Croatia’s membership within the EU became effective on the 1st of July and comes almost 20 years after the country fought a brutal war of independence, and 10 years after it applied for EU membership.

But correspondents say enthusiasm for the EU in the country has been dampened (down from 85% approval to just 60%) by the Eurozone crisis and Croatia’s own economic problems, including 20% unemployment and the national debt officially classed as ‘junk’.

The question now is whether EU membership will spark any further interest in the Croatian property market, considering that Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland all saw dramatic increases in property transactions after joining the EU.

However, this time most experts doubt the entrance into the EU will provide a similar spark to the former Yugoslavia republic. Jones Lang LaSalle concluded in a recent report: ‘Whilst we are optimistic that it will have a positive influence on the real estate market, the difficult economic conditions will somewhat limit the effects that were seen by previous entrants.’

JLL did add however that Croatia is ‘uniquely positioned’ to benefit from increased EU trade, thanks to its strategic location.