The EU Union Has Said Croatia Can Become Its 28th Member On July 1, 2013 After Completing Seven Years Of Hard Entry Talks In June Last Year.

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Opinion polls suggest the vote will pass, with the last one, released Sat., putting support at 61 percent.

Supporters say a “No” vote would leave Croatia stuck with wrestling fellow ex-Yugoslav republics in the western Balkans, which was despoiled by war in the 1990s and is the only part of southeastern Europe still outside the ECU.

But some Croats fear a loss of sovereignty if the country joins now, after only twenty years as an independent state.

“Croatia will not lose its sovereignty or natural resources, nor will it be ruled by the EU,” President Ivo Josipovic declared in a written statement to the country Sat..

“Europe will not solve all our Problems, but it is a great opportunity.”

The European Union has announced Croatia can become its 28th member on July one, 2013 after completing seven years of tricky entry talks in June last year. It would become the second previous Yugoslav republic to join, following Slovenia in 2004.

The “No” camp is playing on worries of a wave of foreigners buying Croatian firms and property in Croatia real estate. Some say the timing is all wrong and the ECU is not what it was once given the debt crisis that is threatening the single currency.

Many complain they’re unsure what membership will mean for the country of 4.3 million people.

CHURCH BACKING

“My son is all excited and in favour, but I am not,” said Jasna, a 46-year-old hairdresser from the capital, Zagreb. “There are just so many things I don’t know and don’t know about the ECU that I can’t vote ‘Yes’.”

The “Yes” camp this week won the endorsement of Croatia’s potent Roman Catholic church as well as a previous wartime general on trial for war crimes but regarded by many Croats as a nationwide hero.

“I will vote for membership of the ECU because that’s where we belong,” Ante Gotovina told state news agency Hina through his counsels from the U.N. War crimes tribunal in The Hague.

Croatia broke away from Yugoslavia in a 1991-95 war, and then saw powerful growth on the back of foreign lending and waves of tourists to its stunning Adriatic coast.

But its economy has been hit hard by the world economic crisis. Researchers and govt. officers warn a refusal of ECU advent Sun. would bring down the nations credit status, deter financiers and further moisten any prospect of a quick economic recovery.

If the referendum passes, all ECU member states must ratify Croatia’s accession before it can join. It will not join the Euro Buck zone yet.

Croatia’s current GDP per capita is 61 percent of the ECU average. It expects some 450 million euros, or one p.c of its GDP, from ECU funds for development projects in the first year alone.

“Croatia does not have, and will not have anytime soon, the money to build infrastructure, develop agricultural areas and finance labor market reforms,” asserted Zdravko Petak, a professor of political science in Zagreb.

“The only thing that can kickstart Croatia’s growth is Western European money,” he announced.

Voting starts at seven a.m. ( 0600 GMT ) and ends at seven p.m. ( 1800 GMT ). First results are predicted roughly an hour after polls close as reported tagza.com.