Citizenship is a special legal relationship between the state and an individual that is permanent in nature and on the basis of which certain rights of obligation arise on the part of the state and its citizen. In the territory of the Republic of Croatia, citizenship is regulated by the Croatian Citizenship Act, according to which there are four ways of acquiring citizenship, and they relate to origin, birth in the territory of the Republic of Croatia, birth and on the basis of an international agreement. By joining the European Union, the citizens of the Republic of Croatia exercise the right to acquire European citizenship, but it does not replace national citizenship but complements it. The aim of European citizenship is to bring the European Union closer to its citizens, to encourage them to be as active as possible in European Union policy and to acquaint them with all the rights and obligations it carries.