58 per cent of Croatians back EU membership: poll

(ZAGREB) - Almost 58 percent of Croatians plan to vote for EU membership against 23 percent who oppose it, according to a survey released Saturday, two weeks before a referendum on the subject.

More than 60 percent of the 1,300 people questioned in a poll by the Promocija Plus agency said they would definitely vote in the January 22 referendum on EU entry.

Eleven percent said they would probably go out to cast their ballot, said a national television report on the survey conducted January 3 and 4.

Croatian President Ivo Josipovic urged Croations to support Zagreb's EU entry.

"It would be irresponsible to miss this chance," he told journalists Saturday.

"It is of course legitimate to be against (membership) but I think the advantages that Croatia will get in becoming a member of the EU are extremely important," Josipovic was quoted as saying by the Hina news agency.

The former Yugoslav republic, independent since 1991, signed the EU accession treaty in December, paving the way for it to join the bloc by July 1, 2013.

The treaty has to be ratified by all 27 member states.

After Slovenia in 2004, Croatia will be the second of the six republic that made up the former Yugoslavia to join the bloc.