Pope supports Croatia's bid to join EU

ZAGREB, Croatia -- Pope Benedict XVI strongly backed Croatia's bid to join the European Union as he arrived in the Balkan nation Saturday, but said he could understand fears among euroskeptics of the EU's "overly strong" centralized bureaucracy.

The pontiff also expressed the Vatican's long-running concern that Europe needs to be reminded of its Christian roots "for the sake of historical truth" as he began his first trip as pope to Croatia, a deeply Roman Catholic country that his predecessor visited three times during and after the bloody Balkan wars of the 1990s.

Benedict, 84, is spending the weekend to mark the Croatian church's national family day, and he was warmly welcomed by thousands of young Croats who braved a steady rain while waiting for Benedict to arrive for an evening prayer vigil.

"We will stay here all night if we have to," said Josipa Petrocic as she stood in Zagreb's main square amid a sea of Croats wearing plastic ponchos and singing and dancing. "We do not mind the rain, we would stay even if it snows because we love the pope."

Benedict's visit is a boost to the conservative government's efforts to complete EU accession negotiations. Croatia is expected to learn this month or next if negotiations to join the 27-member EU bloc can be concluded, with membership expected in 2012 or 2013. The yearlong process has soured many Croatians on the EU.

Benedict sought to encourage Croatia's EU bid, saying it was "logical, just and necessary" that Croatia join the EU given its history and culture is so strongly rooted in that of Europe.

The Vatican and Croatia, which is 89.8 percent Roman Catholic, have long had solid ties: The Holy See was one of the first to recognize Croatia when it declared independence from Serb-led Yugoslavia in 1991, and the Vatican is eager to have another stalwart Catholic country in the EU bloc.