Hongaars voorzitterschap over de voortgang naar toetreding van Kroatië (en)

Budapest, 2 March, 2011

Press release of the Presidency on the Croatian accession negotiations

The Hungarian Presidency welcomes that European Commission’s recent press release about the interim report on the accession process with Croatia mentions significant progress on all conditions concerning the chapter of judiciary and fundamental rights (Chapter 23). The document also mentions the tasks that Croatia faces at present in the field of justice, the fight against corruption, fundamental rights and the cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). These are known to both parties. The Hungarian Presidency emphasizes to Croatia the importance of completing the outstanding tasks quickly and completely, so that the accession negotiations can be concluded in June. The Hungarian Presidency continues to trust that if the process of meeting the currently unfulfilled conditions progresses in an appropriate pace, then this can happen according to the schedule planned by the Presidency.

The interim report of the European Commission does not draw any conclusions concerning the process of accession negotiations; this is a technical step that provides information about the current situation of the negotiating process. The presidency will put the report on the agenda in the Council and in the relevant working group of the Council (COELA) according to the original schedule.