THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, Feb 3(Hina) - Hague war crimes tribunal chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte will submit a report to the European Commission in Brussels next Wednesday on the work of her office and cooperation with the countries of
former Yugoslavia, and will also meet EU foreign policy and security chief Javier Solana, a spokeswoman for Del Ponte's office announced on Tuesday.
THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, Feb 3(Hina) - Hague war crimes tribunal chief
prosecutor Carla del Ponte will submit a report to the European
Commission in Brussels next Wednesday on the work of her office and
cooperation with the countries of former Yugoslavia, and will also
meet EU foreign policy and security chief Javier Solana, a spokeswoman
for Del Ponte's office announced on Tuesday.#L#
The chief prosecutor will address members of the European Commission
on February 11 to inform them of the work of the Office of the
Prosecutor and cooperation with the countries of former Yugoslavia,
spokeswoman Florence Hartmann told Hina in a telephone interview.
Hartmann declined to reveal details of the report, saying that it
would be a regular and precise report on the situation and the level
of cooperation achieved, which she said was usually more complex than
general assessments.
This is particularly complex in the case of Croatia, where in most
aspects cooperation is excellent except in one, Hartmann said, citing
the case of indicted Croatian Army general Ante Gotovina who has been
on the run for two and a half years.
Del Ponte is convinced that Croatia will resolve this last remaining
point of cooperation, all others have been sorted out, she said.
Speaking of the Gotovina case as the main obstacle to Croatia in the
process of ratification of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement
and receiving the status of EU member candidate, Hartmann said both
the chief prosecutor and the Croatian government wanted this issue to
be resolved and that it was necessary to take all the necessary
measures.
We expect Croatia to advise us of Gotovina's whereabouts, to arrest
him if he is in Croatia, and if he is outside Croatia, to tell us
precisely in which country and we will do all that is necessary with
local authorities to apprehend him, the spokeswoman said.
Hartmann went on to say that the issue of Croatia's application for EU
membership was unnecessarily linked to the name of Carla del Ponte as
a person playing a crucial role in the matter.
Croatia's admission into the EU will not depend on Carla del Ponte,
but on the country's decision to fulfil the remaining elements of
cooperation with the Hague tribunal, human rights and others, she
said.
Hartmann also announced that Del Ponte would address the NATO
Permanent Council in Brussels on March 11 with a report on the work of
her office and its cooperation with former Yugoslav countries, NATO
member countries and the NATO peace-keeping forces in
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo.
(Hina) vm sb