ZAGREB, Croatia, June 18 (UPI) -- Croatia has been formally invited to begin European Union membership talks, Croatian television reported Friday.
European leaders gave the go-ahead for the talks to begin in early 2005. Croatia hopes to join the European Union in 2007 along with Bulgaria and Romania. But the European Union May 1 brought in 10 new members in its biggest ever expansion and many analysts believe it is unrealistic to expect a new wave of enlargement in just three years time. They expect the three countries to be brought in in 2009 or 2010.
Croatia has made big strides since the Balkan wars of the 1990s and hopes to emulate neighboring Slovenia -- another former Yugoslav Republic -- in joining the European Union.
The country suffers from high unemployment -- almost 19 percent -- and sluggish economic growth.
