosor's outstanding political skills and statesmanship, Croatia has finally secured its place as EU's 28th Member State, starting July 1st 2013. I look forward to personally congratulating her at the June 23rd EPP summit in Brussels," Martens said.
