According to the editorial signed by the chief editor Ivan Miklenic, the fact that Croatia is a candidate country does not mean much to some circles in the European Union when they want to push the country into a Balkan area where Croatia does not belong in terms of culture, religion or politics, nor does Croatia belongs there in the economic sense, the paper says.
Miklenic believes that this proposal "is evidently the confirmation of the position that the case of General (Ante) Gotovina was intentionally politicised and was set as an obstacle on Croatia's road towards the European Union and that if there had been no Gotovina case some other barrier would have been put on the road".
Miklenic describes it as tragic that Croatia "has politicians who are willing to welcome this unheard-of project" which pushes Croatia far from central and western Europe where the country belongs according to historical and cultural criteria, the editorial reads.
Therefore, the editorial proposes a referendum to be called on the matter.
On Wednesday, the leader of the Croatian Social Liberal party (HSLS), Ivan Cehok, called on the government to publish in its entirety the European Communication entitled "The Western Balkans on the road to the EU: Consolidating stability, raising prosperity".
Cehok said that the liberals were not against the liberalisation of the market and the establishment of a free trade zone but this economic integration must rule out any political consequences.
The HSLS leader is also in favour of calling a referendum on the issue.
HSLS parliamentarians have said that they are not afraid of a new Yugoslavia but that they are afraid that the latest proposal from Brussels would mean that Croatia would have to wait for the entire free trade zone to meet EU membership criteria before it is allowed to join the Union.