The turnout has been 43.58 per cent, namely 1,924,585 voters, of whom 1,274,815 have voted in favour of accession.

The turnout in Croatia has been 47.50 per cent and abroad it has been 3.47 per cent, or 43.58 per cent in total, Hrvatin said.

A total of 638,278 citizens have voted against EU accession, there have been 10,855 invalid ballots and 637 have not been put in the appropriate boxes.

A little over 4.5 million voters in Croatia and abroad were eligible to vote in the referendum.

Hrvatin said the final result would be announced after the vote ended at all polling stations abroad, adding that the last to close would be the polling station in Los Angeles at 4 a.m. Croatian time.

The vote abroad was organised at 106 polling places in 52 countries, where the support for accession has been 84.14 per cent.

Hrvatin reiterated that the referendum "has passed in order, without outbursts or major incidents."

Only one irregularity has been reported, in Zagreb, by the Croatian Pure Party of Rights, on which the State Election Commission will decide within the legal deadline, he said.

A Polish news agency reporter asked how come the number of eligible voters was higher than the number of Croatian citizens. Hrvatin referred her to an administrative body.