EU-lidmaatschap Kroatië voor onbepaalde tijd uitgesteld (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Croatia is still not co-operating fully with the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague, EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn i said on Wednesday (8 June), referring to a new report submitted by UN prosecutor Carla del Ponte.

The report reiterates that Croatia will not be considered to be cooperating fully with the UN tribunal, until it arrests the war crimes suspect general, Ante Gotovina, said Ms Del Ponte's spokeswoman.

This means that talks on EU membership, which had been due to start in March, will likely be delayed even further.

"I understand that the Croatian authorities need more time to ensure that democratic structures are fully in control and that the entire state administration complies with the rule of law and with international obligations", said Mr Rehn.

Croatian authorities have been unable to hand over the fugitive general for months, resulting in EU member states deciding that co-operation was insufficient for Zagreb to start entry talks.

For her part, the UN prosecutor has always maintained that the general was within the reach of Croatian authorities - something denied by the government.

But Croatian prime minister Ivo Sanader said last month that his country was taking measures to capture Mr Gotovina as part of a newly drafted action plan.

Ms del Ponte had welcomed the decision. "We expect Gotovina in The Hague. Very soon, I hope. Prime Minister Sanader has provided a plan for locating Gotovina and destroying the network which supports him, so we expect the results of this plan very soon", she said, according to the Southeast European Times.

After the prosecutor's report, the launch of EU talks for Croatia seem very unlikely during the Luxembourg presidency, which ends on 30 June.

Ms del Ponte is also to present a report to the UN Security Council on Monday (13 June) on co-operation by Serbia and Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

Co-operation with the UN court is a key part of the EU's policy for the Western Balkan countries.

As a result, Serbia and Montenegro have surrendered more than a dozen war crimes suspects, and the Kosovan prime minister Ramush Haradinaj resigned in March to surrender to the UN tribunal.

But more war crimes suspects are still on the run, and general Ante Gotovina, Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his military commander, General Ratko Mladic, are three of the most wanted.