"I believe that the British EU presidency will find a way to put Croatia on the agenda of the meeting to be held in coming weeks and of the meeting of the task force for Croatia," Sanader said in his speech at a meeting of the strongest political group in the European Parliament - the European People's Party and the European Democrats (EPP-ED), held as part of events marking the 25th anniversary of the Polish trade union movement "Solidarity".
The Croatian PM, who has been in Gdansk since Wednesday at the helm of a state delegation, spoke at the meeting of the European Conservatives in his capacity as president of the Croatian Democratic Union.
Speaking on the topic "EU and Neighbours", Sanader acquainted participants in the meeting about Croatia's efforts to join the European community of nations as well as about activities regarding the launching of membership talks. Speaking about the case of runaway general Ante Gotovina, the last condition which remains to be met so that Croatia's cooperation with the Hague war crimes tribunal could be assessed as full, Sanader said Gotovina was not in the country and that the government had not received any information from any country saying that it knew that Gotovina was in Croatia.
Sanader reiterated that Croatia could not be held hostage to the current situation, stressing that the government was doing its utmost to meet the set criteria. Seeking the support of the EPP-ED group for Croatia's integration with the EU, Sanader said he hoped that Poland's Citizens Platform and Germany's Christian Democratic Union-Christian Social Union (CDU-CSU) would win parliamentary elections scheduled for September, and that similar parties would win the upcoming elections in the Czech Republic and Hungary. Sanader added that he would call on Croats in Germany to support the CDU-CSU.
In a statement after the meeting, Sanader said that the officials he met on the margins of the meeting had voiced unequivocal support for Croatia, as well as that the EPP, as stated in the closing statement of the chairman of the EPP club of deputies, Hans-Gert Poettering, would support the start of Croatia's accession talks.
The Croatian PM said he was satisfied with his meetings with European prime ministers held on Wednesday, as well as with today's meetings.
The meeting of the EPP-ED group in the European Parliament came at the end of events marking the 25th anniversary of "Solidarity", a trade union movement whose activities launched major changes leading to the peaceful political transition in Centra and East Europe.