The meeting of the EU Task Force for Croatia was originally scheduled to start at 9.30 AM Monday, but it was rescheduled after the EU foreign ministers failed to reach an agreement on the negotiating framework for Turkey.
According to diplomatic sources, should the EU officials reach an agreement on Turkey, Croatia could also receive the green light for the start of its EU membership talks.
According to a more optimistic but less probable option, negotiations with Croatia could be launched as early as this afternoon. Another option is to schedule a new date for the start of negotiations in November.
The meeting of the EU foreign ministers, which started with a one-hour delay at 10.30 on Monday morning, was once again adjourned shortly after 11 AM so that bilateral negotiations could continue.
After talks with Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said on Monday morning that negotiations were in a very difficult stage, adding that the outcome of the talks was not certain.
Austria insisted that the negotiations framework for Turkey not be adopted.