EU not ready to decide on Croatia accession yet

PanARMENIAN.Net - European Union governments said on Monday, May 23, it was too early to decide whether Croatia is ready to join the EU, but accession talks with the Balkan candidate should be finalized in the coming months at the latest.

Croatia hopes to convince the EU it can wrap up negotiations next month, in time to join the 27-member bloc in 2013. But some EU capitals want more proof its anti-corruption reforms have gone far enough to combat pervasive abuse.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said London awaits an EU executive report on the issue, expected in the coming weeks. "We're strong supporters of Croatian membership of the EU. But it's also important of course that we go through all the necessary procedures," Hague told reporters in Brussels.

EU states are wary about sounding too lax about justice reforms, having been stung by the accession experience of Romania and Bulgaria, whose anti-corruption efforts dwindled significantly after the two Balkan states joined the EU in 2007.

Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindlegger said an end of EU accession talks was in sight for Croatia. "They have taken a lot of steps forward so I think we should end negotiations very soon and start the ratification process," he said, adding that Vienna was reluctant to agree to any monitoring of anti-corruption progress, Reuters reported.

Croatia still faces other obstacles on its path towards the EU, and an important signal about its prospects could come in early June, when a United Nations prosecutor issues his regular report on Croatia's cooperation with a war crimes tribunal investigating former Yugoslavia. A negative assessment could brake progress.