Josipovic said during a visit to the northern Croatian town of Cakovec and Medjimurje County he was confident that the Croatian government's objective to wrap up EU entry talks by the end of June so that Croatia could join the bloc in 2013 was realistically possible.

"Croatia received strong support for this plan not only from Germany, which I recently visited, but also from other countries, of course on the condition that we meet the necessary criteria. I am confident that we are close to that (objective) and that we can look at it with optimism," Josipovic said, urging the government to proceed full steam ahead and dispel pessimistic statements that Croatia's EU admission would be delayed.

Croatia can wrap up its accession negotiations with the European Union in June and join in 2013 at the earliest or in 2014 at the latest, the European Parliament's rapporteur on Croatia, Hannes Swoboda, said in Brussels on Tuesday.

Asked when Croatia could join the Union, Swoboda said that if the negotiations were completed in June, the European Parliament would be able to give its consent for the signing of an accession treaty in October at the earliest.

After the European Parliament gives its consent, member countries can sign the treaty, to be followed by an accession referendum in Croatia, he said, adding that many countries would begin ratifying the treaty after it was ratified by Croatia.

Ratification can begin only in early 2012 and if it is completed in one year, that would be for the Guinness Book of Records, in which case Croatia could join the EU in early 2013. If there are problems with the ratification, Croatia could join in 2014, but in any case, Croatia should be a full member in 2014 and take part in elections for the European Parliament. That's realistic. I always try to be realistic. I don't want to create illusions, Swoboda said.