France welcomes Croatia as 28th member of the European Union

The French government on Friday said it welcomes the entry of Croatia into the European Union, thus becoming the EU's 28th member. Croatia is due to officially join the EU on July 1 after more than eight years of difficult negotiations and the implementation of wide-reaching reforms in the Balkan country. As one of the major countries to emerge from the former Yugoslavia, Croatia's entry into the EU is viewed as a stabilising factor for the region that has been wracked by war since the break-up of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo are still very much alive in the Balkans. "Croatia has now set an example and thus shows the way to other countries of the region," the French Foreign Ministry said. Croatia's traditional enemy, Serbia, is currently going through the administrative steps to bid for EU membership, having complied with European demands on human rights and the handing over of war criminals to the international criminal tribunal, including former president Slobodan Milosevic. Croatia also complied with similar requests. France said that it has long supported the Croatian bid to become an EU member and President Francois Hollande has invited members of the Croatian army to the traditional "Bastille Day" military parade on the Champs Elysees, where they will parade in front of their president Ivo Josipovic, who is to be the honoured guest of the French leader here on July 14.