EU aide says Croatia may get talks without Gotovina

Croatia may be able to start EU entry talks next week if it can prove it is cooperating fully with the tribunal even without …

Croatia may be able to start EU entry talks next week if it can prove it is cooperating fully with the tribunal even without capturing fugitive suspect Ante Gotovina, EU president Luxembourg said today.

Despite a withering report from chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said Croatia still had a week to show it was doing its best and the decision by EU foreign ministers on March 16 would be a political one.

"I could imagine that a situation could arise in which Croatia can prove by March 16 that its cooperation is 100 per cent without it perhaps being possible up to that point to transfer Gotovina to the Hague," Asselborn told Deutschlandfunk radio in an interview.