On Monday, Del Ponte conferred by telephone with the Chairman of the EU Council of Ministers, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, and on Tuesday she will send a written report on the level of Croatia's cooperation with the ICTY to the Luxembourg EU Presidency.
Sources from the Luxembourg Presidency have confirmed that Croatia did not receive a passing grade from the prosecutor because its cooperation with the tribunal is not full. However, encouraging and promising elements have been noted and real progress is yet to be expected, VOA said.
If EU members agree with the prosecutor's report, it is becoming increasingly certain that the EU will open membership talks with Croatia in the autumn, "possibly in September or October", the radio said.
This corresponds with the assessment by the ICTY chief prosecutor that it will take Croatia a few more months to dismantle a network of supporters of fugitive general Ante Gotovina, who is wanted by the ICTY on war crimes charges, and achieve full cooperation with the tribunal, VOA said.