Croatia has followed Belgrade's example by committing itself to co-operating with The Hague war crimes tribunal, agreeing to hand over two suspects despite objections from the country's powerful nationalist movement.
Late yesterday, Croatian Prime Minister Mr Ivica Racan told a news conference the government's decision revolved around a wish to avoid isolating the Balkans state, part of the former Yugoslavia, from the rest of Europe.
Mr Racan said the government had "preferred to choose the way of co-operation to that of confrontation" with Europe, to preserve its hopes of eventually being accepted into the EU.
"Croatia did not want to be in the cold as it was under former nationalist president Franjo Tudjman," Mr Racan said after a stormy eight-hour cabinet meeting interspersed with breaks for consultations with top political leaders from the majority and the opposition.
The requests for extradition came from Ms Carla del Ponte, chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague.
Croatia's decision followed a dramatic handover on June 28 by Serbia of former Yugoslav president Mr Slobodan Milosevic.
Neither Mr Racan nor Ms Del Ponte would reveal the names of the two Croatian suspects expected to be turned over to the UN tribunal.
But Croatian newspapers have named the two men as General Rahim Ademi and retired general Ante Gotovina, who commanded Croatian forces during the 1991-95 conflict with Serbia.
They are suspected of massacring hundreds of Serb civilians and destroying a dozen villages.
In the Hague,Ms Del Ponte welcomed Zagreb's decision.
But the decision sparked off a political crisis as four ministers - Deputy Prime Minister Mr Goran Granic, Defence Minister Mr Jozo Rados, Economy Minister Mr Goranko Fizulic and Science and Technology Minister Mr Hrvoje Kraljevic - resigned following the key meeting.
MrRacan said 19 out of the 22 government members, had backed the arrests of the suspects, two abstained and one voted against. These included Croatian President, Mr Stipe Mesic.
AFP