Following the Council's decision to postpone the opening of negotiations, ETUC Secretary General John Monks said: "I am sorry that Croatia has not met the requirement of full and unrestricted co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and hope that this will be remedied soon. The fact that the proceedings on the negotiating framework have been concluded successfully shows that Croatia is in other respects ready to engage in the negotiations", according to a press release issued on ETUC's web site.
"Integrating Croatia would mark the first step towards bringing to a close a painful chapter in Europe"s history - the war in and break-up of the former Yugoslavia. It would also send out a strong signal to Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia-Montenegro, fledgling democracies aspiring to EU membership," reads the release.