Croatian President Ivo Josipovic has said that it is realistic for Croatia to complete its EU entry talks in 2011 and for its accession treaty to be ratified in 2012.
In an interview for Croatian Television on Friday evening, Josipovic said that he would not want this to happen after 1 January 2013 because "it would leave us without funds for the stabilisation of the economy and society as a whole."
He also said that changes to the Lisbon Treaty that were "pushed through" by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel would not affect Croatia's integration with the EU.
He added that the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Croatia scheduled for 2011 would be very important in that regard.
"It will be a very important event in the year when we expect the accession talks to be completed... we have the full support of the Vatican," Josipovic said, adding that the Pope's visit was a result of coordinated efforts by Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor, the Office of the President and the Catholic Church in Croatia.
Josipovic also commented on a forthcoming visit of Serbian President Boris Tadic to Ovcara and Paulin Dvor, two places of suffering of the Croat and Serb peoples in Croatia.
"I think that all people who care about Croatia's future understand that we must be reconciled with our neighbours. That is also a part of the issue of security and development of economic relations," he said, adding that "relations with all neighbouring countries must go in that direction".
"This is very important for Croatia. Normalisation of relations is in Croatia's best interest," the President said.
