Croatia's chief negotiator in the membership talks with the European Union, Vladimir Drobnjak, said at a panel in Vukovar on Wednesday that Croats should not be afraid of the EU and that, if it assessed that its membership in the Union was detrimental, Croatia could always leave the EU.
Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty gives every EU member the right to decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements, Drobnjak said at the event.
As for fears about Croatia being outvoted in the EU on matters it considers important to itself, Drobnjak said that there were issues which were decided upon through a complex weighted voting system and that countries could also use their veto on certain issues.
As for remarks that the EU is in a crisis, which is why the time is not right for Croatia to join, the Croatian diplomat said that the EU, just as the entire world, was undergoing a crisis.
It should be remembered that the European Union makes up 20 percent of the global economy and that seven percent of the global population live in the Union, he said, adding that Croatia's huge interest is to be a part of the common EU market, which he described as the strongest market in the world.
