Croatian European Union membership referendum, 2012

Croatian European Union membership referendum, 2012
Approves accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union, as required prior to the Croatian Parliament ratifying the EU Accession Treaty
Results Votes  % Yes 1,299,008 7001666700000000000♠66.67% No 649,490 7001333300000000000♠33.33% Valid votes 1,948,498 7001994000000000000♠99.40% Invalid or blank votes 11,733 6999600000000000000♠0.6% Total votes 1,960,231 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 4,504,765 7001435100000000000♠43.51%
Results by county   Yes 55%–60%   Yes 60%–65%   Yes 65%–70%   Yes 70%–75%   Yes >75%
Source: State Election Committee

A referendum on the EU accession of the Republic of Croatia was held on 22 January 2012. Croatia finished (membership) negotiations on 30 June 2011 and signed the Treaty of Accession on 9 December 2011, setting it on course to become the bloc's 28th member state. The Constitution of Croatia requires that a binding referendum be held on any political union reducing national sovereignty, such as via European Union membership. On 23 December 2011 the Croatian Parliament made a preliminary decision on EU accession and determined that the referendum would be held on 22 January 2012. The 2012 Croatian EU accession referendum was the first referendum held in Croatia since the Croatian independence referendum held more than 20 years earlier, in 1991.

The Croatian EU accession referendum campaign officially began on 3 January 2012; a yes vote was supported by both the political parties in government and the larger opposition parties in Croatia. The largest parties' joint support of EU membership existed since 2005, when the Alliance for Europe (Croatian: Savez za Europu) was set up as an informal alliance aimed at achieving membership as a strategic goal of Croatian foreign policy. Opposition to Croatian EU accession was voiced by non-parliamentary parties only. The pro-membership and informational campaign – which included television promotional videos, addresses by leading government and opposition politicians, and information booklets mailed to every household in Croatia – was announced to have cost 4.8 million kuna (c. €640,000). Opinion polling was regularly carried out by three different agencies; since May 2011, percentages supporting EU membership ranged between 55% and 63%. The Croatian State Election Committee was in charge of vote organization, ballot counting and result publication.