ZAGREB, April 19 (Hina) - British Minister for Europe Denis MacShane, who arrived in Zagreb on Monday for a day-long visit to Croatia, said that not only the Croatian government but also the entire country had made dramatic changes on
the road toward the European Union, and voiced confidence that Croatia would enter the Union before the end of this decade or perhaps earlier.
ZAGREB, April 19 (Hina) - British Minister for Europe Denis MacShane,
who arrived in Zagreb on Monday for a day-long visit to Croatia, said
that not only the Croatian government but also the entire country had
made dramatic changes on the road toward the European Union, and
voiced confidence that Croatia would enter the Union before the end of
this decade or perhaps earlier.#L#
I am looking forwards to what I am sure will be a positive signal from
Brussels, and in my opinion this means that Croatia will become a EU
member before the end of this decade, MacShane told reporters after
his meeting with Croatia's Foreign Minister Miomir Zuzul.
The British government's ambition is to help Croatia to accomplish
this objective which, I am sure, will be achieved before the end of
this decade and even earlier if possible, the British official said.
He voiced confidence that it was now the right time for Croatia to
close the chapter of the 1990s and begin with its active engagement on
the road to the EU.
The Briton said Croatia had done very much concerning the cooperation
with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
(ICTY), but he declined to explicitly answer whether this implied the
change of the British policy towards Croatia in relation to the case
of the fugitive general Ante Gotovina who is wanted by the UN war
crimes tribunal.
The EU is consulting with Carla del Ponte (ICTY chief prosecutor), and
the British government behaves the same, he said and added that Great
Britain did not have a separate position, because it was part of the
European Union. We have been very impressed in recent weeks and months
with cooperation offered by the new Croatian government regarding the
ICTY requests, MacShane said.
Tomorrow (when the European Commission is expected to issue its
opinion on Croatia's EU membership application) is an important step
forward for Croatia, the British minister said. He voiced hope that
full cooperation with the ICTY would be shown by June when 25 foreign
ministers of the EU member-states must give their votes, independently
one from another, in order that Croatia could begin accession talks
with the EU.
We welcome the enhanced cooperation on the Gotovina case offered not
only by the government but also by the people who understands that
this gentleman should no longer be an obstacle on Croatia's road
towards the full EU membership, MacShane said adding that he was
confident that by 19 June when the Council of Ministers would hold its
session, there would be new evidence on the solution to the Gotovina
case.
Croatian Minister Zuzul told reporters that MacShane's arrival in
Zagreb a day before the announcement of the avis "symbolically opens a
new phase in the relations between Croatia and the EU and between
Croatia and Great Britain".
I am glad to hear that Britain supports us in our bid to join the EU,
Zuzul said.
The current Croatian policy is the continuation of the one which the
former government began, Zuzul said. He voiced satisfaction with the
fact that promises were being kept which proved that the incumbent
government was also fully committed to meeting its international
obligations.
He expressed hope that cooperation between Croatia and the
international community would be "better, more fruitful and easier"
after Tuesday's announcement of the avis.
British Minister was earlier in the day received by Croatia's
President Stjepan Mesic and Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, and held talks
with European Integration Minister Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic.
(Hina) ms