"Today's decision of the European Council is much more than I have expected. I am very pleased with the decision and I think that Croatia has every reason to be pleased," Sanader said in a Croatian Television evening news programme upon his return from Brussels.
Earlier in the day, the European Council decided to open membership talks with Croatia on March 17 next year provided that it fully cooperated with the Hague war crimes tribunal.
Sanader commented on criticisms at home that Croatia still did not have negotiating teams ready, saying that it would have been ridiculous if negotiating teams had been ready and no start date had been set.
The prime minister said that negotiating teams would be fully ready before the start of the talks, and that he wanted to hold final consultations with other parties. He recalled that all parliamentary parties had recently signed a joint agreement confirming their readiness to participate in talks on principles that should be observed in forming negotiating teams.
"So, what they signed three days ago is not good today. I think they wanted to cast a shadow on this success of the present Government," he said, adding that today's success should not be credited only to his Government but to the entire nation.
Sanader once again called on fugitive general Ante Gotovina to "defend and shed light on his role in the Homeland War before the Hague tribunal". "General Gotovina must appear before the Hague tribunal because all else will only make his position and that of Croatia more difficult."