We were very satisfied with the progress which Croatia made during the six-month Irish Presidency of the Union in the first half of 2004, the Irish official said, adding that it was important both for the EU and Croatia, as well as for South Eastern Europe, that Croatia become a member of the Union.
Harney said she could understand the disappointment caused in Croatia by the recent decision of the Council of Ministers to postpone Zagreb's entry talks, and voiced hope that this halt would be temporary and brief.
Asked by reporters about the division in the EU over conditions which Croatia should meet to enter this association, Harney said she believed that all would like to see Croatia in Europe, but what was at issue was how some countries were interpreting full cooperation with the Hague-based UN war crimes tribunal.
It is a question of reaching a unanimous decision. Croatia must work at a bilateral level with those countries that opposed the opening of the entry talks so as to overcome some disagreements, she added.
Croatia can offer much to the Union, but it would also get much with EU membership. Small countries today must cooperate in order to be politically and economically successful. Ireland's EU membership has provided it with a platform on the global level of which the country could only have dreamed as it has only four million citizens, the Irish minister said.
Commenting on the issue of the fugitive general Ante Gotovina, who is wanted by the Hague tribunal, Deputy Prime Minister Polancec said that Croatia "has done its utmost" and that it deserved the opening of membership talks.
"We believe that we shall soon get a new date and open the talks," Polancec said, thanking the Irish government and people for the "undoubted and unequivocal support" in relation to the plan to open the entry talks on 17 March.
Polancec told reporters that earlier in the day the Irish official held talks with Prime Minister Ivo Sanader and Foreign, Justice and Health Ministers Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic, Vesna Skare Ozbolt and Neven Ljubicic on Irish experiences in reforms of public health and social welfare and restructuring of the food industry and agriculture.
Ireland was one of seven countries that advocated launching Croatia's accession negotiations on 17 March. The other six countries that supported this stand at Wednesday's session of the EU Council of Ministers were Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Cyprus, Malta and Lithuania.