"I wish to express my thanks to the governments of Croatia and Spain for having brought Ante Gotovina to The Hague," del Ponte told the UN Security Council in New York on Thursday.
Del Ponte said she had received information on Gotovina's whereabouts from Croatian authorities, which led to the general's arrest in Spain's Canary Islands on 7 December.
"On 29 September, the Croatian authorities provided me with indisputable evidence that Gotovina was in Spain," she said, adding that soon after that contact was established between the Croatian and Spanish authorities.
The prosecutor said that she informed the European Union on 3 October that Croatia was indeed fully cooperating with the Hague tribunal, noting that she could not reveal any details regarding Gotovina as that information was kept within a close circle of people in Zagreb, Spain and The Hague for operational reasons.
Del Ponte and Tribunal President Fausto Pocar submitted annual reports to the Security Council on their work, the implementation of the tribunal's completion strategy and cooperation with countries of the former Yugoslavia.
Pocar said that "cooperation with Croatia is now satisfactory." He noted that, with Gotovina arrested, the tribunal was a step closer to bringing all the high ranking accused to justice.