The European Parliament today voted to adopt a report on Croatia's EU accession. The Greens support Croatian accession, set for July 2013, but have called on the government to continue with its reforms, notably in the areas of justice and fundamental freedoms. After the vote, Green foreign policy spokesperson Franziska Brantner said:

“The EP has today given its broad support to Croatian membership, recognising the huge progress made towards reforms by Croatia. The process of reform is not over, however, and Croatia should continue on its reform path. This is particularly true in the areas of justice reform, anti-corruption reforms, minority protection and the prosecution of war crimes. The EP has today also criticised the crackdown on the last Gay Pride Parade in Split, in spite of efforts by the EPP to muzzle this criticism.

"The EP must now continue to monitor the situation to ensure Croatia implements all reforms and that the EU Commission properly oversees this. To this end, the Greens believe the EP should be given the role of assessing the 6-monthly monitoring reports on Croatia's progress. MEPs also have an important role to convince EU citizens that continuing the enlargement process in the western Balkans is in the interest of all in Europe."

Richard More O'Ferrall,

Press and media officer,

Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament

Mobile: +32-477-443842 - Ph. +32-22841669 (Brussels); +33-388174042

www.greens-efa.eu - http://twitter.com/GreensEP