If in the coming hours, days or weeks Croatia will be capable of proving that it is fully cooperating with the Hague tribunal, which is what the majority of EU members have requested, the negotiations can start immediately," said Juncker, whose country is currently holding the rotating presidency of the EU.
Juncker added that the Union's door was open to Croatia and expressed a wish that Croatia may pass through it as soon as possible.
Asked by reporters who would decide whether Croatia was fully cooperating with the tribunal, Juncker said that he could give a more precise answer if he were not the Council's chairman, but as Council chairman he had to say that it was the Council that would decide on the matter.
Juncker denied a statement which the Luxembourg presidency carried on its web site as his that the negotiations could not start without the extradition of fugitive General Ante Gotovina to The Hague.
The precondition for the start of the negotiations is not extradition, but full cooperation. I was misquoted yesterday as saying that Gotovina's extradition was a precondition for the talks, but that is not my position, Juncker said.