A State Department spokeswoman told Hina the US would continue to support the full integration of Croatia into the Euro-Atlantic community, and that it welcomed the Council of Ministers' decision in which Croatia's full cooperation with the UN court remained a demand.
The EU Council of Ministers decided to open the entry negotiations in Luxembourg last night after UN war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte said Croatia's cooperation with the Hague tribunal was full.
The spokeswoman said the US welcomed the Council's agreement that only full cooperation with the Hague tribunal would influence the negotiations.
The Council's position is that full cooperation with the tribunal remains the condition for Croatia's progress in the negotiations. The Council has cautioned that lack of full cooperation may provide grounds for launching a mechanism from the 12th paragraph of the negotiating framework which envisages the possibility of suspending the negotiations.
The spokeswoman said the US thought full cooperation could be achieved when Croatia arrested and transferred Gotovina to The Hague.