"I truly believe that Croatia is meeting conditions, that evidence will show that and that negotiations will start on 17 March," Zuzul told Croatian Television.
European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said on Monday that the EU might postpone membership talks with Croatia, scheduled for March 17, due to incomplete cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague (ICTY),
Zuzul was scheduled to meet Rehn in Brussels on Tuesday, but the meeting was canceled due to Rehn's illness.
Zuzul held talks with the head of the European Commission's Directorate General for Enlargement, Fabrizio Narbas who presented the Croatian official with the negotiating framework for Croatia, which will be officially adopted on 21 February.
Croatia "indeed must answer some questions, that's no secret", Zuzul said. But it is not correct that Croatia is not cooperating or that it is not meeting the political criteria and I am confident that we will be able to prove that through communications with The Hague and primarily with Brussels.
Zuzul said that the practice so far was that the issue of General Ante Gotovina always came up prior to important decision regarding Croatia's association with the European Union.