Croatia won't hold referendum on NATO membership

15/04/2008

ZAGREB, Croatia -- Local media reported on Monday (April 14th) that Croatia will not hold a referendum on NATO membership after all. Around 40 NGOs failed to gather the 450,000 signatures necessary to organise the referendum. They managed to gather a little over 150,000 signatures in two weeks. Organisers of the petition said their funding was limited, the time frame was too short, and the number of signatures needed to launch the referendum was too high. Analysts said the effort was not well organised and was not supported openly enough by the media and public figures. Croatia was invited to join NATO earlier this month at the Alliance's summit in Bucharest. (Javno.com, DPA, HRT - 14/04/08)