EU foreign ministers will convene again for a formal meeting after they finish a working dinner in Luxembourg this evening and they will make a decision on Croatia.
According to the diplomatic source, the Task Force, that held a session at a ministerial level in Luxembourg on Monday evening, demonstrated willingness for ensuring the immediate start of the EU-Croatia talks. Great Britain, the current chair of the European bloc, however, has ruled out this possibility until a plane carrying a Turkish delegation, led by Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, lands in Luxembourg. The plane is expected to arrive shortly before Monday midnight.
It is still not clear whether the EU-Turkey intergovernmental conference will be held before the midnight.
Britain seems to have nothing against now starting the negotiations with Croatia provided that the talks first start with Turkey.
The decision on Croatia may be made immediately after the midnight or in the morning or at the next first session of EU foreign ministers which is scheduled for 7 November in Brussels.
Before their working dinner, the EU ministers formally adopted a negotiating framework for Turkey after a two-day-long arduous diplomatic wrangling in Luxembourg as Austria strongly opposed a draft negotiating framework for the talks with Turkey.
The EU Task Force for Croatia consists of officials from Luxembourg, Great Britain, Austria and Finland as well as of the EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana and the EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn.