Oostenrijk houdt pleidooi voor snelle toetreding Kroatië (en)

Austria has upped pressure to open talks with Croatia as soon as possible, while it is still withholding consent on Turkey's entry talks - making an emergency meeting of foreign ministers over the weekend increasingly likely.

Ahead of a crucial meeting of EU ambassadors on Turkey's EU membership bid today (29 September), the Austrian prime minister Wolfgang Schussel made clear in press interviews on Wednesday that he wants to see the same goodwill applied towards Croatia as to Turkey.

Mr Schussel told the FT "If we trust Turkey to make further progress we should trust Croatia too...It is in Europe's interest to start negotiations with Croatia immediately".

The EU recently blocked the start of entry talks with Zagreb following what it considers to be unsatisfactory co-operation with the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

All member states except Austria, however, have agreed to open talks with Turkey on full EU membership this Monday (3 October).

According to the International Herald Tribune, Mr Schussel said the EU could apply the same monitoring mechanisms designed by the EU to allow Turkey's entry talks to Croatia. Otherwise "this would be double standards and that is not fair", he said.

However, the Polish paper Rzeczpospolita says Sweden opposes greater leniency towards Croatia, as EU concessions to Zagreb could lead to difficulties in pressuring states such as Serbia to co-operate with the UN war crimes tribunal.

The EU has linked closer ties with Belgrade to the condition of the surrender of war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic.

Diplomats have commented that in order to secure concessions on Croatia, Austria is blocking agreement on the opening of the Turkey talks.

Austria is pressing for the explicit mention of a loose partnership between Brussels and Ankara, instead of fully-fledged Turkish membership, to be explicitly included in the negotiating framework as one possible outcome of entry talks.

Mr Schussel said according to the International Herald Tribune "If Turkey does not fulfill the criteria, then Turkey should be bound in Europe by the strongest possible bond and if the union can't absorb Turkey, then we are also looking for the strongest possible alternative bond".

But Mr Schussel himself, as well as Austrian foreign minister Ursula Plassnik, have recently admitted that Vienna is isolated on the issue and Turkey has repeatedly threatened to turn its back on the EU if Vienna gets its way.

A spokesperson for the Turkish foreign ministry reiterated on Wednesday according to Die Welt "It is out of the question that we accept any formula or proposal less than full membership".

An emergency meeting by EU foreign ministers is set to be held on Sunday (2 October) if member states ambassadors fail to reach agreement today.

Member states have also agreed to reconvene the EU's task force on Croatia over the weekend, probably in the presence of UN chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte.

A breakthrough on the Croatia dossier may be in the pipeline as Ms Carla Del Ponte is currently on a fact-finding trip to Zagreb.