2005
3 October
Photo: European Union
Start of European Union accession negotiations
Two and a half years after Zagreb's application for membership, the 27 Member States officially opened in Luxembourg Croatia's European Union accession negotiations led by Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Kolinda Grabar- Kitarović (to be elected President of Croatia in 2015). Opened within a challenging political context after the rejection of the European Constitutional Treaty by the French and the Dutch, these negotiations would prove to be rather demanding for the candidate country.
