The Finnish premier's statement, carried by the STT Finnish news agency, followed comments by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso who said earlier this week that EU enlargement would hinge on "further institutional reform" and that there were limits to the Union's absorption capacity.
"In practice it would mean shutting the door in front of Croatia which is a merited candidate," Vanhanen was quoted as telling STT. The statement was also cited by the dpa news agency.