Of the eight parliamentary parties in the parliament, seven supported the treaty. One party, the Euro-sceptical and extreme rightist Swedish Democrats, in this their first mandate in the parliament, voted against the treaty.

Croatian Parliament Speaker Josip Leko attended the debate which ran through since morning. Across the board consensus exists in the Riksdag in support of Croatia's accession to the EU as they believe that enlargement will contribute toward a stronger and more competitive Europe.

Swedish MPs stressed that Zagreb was still faced with considerable work particularly with regard to corruption and the need to improve the judiciary and investment climate in the country.

"It was a pleasure to be in the Swedish parliament today and listen to the debate about Croatia's accession to the European Union. Our friends in the Swedish parliament point out two things: enlargement and Croatia's accession is in the EU's interest and Sweden believes it is in its interest too", Leko told journalists after the morning session of the debate.

Sweden is one of the nineteen countries that have ratified or are about to complete the ratification of Croatia's accession treaty with the 27-strong EU bloc.