(E) EC Chief Expresses Hope Croatia Will Join EU by 2009
New EC Chief Expresses Hope Croatia Will Join EU by End of 2009
19/11/2004 ZAGREB, Croatia – Newly appointed European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Thursday (18 November) that he hopes Croatia would be able to join the EU by the end of 2009. Zagreb expects to be given a date for starting accession talks in early 2005 and join the Union as soon as possible, possibly in 2007 with Bulgaria and Romania. Most observers find that timeframe unlikely.
Also Thursday, a crowd of 10,000 people gathered in Vukovar to commemorate the city's fall to Serb forces in 1991. Church bells rang across the country, while in Vukovar, mourners gathered at the hospital where more than 250 people were executed. (Vjesnik - 19/11/04; HINA, HRT, AFP - 18/11/04
