"The negotiations should start since Croatia has deserved it. And I expect them to start," PM Sander said in his interview with the Croatian Vjesnik daily on Monday.
In this context he said that democratic standards had been established in the country such as the functioning democracy and free market, the tolerance of diversity, the culture of dialogue, the rule of law and the respect for the human and minority rights.
Sanader admitted that positions in the Union over the launching the entry talks with Croatia were divided, and added that discussions before granting the Avis to Croatia or before deciding to give it a status of candidate "were not at all less intensive".
Sanader said he was glad to see that Croatia's neighbouring countries gave it full support for the start of the entry talks.
"The neighbouring countries, logically, are better acquainted with the situation in Croatia or in the neighbouring region than others. Therefore, their assessments are particularly valuable both for us and for Europe," he said.
Commenting on Croatia's cooperation with the Hague-based UN war crimes tribunal, the Croatian PM said that "the question is now who will assess whether we are doing our utmost."
"I have made a proposal, which has been at the first stage very good accepted, that the negotiations start (on 17 March) as scheduled, and that through some mechanism the EU controls whether Croatia is credible in its actions," Sanader said.
He expressed hope that the latest letter of Croatian Foreign Minister Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic to the EU Council of Ministers chairman, Jean Asselborn, and the talks of the Chief State Prosecutor, Mladen Bajic, with the UN tribunal's Chief Prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, would bring results.
He said that Croatia was bound to fully cooperate with the tribunal also after 17 March, as it was Croatia's obligation stemming from Croatian laws and the relevant UN resolutions.