Jansa Pleased with Summit's Decision to Send EU Mission to Croatia
Prime Minister Janez Jansa has welcomed the decision of the EU summit to send a special mission to Croatia to assess its cooperation with the Hague war crimes tribunal. "It is a good decision, we have backed it, moreover we co-shaped it," Jansa said in Brussels on Wednesday.
"It is a fact that there are certain differences about this cooperation between the arguments presented by the candidate country in the past months and the Hague prosecution," Jansa said.
"We have two sides and a mechanism had to be drafted that will weigh and in a way make a proposal whether Croatia meets the condition of cooperation with The Hague to start the talks," the PM said.
In the worst case scenario, the question would be left in the air and that would worsen the stability not only of the candidate country but the region as a whole, the PM said.
"We are pleased with this move, also because a similar situation could repeat in the coming years with a different candidate form the Balkans," said Jansa, reiterating that EU enlargement to the region was in Slovenia's strategic interest.
"If we now finalise the mechanisms that can prevent potential delays in future, so much the better for the region an the entire EU," said Jansa.
According to a special declaration passed by the EU summit, the Croatia mission is to comprise representatives of the Luxembourg and the upcoming two EU presidencies, the European Commission and EU's High Foreign Policy Representative Javier Solana.
The mission is to draft a report by May, according to Jansa. It will be used by the EU to pass a decision on whether Croatia fully cooperates with The Hague.
The summit decided to send a mission to Croatia after the EU foreign ministers on 16 March shelved Croatia accession talks over insufficient cooperation with the war crimes tribunal.
More articles from this issue:
Archive
|