The date of parliamentary elections will be announced by the end of June, by which time the accession negotiations with the European Union are expected to be completed, Prime Minister and president of the Croatian Democratic Union Jadranka Kosor said on Monday after meeting the coalition partners.

Kosor told the press the meeting focused on "mobilising all forces so that the remaining (negotiation) chapters are closed by the end of June."

"We also talked about embarking even more forcefully on completing the negotiations by the end of June, about closing Chapter 8 (Competition Policy), and notably Chapter 23 (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights), and about an additional action plan so the negotiations are finished by the end of June," Kosor said, highlighting the importance of strengthening parliamentary support towards achieving that goal and adding that she would soon discuss this with the opposition as well.

Kosor said the ruling coalition was strong and stable and that the government had the unequivocal support of its partners to complete the EU entry talks as well as in the economic recovery and the continuation of the fight against corruption and crime.

She added they were also unanimous that parliamentary elections should be held separately from the EU accession referendum.

HSS president Josip Friscic, SDSS president Milorad Pupovac and independent MP Djurdja Adlesic said they were satisfied with today's meeting, stressing that the main objective was a good completion of the accession negotiations.

"It was agreed today to hold parliamentary elections by the end of the year. This coalition doesn't want to run away from citizens," Friscic said, voicing confidence that it would be possible to set the election date by the end of June.

He felt that the EU entry talks would be wrapped up by the end of June since no ministry had voiced doubts as to the meeting of all the benchmarks.

Pupovac said it was most important to "prevent losing focus on the completion of the negotiations," which he added had started happening.

"We decided that, as the ruling coalition, we should refocus on completing the negotiations by the end of June," he said.

With that goal in mind, it is necessary to create synergy in the entire society as well as the prerequisites for completing the negotiations and for "holding elections in accordance with citizens' expectations," said Pupovac.