Geneva (19 March 2018): The Republic of Croatia has officially joined the Convention to become the 20th Contracting State. Croatia applied for membership back on 31 January 2014. An inspection was carried out on 13-14 November 2014 and the Convention's Depositary, the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, invited Croatia to join the Convention on 27 October 2015. The Croatian Parliament ratified the Convention on 27 October 2017 and Croatia deposited its instruments of ratification with the Depositary on 19 December 2017. The accession of Croatia became effective on 19 March 2018.