Delivering a lecture on Croatia and Europe, Sanader said that Croatia was ready to start accession talks with the EU. Croatia is doing everything to solve the last outstanding issue - that of runaway general Ante Gotovina, Sanader said adding that Croatia did not have Gotovina and therefore could not hand him over to the Hague tribunal. "There remains the government's obligation to implement the action plan which is being carried out daily in all of its segments," Sanader said expressing hope that the EU would recognise Croatia's efforts and start entry talks soon.
"If the talks start in the autumn, we could complete them by the end of 2007, after which we could participate in European elections in June 2009 as a full member of the EU. I believe that this is a realistic goal and that Croatia can accomplish it," the PM said.
"Croatia has always been part of Europe," Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik said pointing to the traditionally good relations between Austria and Croatia.
She repeated that Vienna would continue to strongly support Croatia's efforts to start EU membership talks as soon as possible, in September or the following months.
The special coordinator of the Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe, Erhard Busek, who also chairs the Institute's Economic Council, said that Croatia could serve as an example to other countries in the region. The one remaining obstacle - General Gotovina - needs to be removed so that the accession talks could start as soon as possible, Busek said. He added that Croatia's economy was much more developed than that of Romania or Bulgaria and that the EU should definitely start entry talks with Croatia sooner than with Turkey.