ZAGREB, Dec 4 (Hina) - The head of a delegation of the European Commission in Zagreb Jacques Wunenburger said on Wednesday that when Croatia submits its application to the EU, it needs to take into consideration Europe's political
calendar because Brussels too needs to be prepared to accept that application.
ZAGREB, Dec 4 (Hina) - The head of a delegation of the European
Commission in Zagreb Jacques Wunenburger said on Wednesday that
when Croatia submits its application to the EU, it needs to take
into consideration Europe's political calendar because Brussels
too needs to be prepared to accept that application. #L#
Wunenburger claims he never said that Croatian should not apply for
membership to the EU but that on one hand it needed to meet a certain
number of conditions defined in the Stabilisation and Association
Agreement (SAA) so that the application can be positively
considered while on the other hand, Croatia needs to take account of
the political agenda of both its government and the EU because the
EU too needs to be prepared to accept candidates. Wunenburger said
this following a presentation of a joint project by the EC
delegation, the Ministry of European Integration and Croatia
Telecom. The objective of the project is to better inform Croatian
citizens about European integration via the Internet.
Wunenburger once again denied a statement released in early October
that he apparently said that spring 2003 was not an ideal moment to
submit an application and that Croatia should freeze its candidacy
for the time being.
Wunenburger added that the Croatian government should be careful
when submitting its application so that circumstances are
favourable at the time and so the application is well received.
Asked to comment on a statement by EC commissioner for expansion
Guenter Verheugen that Croatia should be excluded from the Western
Balkans, Wunenburger said that the EU was always of the opinion that
each country should be assessed for its individual deserves and
that it cannot be denied that Croatia was more advanced than other
countries in the region.
Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula once again announced that
Croatia would definitely submit its application for accession to
the EU in the next few months. "Certain problems regarding
Croatia's candidacy should be taken off the agenda, so that our
candidacy gain more credibility," Picula said at the presentation
of this latest project.
(hina) sp it sb