Brussels warns Croatia EU entry could be delayed

Brussels enlargement chief, Olli Rehn has warned Croatia that unless it does more to cooperate with the international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, negotiations for EU membership could be postponed.

Rehn’s blunt warning on Monday centres on Zagreb’s failure to deliver former general, Ante Gotovina to face war crimes charges at the court in the Hague.

Gotovina turned fugitive shortly before he was indicted in 2001, and is thought to be in hiding either in Croatia or nearby Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The Finnish commissioner said that based on information he had received from Carla Del Ponte, the UN’s chief prosecutor, he believed that Gotovina had been in indirect contact with the Croatian government over the possibility of securing a deal.

Rehn accused Zagreb of complicity in failing to bring the fugitive general to trial.

“I am convinced that if the Croatian government had the political will to locate and transfer Gotovina, it could do so,” said Rehn.

And he warned Zagreb that failure to cooperate with the tribunal could lead to the postponement of EU membership talks, scheduled for March.

“Now it is up to the Croatian authorities to prove that they fully cooperate with the tribunal in the Hague.”

Rehn said that on the basis of the information he had received, he believed that the commission would not recommend opening negotiations with Croatia in March.

“I trust the Croatian government will take this message seriously,” he added.

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