President Barroso met the new Prime Minister of Croatia, Mr Zoran Milanović on 30 January ahead of the informal European Council. President Barroso congratulated him on his recent appointment and the successful result of the recent Croatian accession referendum. He stressed that with this solid mandate, the new Government should now continue on the reform path towards full EU membership in July 2013 and ensure that all the commitments taken in the accession negotiations are fully respected, notably in the fields of the judiciary, human rights and competition. The Commission would continue to monitor this process.