"The ideal scenario would be the elections and later the referendum. This is my opinion and it is not binding on anyone," the president said in an interview with Croatian Radio on Monday.

It is within the remit of the ruling majority and it is the responsibility of the government to fix a date for the elections, Josipovic said, pointing to the importance of separating the EU entry referendum from the elections so that voters would not tie their participation in the referendum with any political option.

Commenting on a statement by Austrian MEP Hannes Swoboda, the European Parliament's rapporteur for Croatia, that en election date should be determined after the completion of the country's EU accession negotiations, Josipovic said that it was friendly advice which should not burden people in Croatia.

The president ascribed the rising Euro-scepticism in Croatia to overlong negotiations between Zagreb and Brussels, which was why the advantages of EU membership were blurred.

"It is the task of all of us to show citizens the benefits of this path, as Croatia has hardly any economic future without the Union," he told the radio.

A negative outcome of the referendum would set back Croatia both economically and politically.

As for the results of some opinion polls showing a 70-percent support to ongoing anti-government protest rallies in Croatia, Josipovic said that the government should give serious thought to the decline in its popularity.

"The state is not undermined by these protests as long as they are within democratic and legal limits and free of violence," Josipovic said, adding that he believed that peaceful marches through city streets would continue unless the government and state institutions persuaded people otherwise.

It is hard to say whether the protests will cease if Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor says when parliamentary elections will be held, but the date of the elections will certainly bring certain relief, which will also have a good effect on the government, as it will be able to complete the EU accession negotiations in a more peaceful atmosphere, the president said, adding that peaceful protests were part of democratic tradition and did not impede the process of Croatia's integration with the EU.

The negotiations are impeded by the non-implementation of reforms and failure to meet EU criteria, he added.