"This is neither a triumph nor a failure, but a normal process, even though I regret the fact that the negotiations did not start today. However, this does not mean that the process would be significantly slowed down," Grabar Kitarovic told Croatian reporters.
She said that yesterday's decision of the Council of the European Union "is not a decision on the postponement of the negotiations, but it was simply decided that there was no consensus about the start of the negotiations".
She voiced conviction the negotiations would be launched soon because "Croatia is investing maximum efforts to solve the only remaining issue from the political part of conditions - the issue of cooperation with the Hague tribunal, namely the issue of general Ante Gotovina."
Minister Grabar Kitarovic said the only problem was how to check if Croatia cooperated with the tribunal in the Hague, namely how to establish a verifying mechanism.
"Prime Minister (Ivo) Sanader suggested a monitoring mechanism, even though many colleagues and analysts here in Brussels claim that the start of the negotiations would be the best verifying mechanism," the minister said.
The negotiating framework is important because it enables the start of negotiations as soon as the political decision is made, the minister said.
The negotiating framework is a document drafted by the European Commission which underlines the commitment to individual approach and stresses that membership is the final objective of the negotiations.
The document foresees that screening, a detailed analysis of the adjustment of Croatia's legislation to European standards, starts immediately after the opening of negotiations at a bilateral inter-governmental conference.
Immediately after the completion of the screening of some chapters, the negotiations can be launched. The framework contains basic criteria for the conclusion of each chapter,