(Transcript from World News Australia Radio)
July the first marks the European Union's formal welcome of its 28th member state: Croatia.
A decade-long accession process has brought the former Yugoslav country to this point.
But its admission comes at a time when the bloc is still labouring under the strain of austerity, and as public support for enlargement is declining both inside and outside its borders.
"Today is an historic day for Croatia and the European Union. Nearly nine years since you applied for membership, after six years of negotiations, the accession treaty of Croatia to the European Union is ready for signature. Croatia is set to become the 28th member state of the Union. Welcome to the European Union."
Welcoming words from the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, at the signing of Croatia's accession treaty in 2011.
Now, with the agreement ratified by all member states, the first of the war-ravaged former Yugoslav countries to join the EU has its eyes firmly on the prize.
But the journey has been all but smooth.
Cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has been a stumbling block, as have institutional and legislative reforms, and efforts to stamp out corruption.
Speaking to the BBC, Premier Zoran Milanovic said some difficult decisions have had to be made to fulfill conditions set out by the EU.
"Well, in Croatia the major reform was to reduce the public debt, to reduce the budget deficit. We can't afford a six or seven per cent budget deficit as the UK has at this point. We are down to three, it was five. We have downsized the budget in 2012 for the first time. Those things count."
Research into public attitudes to accession conducted by the EU's delegation in Croatia suggests that most Croats don't believe the country's economy is ready for membership.
Unemployment is at over 20 per cent, and agencies Moody's and Standard and Poor's have cut Croatia's sovereign debt rating to the lowest possible: junk status.
Some Croats are hopeful about future employment prospects and have reasonable confidence in the work of European institutions, but the research says those surveyed are overwhelmingly of the view that entry into the E-U will do more harm than good.
Heading the research was Dragan Bagic from the University of Zagreb.
He's told Al Jazeera Balkans people are worried that if Croatia is admitted to the EU, the cost of living will go up.
"It is interesting to see the highest percentage of the population expects EU membership to have a negative impact on people's standard of living. This is directly linked to an expectation, what we could call a myth, that as a result of entering the EU, prices will rise significantly."
Croatia's government is hoping EU membership will attract foreign investment, boosting growth and employment.
But according to the World Bank, Croatia has been in recession for four years, and a recent paper by the European Commission says it may have to be put under formal EU scrutiny almost as soon as it enters the bloc.
The country's budget deficit worries the Commission, as does its soaring public debt and an unappealing business environment, marred by a lack of competition, poor legal protections for investors and a weak public administration.
At the same time, there's also the matter of diplomatic relations, particularly with Serbia, as political tensions dating back to the 1990s conflict re-emerge.
Premier Zoran Milanovic told the BBC Croatia is committed to resolving problems with Serbia, including the mutual claims of genocide still before the International Court of Justice.
"We'll work and do anything to resolve the issue. We've been deep into that. It was launched in 1999, then there was a counter-action by Serbia, and now we are not stuck, but it will be a lengthy process that might cost us both a lot."
The EU says its doors are open to other Balkan countries as long as they satisfy the required conditions.
Known as the Copenhagen Criteria, they demand from aspiring members democracy, a market economy, and the fulfilment of obligations associated with EU membership -- such as monthly payments to the European Commission.
For countries in southeastern Europe, a special category was created to help prepare for accession, which extends some trade and other assistance in exchange for starting with reforms.
Albania, a potential candidate country, has completed the Stabilisation and Association Process, and last year the European Commission recommended it be granted candidate status.
Neighbouring Kosovo is the most recent to join the EU waiting list, even though it's not yet been recongised by the United Nations and some EU member states.
Signing an agreement to normalise relations with Serbia, from which it declared independence in 2008, clears the way for both it and Serbia, already a candidate country, to advance through the accession process.
Montenegro and Macedonia are also already on the path to EU membership.
Croatian President Ivo Josipovic says his country is ready to support its neighbours.
"Participating in European Union institutions, Croatia will certainly promote the politics of enlargement. I believe this is in our strategic interest and in the interest of the European Union. On the other hand, the expectation that enlargement will proceed at a certain speed, I'd prefer to see it as an estimate of the time it will take to implement necessary reforms, rather than an indication of the will for expansion. We spent many years fulfilling the requirements that were justifiably before us. I would like to see our neighbours do the same as soon as possible."
But the EU warns that Bosnia and Herzegovina is falling further behind than other countries in the region.
It blames stalling political and economic reforms, corruption, political divisions and divisive rhetoric reminiscent of the 1990s war fought between its constituent Serbian, Croatian and Bosniak populations.
Doctor Ben Wellings is the Convenor of European Studies at the Australian National University in Canberra.
He says EU membership could be what's needed to help secure stability in the Balkans, and prevent a return to violence.
"It would allow an additional forum for the discussion of political difficulties to be available to countries in the western Balkans. Also if these discussions were happening at an EU level, then there are other constraints on the political actors because none of the political actors in the EU want to see another conflict, and certainly not within it."
The Turkish Prime Minister's response to anti-government protests has renewed debate about who or what else might the EU not want within its borders.
Turkey began negotiations in 2005, but dealings with the EU have been difficult, in part on account of its unresolved relations with Cyprus and opposition from some member states.
Earlier this week the EU announced accession talks would resume for the first time in around three years.
But now some member states, led by Germany, have called for negotiations to be postponed again, allegedly over their objection to how Recep Tayyip Erdogan has dealt with the civil unrest.
The ANU's Dr Ben Wellings says there's more to the matter.
"There's a notion that Turkey might be considered both too big, too poor, but also too Muslim to join the EU. Of course no one would state that openly, but there is a politics of resistance to joining the EU based on some of those ideas. Similarly the European Parliament in the last few years is starting to suggest the Turkey is not abiding by the Copenhagen Criteria and is not able to meet them, and this action from the European Parliament is a criticism that's to do with human rights in particular. In Turkey, for their part, opinion that was very strongly favourable of joining the EU, say ten years ago, is now quite against it. So, relations have soured there and the Turkish government perhaps thinks it needs the EU less than it did ten years ago, given the EU's problems over the eurozone and also given Turkey's economic status at the moment and its rise as a regional power."
According to opinion polls in Iceland, it too may have had a change of heart about the EU.
Four years ago the Nordic country applied for membership in the midst of an economic and banking crisis.
Under a new centre-right government, it has now put a hold on accession talks.
Iceland's prime minister, Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson, says there's concern about how years of sovereign debt crisis have changed the EU.
"The EU is going through dramatic changes, still faced with an enormous crisis, an unsolved crisis. It's certain that there will be big developments within the EU in the coming years. So it's only logical for Iceland to step back and see what sort of organisation the EU will become."
