She was speaking to the press in Osijek in the break of a conference of the Liberal South East European Network (LIBSEEN), a South East European alliance of liberal parties which she presides over.

Pusic said 17 EU countries had ratified Croatia's accession treaty to date, adding that four more would do so by year's end and the last six by next March. She added that there remained ten items "to iron out."

Pusic, who is also a vice president of the Croatian People's Party (HNS), underlined the importance of cooperation of presidents of liberal democrats of South East Europe, adding that the LIBSEEN conference was discussing 2012 as a year of important political change, European partnership in the region, and the crisis in the euro zone.

The president of Serbia's Liberal Democratic Party, Cedomir Jovanovic, said he was looking forward to Croatia's EU accession. The idea of partnership between South East Europe's liberal democrats is developing well and answers many questions of common interest for the region, he added.

Asked by the press to comment on the central bank governor's statement that the economic situation in Croatia was extremely serious, Pusic said experts must respond to such a serious warning.