That is not a condition and we have no hidden agenda, Rehn said after the first meeting of the Stabilisation and Association Council, set up in line with the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between Croatia and the EU which went into force on February 1.
The meeting welcomed Croatia's efforts in the economy, minority rights, refugee return and regional cooperation, and reiterated that full cooperation with the Hague war crimes tribunal was a significant condition for launching Zagreb's EU entry negotiations.
A joint statement issued after the meeting said that Croatia's future was in the EU as a full member and reiterated that a bilateral intergovernmental conference, at which the entry negotiations are expected to be opened, would be called as soon as the Council of the European Union determined that Croatia was cooperating fully with the UN court.
The 21-member Croatian delegation at the meeting was led by Foreign and European Integration Minister Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, while the European delegation included Asselborn, who also chairs the Council of the EU, the Union's foreign and security policy chief, Javier Solana, Ambassador John Grant of Great Britain as the future EU president, and Rehn.