"Croatia will do everything to continue enforcing laws, primarily the constitutional law on cooperation with the Hague (war crimes) tribunal, and fulfilling international commitments," he said, adding the aim was to assure partners in Europe of that.
"The decision (on launching the negotiations) is not up to us but up to them. If it had been up to us the negotiations would have started on March 17."
The PM said he too had heard unconfirmed reports according to which a Croatian delegation attending the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) spring meetings in Washington was told that Zagreb could not count on opening EU entry negotiations until conditions had been created for a new stand-by arrangement with the IMF.
Sanader said that as an IMF member, Croatia had three choices -- complete the existing stand-by arrangement, ask that it be extended, or ask for a new one before the existing one has been completed.
The PM said the decision was up to the government and that no one could influence it. He added there was time to make the decision.
Asked to comment on a dispute with Bosnia-Herzegovina over the bilateral free trade agreement, Sanader said Croatia would consider the possibility of countermeasures, but added the first step was a meeting between the two agriculture ministers.
"If we want to go towards Europe we must honour the agreement," he said, describing the Croatian-Bosnian free trade agreement as good.
"If there is any need to correct it, it can only be done by both sides... We can talk about it, but we can't have unilateral moves, only an agreement," said Sanader.
He went on to say that his cabinet was discussing ways of improving the position of pensioners with the Croatian Pensioners Party, including a pension reform and adjustment of pensions to the growth of wages.
He was responding to the press at the Zagreb Trade Centre when asked to comment on Finance Minister Ivan Suker's announcement that strategic reforms for the health and pension sectors would be defined by June.
Sanader said all previous governments had treated pensioners as third grade citizens. "We don't accept that. Pensioners are honourable people who have deserved to have pensions in keeping with the material position and financial situation in the country."