Croatia has never been expected to do the impossible, such as to arrest Gotovina if he is not in Croatia. However, the prevailing impression in the EU is that Croatia did not approach the arresting business sincerely and wholeheartedly and did not do this job as it should have, Wunenburger said at a panel discussion entitled "Relations between the EU and Croatia: Where are we now?".
There is a wrong impression in Croatia that the EU is holding the whole country hostage to one man. It is not about Gotovina as an individual, but about the need to respect the rule of law, without which one cannot join the European club, he underlined.
The Croatian government recently undertook some actions, which was too late, but it made much more effort in intensive lobbying. I hope the government will change the strategy, because lobbying itself will not bring about EU membership talks. What is more, excessive lobbying proved counterproductive, and instead the government should make much more efforts towards full cooperation with the Hague tribunal, Wunenburger said.
Full cooperation with the Hague tribunal means real efforts to find the fugitive general, including prevention of his helpers, so as to arrest him or unequivocally show that he is not within reach of the Croatian authorities, he said.
It is not true that Croatia will not be able to enter the EU until Gotovina is in The Hague, the European Commission representative stressed.
Wunenburger said that there was the impression that the Croatian government was not sincere in its efforts to arrest Gotovina, citing the poor performance of the intelligence services, particularly a March 2004 report by the former head of the Counter-Intelligence Agency, Franjo Turek, a statement made by Deputy Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor during the election campaign that she might not recognise Gotovina if she saw him in the street, and the fact that most politicians failed to respond to the publication of Gotovina's criminal record from the time when he lived in France, saying that they did not know about it.
Wunenburger also mentioned a series of reactions in Croatia, such as public support to Gotovina or views that the EU was tougher on Croatia than it was on others.
If Croatia fulfils all the requirements provided for under the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, it can become a full member without any delay, he said, citing the cases of Lithuania, Latvia and Slovakia, whose entry talks were postponed for two years for political reasons, but which nevertheless joined the bloc with countries that had started entry talks before them.
The European Commission representative said that no unity had been achieved within the bloc regarding the start of the talks with Croatia, and since that decision must be unanimous, the EU had no other option but to delay the opening of the talks.
Asked to comment on a decision by the European Council to form a group that would assess whether Croatia was cooperating with the Hague tribunal or not, Wunenburger said that the group's mission would be of an advisory nature.
The group will not have decision-making powers, but will gather all relevant information and submit it to decision-makers. Its mandate is still under consideration, he added.
This in no way nullifies last week's decision to delay the talks, but only establishes a new body that might assist in dealing with the situation at hand, Wunenburger said.