Quality Croatia property investment receives a boost?

The European Union Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said that Croatia should be able to complete European Union membership talks by the end of 2009, which would open the door for Croatia to become the 28th EU nation in 2010. He stated he has every confidence that the talks with Croatia on EU accession would be finished by the end of the next year. The statement was issued during a press interview after his meeting with the Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader on Thursday 13th March in Brussels. Barroso said:

This autumn will mark the third anniversary of the start of the negotiations. In the meantime Croatia is in a position to make 2008 a decisive year of progress. I am very happy with the assurances which Prime Minister Sanader (of Croatia) gave me concerning the reforms and conditions which need to be met. I therefore confirm that in this autumn’s Enlargement package, the Commission will present an indicative timetable for the technical conclusion of the negotiations in 2009, provided a number of conditions are met by Croatia. In conclusion, I have every confidence that Croatia will be able to meet the conditions, every confidence that the Commission will therefore be able to set out such a conditional roadmap in the autumn, and every confidence that it should be possible to conclude the technical negotiations next year …

This announcement is good news for those considering an investment abroad. Despite the current world economic uncertainty, Croatia’s entry to the EU is likely to trigger a period of strong economic growth in the country, with additional foreign interest driving increases in sectors such as tourism and real estate which the country’s government has been driving through. This trend can already be seen to be starting. A recent article in the UK’s Telegraph.co.uk reported that cash-rich investors from Russia are “snapping up everything in sight – not just billionaires buying in London, but a new business class. They are looking for luxury investments and holiday homes outside Russia because luxury is so expensive at home … and are buying in prime locations in several destinations including Croatia.