Croats hunt ‘war hero’ to spur EU entry bid

By Andrew Beatty

Date: 01/09/05

Croatia this week reasserted its eligibility to join the EU ahead of a key judgement next month.

Croatian Foreign Minister Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic sought to reassure EU representatives in Brussels on Tuesday (30 August) that Zagreb was doing all it could to apprehend Ante Gotovina, the war-time general who is wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

Her visit came more than five months after Croatia was scheduled to open membership negotiations with the EU. Talks were delayed over fears that the Croatian authorities were not doing all they could to catch Gotovina.

Grabar-Kitarovic told the European Parliament: "We are very much aware that full co-operation is Croatia's responsibility."

She said the government was making efforts to promote the benefits of apprehending Gotovina to Croat society, pockets of which still regard Gotovina as a war hero.

United Nations' Prosecutor Carla del Ponte is to offer another opinion on Croatia's compliance with the court in the second half of September. A spokesperson for del Ponte, whose verdict is crucial for Croatia's bid, said the prosecutor had recently been in contact with the EU concerning Croatia's efforts to apprehend Gotovina.

Croatia's supporters hope EU foreign ministers meeting in Wales today (1 September) will put the issue back on the agenda.

According to one Hungarian diplomat, whose country strongly supports Croatia's EU bid, the matter is likely to come up in discussion on future enlargement of the EU and may be linked to the debate over Turkish membership.

Turkey is supposed to start membership talks on 3 October. Key supporters of Croatia's bid, such as Austria, remain deeply sceptical of Turkish membership.

A spokesperson for the UK presidency said the EU task-force dealing with Croatia's progress towards negotiations would be likely to meet in September, although no date has yet been set.

Pointing out that the last meeting of the group was in July the spokesperson said: "It would make sense to get together and see where we are."

The task force is made up of representatives from the UK, Austria, Finland, the Commission as well as High Representative Javier Solana.

Article reports that Croatian Foreign Minister Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic sought to reassure EU representatives in Brussels on 30 August 2005 that Zagreb was doing all it could to apprehend Ante Gotovina, the war-time general wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).