Croatia to Start EU Accession Talks on March 17, 2005

Brussels, Belgium, December 17 –  The European Commission announced today that Croatia will begin European Union accession talks on March 17, 2005. “Croatia has deserved this decision,” said European Council Chairman Jan Peter Balkenende at a press conference at the end of the Council’s two-day session in Brussels.

“We are aware that Croatia is ready and willing to cooperate with the Hague Tribunal and we hope we will be able to start negotiations on the date set in the conclusions,” said Balkenende.

“This is one in a series of important dates in recent Croatian history,” said Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader in response to the Council’s decision. The Prime Minister was in Brussels to participate in the last session of the meeting, along with prime ministers of other candidates for EU membership.

Speaking about the last outstanding issue of cooperation with the tribunal in The Hague, i.e., the arrest of General Ante Gotovina, Prime Minister Sanader said: "We have yet to resolve [this] one outstanding case and I want to believe that we will do it very soon and that General Gotovina will realize that any further procrastination is damaging both to him and to Croatia.”