London ( CNN ) -- On July 1 , 2013 the 27-nation European Union will become 28 . With a low credit rating of junk and a political class stained by accusations of endemic corruption , the Balkan state of Croatia is soon to become the EU 's latest addition . Brussels is embracing recession-marred Croatia , three years into a debt crisis that is plaguing countries across southern Europe . Leading economies such as Spain and Italy are struggling to cope with high borrowing costs and many EU nations are suffering from chronic unemployment . But for Croatia , joining Europe 's elite club will mark the end a 10-year campaign to enter the region 's single market . As one of the Balkan countries to emerge from the ruins of Yugoslavia in the 1990s , Croatia will be only the second country to join the EU after Slovenia in 2004 . James Ker-Lindsay , a senior research fellow in South East European politics at the London School of Economics , says to some extent Croatia `` got lucky '' and its imminent membership is down to having `` friends in the right places . '' He told CNN : `` There 's always been this sense that Croatia has had a strong champion in Germany and Austria . They have always taken a very strong position on Croatian membership . '' Read more : The eurozone 's reluctant leader . Ker-Lindsay said he believes some EU member states are turning a `` blind eye '' to a number of Croatia 's problems in favour of the political symbolism that enlargement in the Western Balkans represents . He added : `` It 's mission accomplished ... The time for conditionality has gone . '' Economy . One of the challenges facing Croatia is its growth prospects . The financial crash of 2008 brought about a harsh double-dip recession that left the country 's economy lingering in the doldrums . Forecasts for 2012 project the economy contracted 1.9 % . Unemployment peaked at 17.3 % which is behind only Greece and Spain , according to Eurostat - the European Commission 's data archive . Croatia relies heavily on its sun-kissed Adriatic coast to draw tourism and its state-run shipyards for revenue -- which will either face privatization or bankruptcy under the EU 's accession treaty . Read more : Europe 's 10 hottest destinations for 2013 . The country 's economic strife echoes the problems compounding many southern European nations . A high budget deficit , rising national debt and a lack of competitiveness has resulted in stagnating growth . Will Bartlett , a senior research fellow in the political economy of South East Europe at the London School of Economics , told CNN : `` The EU will not be a panacea for Croatia 's economy . '' Bartlett says that at the turn of the century , Croatia 's banking industry became largely foreign-owned by European banks . Despite not being in the single currency , many small businesses in Croatia have debts denominated in euros rather than in kuna - the country 's domestic currency - exposing them to exchange rate risk . Bartlett added : `` It 's very similar to Greece because it 's a highly euro-ized economy ... Unlike Greece they do n't have access to any of the eurozone bailout funds . They 're very much on their own . '' Read more : Greece : When anger goes beyond despair . In December , Standard & Poor 's - one of the three big credit rating agencies - downgraded Croatia to the lowest investment status known as `` junk . '' This led to the Prime Minister Zoran MilanoviÄ‡ rebuffing suggestions that Croatia would need a bailout from the International Monetary Fund . Political corruption . Croatia is also in the midst of cleaning up a political class that is rife with corruption . Since the country 's inception in the early 1990s , it has struggled to choke off profiteering from those in positions of power . Transparency International - an organization tackling corruption -- ranked Croatia below Rwanda , Jordan and Cuba in its Corruption Perceptions Index for 2012 . But the country still came in above Italy - Europe 's third largest economy . Zorislav Petrovic , head of Transparency Internernational in Croatia said : `` The country 's evolution has been very slow since 1990 . '' But the current government - led by Milanovic - is taking steps to clean up the country 's act under close supervision from the European Union . In November last year , the country 's former Prime Minister , Ivo Sanader , was jailed for 10 years after being found guilty of taking pay-offs from foreign companies . Sanader - who was premier from 2004 to 2009 - had fled the country but was arrested in Austria . Kristof Bender , deputy chairman of the policy institute , European Stability Initiative , says Croatia 's progress to the `` doorstep of the European Union '' is quite remarkable . He told CNN : `` We must n't forget how bad it [ Croatia ] was in the 1990s . The darkest moments of war , occupation , mass killings , ethnic cleansing , and autocratic leadership and crony capitalism were all there . '' Bender recalls a conversation he had two years ago with Vesna PusiÄ‡ , now Croatia 's foreign minister . She told him that `` no one dares to engage in corruption because everyone is so scared now ... no one is immune . '' Croatia joining the EU will be `` highly beneficial '' for the accession process , according to Bender , as it will inspire other `` young democracies '' in the Balkans and beyond to join the European movement .
Croatia will be only the second ex-Yugoslav country to join the EU after Slovenia in 2004 . Croatia relies heavily on its Adriatic coast to draw tourism and its state-run shipyards . TL;DR The European Union is set to open talks with Serbia over a new deal for migrants who cross from Greece into Macedonia, which has been under pressure by neighboring countries since last year's migrant