With the completion of negotiations and accession to the European Union, the Croatian people are going back home, because we really feel that we belong to this civilisation, Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor said in Katowice, Poland, on Monday.

She addressed the third European Economic Congress as a special guest. Also attending were the prime ministers of the Visegrad Group countries -- Viktor Orban of Hungary, Petar Necas of the Czech Republic and Donald Tusk of Poland, and European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek.

Kosor said that Croatia had done a huge job by meeting over 120 benchmarks, adding that it would join the EU ready and that from day one it would be an equal and reliable partner to the other members.

Croatia rightfully expects to complete the negotiations by the end of June, because it expects results after long years of negotiation, but the conclusion of the negotiations would also be a special present to the Croatian people who celebrate the 20th anniversary of independence of their state on 25 June, Kosor said.

In addition to the government's efforts to wrap up the EU entry talks as its most important project, Kosor said the government was also trying to additionally strengthen the country economically so that it would be stronger when it joined the Union.

In her address, Kosor highlighted Croatia's comparative natural advantages, such as huge resources of drinking water, possibilities for the environmentally-friendly production of agricultural products and the Adriatic Sea, as well as its geostrategic position in linking Europe's north and south in energy terms. She said that her government had proposed 18 energy projects which, when fully implemented, would be worth 4 billion kuna (544 million euros).

Croatia's entry will also benefit the EU itself, because of its contribution to the stabilisation and security of the Southeast Europe region.

Thanking the three prime ministers for the systematic support of their countries to Croatia on its path to EU membership, Kosor said that in the years after its accession Croatia would be just like the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland had been to her -- generous, supportive and willing to share its experience with other EU membership aspirants.

In his opening remarks, Polish Prime Minister Tusk said: For us Croatia is already an EU member and we are just waiting for that to be officially signed.