Spanish lower house ratifies Croatia-EU treaty

ZAGREB, Oct 11 (Hina) - The Congress of Deputies, the lower house of the Spanish bicameral parliament, unanimously ratified Croatia's Treaty of Accession with the European Union on Thursday, the Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs stated in a press release.

All deputies who participated in the debate on the ratification assessed that Croatia had met the EU membership requirements, and 350 MPs, government officials and the parliament speaker hailed the adoption of the law on the ratification with applause.

The next step is the ratification of the document by the upper house, the Senate of Spain.

Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic telephoned her Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel García-Margallo y Marfil to thank him for the ratification.

So far, 16 members of the 27-strong European bloc have ratified the Croatia-EU treaty.