Croatians began voting on Sunday for their first members of the European Parliament.

Croatians began voting on Sunday for their first members of the European Parliament, with expected low turnout reflecting tepid enthusiasm for membership in a European Union that Croatia is set to join on July 1.

Some 3.7 million people who are eligible to vote will select the 12 lawmakers in a vote for which the former Yugoslav republic's officials insisted is "historic" and a milestone following years of difficult reforms.

However, ordinary citizens seem to be more concerned by the sluggish tourism-dependent economy which has not grown since 2009.

While opinion polls show that slightly more than half of the population want Croatia to become the European Union's 28th member, analysts are predicting the turnout for Sunday's poll will be low.

At a referendum on EU entry, held in January last year, the turnout was 44 percent, with 66 percent of Croatians casting a 'Yes' vote.

Interest may also be low because the deputies' mandate will be for one year only, until Europe-wide elections in 2014 will choose a new European Parliament for the following five years.

Polling stations that opened at 05:00 GMT will close 12 hours later. First partial official results were expected around 20:00 GMT.