Sanader: Croatia's EU membership tougher than Romania and Bulgaria

Croatian prime minister Ivo Sanader has launched an attack on the "tough" conditions his country has been set for joining the EU.

Speaking in Brussels on the eve of Thursday's EU summit, he said Croatia's accession bid had been "much tougher" than that of countries such as Romania and Bulgaria.

Sanader said he was "tired" of the "concerns" repeatedly raised by the EU over Croatia's suitability for EU membership.

When asked about support for Croatia's bid, he said, "You get the feeling there is not only an 'enlargement fatigue' but also an 'EU fatigue' and something has to be done to counter this."

The EU, he said, had gone through waves of enlargement, the most recent of which was the inclusion of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007.

"With each wave of expansion there is no doubt that it becomes increasingly difficult for accession countries. There is no doubt that my country has had it more difficult than Romania and Bulgaria.

"Their accession to the EU was much easier than ours has been."

However, he still endorsed the so-called "benchmark" conditions which Croatia must meet before it can be considered ready to join the EU club.

"Although it makes our task all that much harder, I  have no problems  with these. It will be difficult to meet all the criteria but, in the long term, good for the country.

" I think it is better to make sure now that we are ready to join the EU rather than at the last minute and you need only look at Bulgaria and Romania for the reason I say that."

"Call me a masochist, but I like a challenge!"

He was speaking at a packed debate on Croatia's accession bid at the Brussels Office of the Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung, a leading think tank.

Speaking at the same debate, senior German centre right MEP Ingo Friedrich said he believed Croatia should be allowed to join the EU "by the end of the decade" or, at the latest, by 2011.

He said the bid had the support of parliament and pointed out that in April this year the country had joined Nato.

Afterwards, Friedrich, a member of parliament's influential bureau, told this website that after Croatia joins the EU club "there should be no more enlargement for five to ten years."

Freidrich, who did not contest the recent European elections but remains an MEP until next month, said,"After Croatia, there then needs to be a period of consolidation."

He said,"2011 has to be the absolute final date for Croatia although it has to be said that the criteria set for its EU membership have been set too high. This is particularly the case when compared with other countries like Romania which is already in the EU."

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