Croatia votes to join the EU according to exit polls

[sondagefaux]

What if much more turned up to vote no but their ballot papers were trashed because they were inconvenient ?

The voting was observed by an NGO group which said that it was free and fair. There has been no tampering with the results.

[gijoe]

There has to be a referendum on an Accession Treaty here to allow them in. An opportunity for people to give the EU a kick in the teeth.

[Al.]

Croatian Serbs Await Return of Lost Homes - IWPR Institute for War & Peace Reporting - P230

I would rather listen to these guys than the OSCE shills.

UN agency welcomes Serbia-Croatia agreement on refugee, return issues

There is still a bit to go yet. Croatia still celebrates Operation Storm as a national holiday and many Serbs who originally lived in Kraijina are having difficulties reclaiming their properties although a few have returned.

Croatia's right in line with the EU. After all, they owe them after the recognition of "independence" from Yugoslavia back in 1991.

There has to be a referendum on an Accession Treaty here to allow them in. An opportunity for people to give the EU a kick in the teeth.

That's not going to happen in Croatia. There are some very pro-German countries out there that want to be a part of this new empire; this is one of them.

[sondagefaux]

There has to be a referendum on an Accession Treaty here to allow them in. An opportunity for people to give the EU a kick in the teeth.

No there doesn't. There has never been a referendum on an accession treaty when other countries have joined the EU.

Croatia's accession to the EU does not affect Ireland's sovereignty and it can be approved by the Oireachtas under the Irish constitution.

[Rocky]

Good news and well done to Croatia.

[Dr Pat]

The very low turnout is of concern. What does it signify - that the majority of Croats are indifferent, ambiguous on the issue, ignorant or by not participating totally alienated from the political process?

Presumably, at least the Germans will keep coming in the summertime to the beaches with their euros and the billboards supporting General Ante Gotovina, the convicted war criminal e.g. on the airport road into Dubrovnik will be maintained and the State will still celebrate Operation Storm which when retaking the Krajina resulted in the exodus of 250,000 Serbs who by and large are now scattered over the rest of the Balkans. In addition, the people of Split, etc will presumably continue to successfully protest against gay right activists publicly parading in support of LBGT recognition in wider Croat society.

[Passer-by]

The very low turnout is of concern. What does it signify - that the majority of Croats are indifferent, ambiguous on the issue, ignorant or by not participating totally alienated from the political process?

More likely that the result was a foregone conclusion. Presumably if people believed that the result was going to be tighter than voters on both the "Yes" and "No" sides would have been more motivated to go and vote.

[Yehudah]

There has to be a referendum on an Accession Treaty here to allow them in. An opportunity for people to give the EU a kick in the teeth.

That is extremely immature. There is no obligation or need to hold a referendum on the membership of another country and even if there was perhaps it would be best to vote based on the application of that country rather than just throw a tantrum via the ballot box?

[Yehudah]

Also congratulations Croatia, I hope the EU is in better shape when you join in 2013 than it is now.

[kerdasi amaq]

67 percent of the Croatian electorate voted yes in todays referendum.

WELCOME TO EUROPE, CROATIA!

Welcome, Croatia, to the EUSSR. The founders of the EU revere the Soviet Union and have used the USSR as their model for European Union.