The poll, published by the daily Jutarnji List, found 43 percent of those surveyed favour joining the Atlantic alliance while 20 percent said membership was "undesirable."

Twenty-two percent said they did not care and the remaining 15 percent gave no answer.

The poll also showed that 57 percent of Croatians supported the country's membership in the EU, while 16 percent were against it.

Croatia's moderate rulers, who took over from nationalists three years ago, have put the country's membership in the EU and NATO at the top of their agenda.

Croatia, which proclaimed independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991, joined NATO's Partnership for Peace program in 2000. The program is seen as the first step to joining the Alliance.

Zagreb hopes to enter NATO in 2004. It also has voiced hope of becoming a full-fledged member of the European Union by 2008.

SPACE.WIRE