In an interview with Berlin's Tageszeitung of Monday, Rehn said the opening of the negotiations next month would be a "positive signal" to the other Balkan countries.
He reiterated the demand for the extradition of Ante Gotovina, the runway Croatian general indicted by the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague. He said the Croatian government's intensified efforts to locate Gotovina had been acknowledged, but added the EU would make its final decision on the start of the entry talks based on a report by chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte, which is expected in the coming days.