A survey conducted by the Puls agency mid-March on behalf of the U.S. Embassy in Zagreb shows that 39 percent of respondents completely disagree that it is in Croatia's interest to extradite Gotovina to the tribunal and 15 percent mostly disagree, reads the article published on the paper's web site.
Two less scientific phone-in polls conducted by television programs showed even harder attitudes, with 90 percent to 95 percent of callers indicating that they would prefer Gotovina to remain at large even if that meant not joining the Union, the article reads.
The author of the article says that posters with Gotovina's image and slogans reading "All for one, one for all" and "Hero, not a criminal" can be found in the area of Zadar, which he says indicates a worrying trend for the Croatian government which has made EU membership its top priority since coming to power in December 2003.
"Many Croatians apparently see the general's handover as too high a price for membership," reads the article headlined "In Croatia, stalemate on fugitive".
The belief among many nationalists is that in seeking Gotovina's arrest, the tribunal and the international community are implying that Croatia's war for independence was morally tainted, the author says.
EU diplomats say that Croatia's government, wary of alienating its nationalist supporters, has tried to dodge the issue of Gotovina's arrest as the deadline for EU negotiations approached.
Western officials in Croatia say the government can prove it is fully cooperating with the tribunal only through credible intelligence-led operations to track down the general.
"No such operations have taken place since August, they said, adding that Gotovina's supporters are firmly established in Croatia's intelligence and police services and need to be removed," reads the article.