ZAGREB, Oct 10 (Hina) - Most Croatian political parties have said that Thursday's report to the UN Security Council by the chief prosecutor of the Hague-based war crimes tribunal is as they have expected.
ZAGREB, Oct 10 (Hina) - Most Croatian political parties have said
that Thursday's report to the UN Security Council by the chief
prosecutor of the Hague-based war crimes tribunal is as they have
expected. #L#
Social Democratic Party (SDP) vice-president Mato Arlovic said he
did not think the report by Carla Del Ponte would affect Croatia's
bid for membership in the European Union.
Arlovic said that the EU did not want the process of admission to
take place in an atmosphere of blackmail and pressure, although he
added the EU would certainly abide by any Security Council
decision.
The SDP official said that Croatia's cooperation with the tribunal
could not be treated as negative despite the criticism over the case
of fugitive general Ante Gotovina. He said that Croatia could not
solve the case because the general was out of reach.
Arlovic said that, hearing the report of the Hague tribunal
prosecutor, the recent exchange of information between her and the
Croatian government in Zagreb obviously yielded results.
Croatian People's Party (HNS) leader Vesna Pusic said the report
was not surprising because the prosecutor relayed the information
she had received from or brought to the meeting with the Croatian
government in Zagreb.
Pusic said that it turned out that Del Ponte's report on the
Gotovina case was not "a matter of life and death" for Croatia. "We
ourselves have created this atmosphere of catastrophe," she
noted.
Pusic said that the issue of Croatia's entry into the European Union
was too complex in terms of institutional changes to be evaluated or
halted on the basis of just one case.
"Carla Del Ponte assessed Croatia's cooperation with the Hague
tribunal as partly successful, which means that any future move in
cooperation with the tribunal must be absolutely flawless,
otherwise it may cost Croatia dearly," Pusic said.
Libra president Jozo Rados said his party was optimistic even
before the report was submitted to the Security Council.
"We believe that the Croatian authorities did all they could and
were firmly behind their clear position that there is no evidence of
General Ante Gotovina staying in Croatia," Rados said.
Rados said he expected that the report would not be a major obstacle
on Croatia's road to the European Union.
He said he did expect political objections in the country because in
her report the prosecutor put Croatia in the context of countries in
the region which had not achieved good cooperation with the
tribunal and which he said "cannot be measured against Croatia
either by the results of their cooperation or their position in the
(1990s) war."
Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) leader Anto Djapic said the report
was as his party had expected, adding that it showed that "Croatia
is not cooperating with the tribunal to meet its main
commitments."
Djapic said that the report was written in "a characteristic style
of Carla Del Ponte, with lots of politics and few arguments" and
that "no fuss should be made about it".
Democratic Centre (DC) president Mate Granic said he expected a
more critical report.
"The report is certainly below the government's expectations and
will not significantly change the position of the international
community on Croatia," Granic said.
He said that countries critical of Croatia, such as Britain, the
Netherlands and the United States, would maintain their
positions.
Josko Kontic of the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS) said that
Del Ponte "after putting Gotovina in the same context with Karadzic
and Mladic, now took a step further and put Croatia in the same
context with Republika Srpska and Serbia and Montenegro," which he
described as "apportioning the blame between the victim and the
aggressor."
Kontic criticised Croatian officials who expected a positive
report for "exaggerating the hopes and fears".
He said that Croatian diplomats were "incapable of highlighting the
fact that parts of the indictment (against General Gotovina) are
out of conformity with the statute of the Hague tribunal" and that
"a government leading such a defensive policy can hardly resist
political pressure."
Some parties were unavailable for comment on the report, while some
said they would present their views on Friday.
(hina) vm