Articles related to "EU-Croatia relations"

Croatians voted yesterday (14 April) for 12 members of the European Parliament. The low turnout of 20.74% is explained by voters' perception that the election was "unimportant", analysts said.

Appellate judges at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in The Hague have overturned the convictions of two Croatians - Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markač - for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed against Serb civilians in a 1995 military blitz. Gotovna's extradition to the tribunal had been a major hurdle in Croatia’s EU accession talks.

Former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, who abruptly quit politics more than a year ago, surprisingly asked parliament to give him back his seat last Thursday (14 October), triggering a wave of criticism.

A Croatian government delegation headed by Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor visited the Austrian town of Bleiburg on Monday (10 May) to pay tribute to pro-Nazi Croatian soldiers and civilians killed there by Tito's partisans at the end of the Second World War, the HINA news agency reported.

Yesterday (19 April) Zagreb closed the free movement of goods policy chapter of its EU membership negotiations and passed the halfway mark in the road to accession, with 18 out of 35 chapters now provisionally closed.

Croatia is approaching the finishing line in its EU membership negotiations, but there is still plenty of work to be done and ''the last leap will be the hardest,'' EU Enlargement Commissioner Štefan Füle said on Tuesday (23 March).

Ivo Josipović was today (18 February) sworn in as president of Croatia at an inauguration ceremony attended by all the heads of state in the region, with the notable exception of Serbian President Boris Tadić.

Opposition Social Democrat Ivo Josipovic convincingly won the presidential election yesterday (10 January), promising to help the government's efforts to complete European Union membership talks and join the bloc in 2012.

A police operation aimed at locating documentation needed by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a success, the Croatian Police Directorate announced yesterday (10 December). If confirmed, the findings may greatly help Croatia's EU accession bid, experts said.

The Croatian government sacked three out of four management staff at a state-owned highway company on Saturday (21 November) on suspicion of corruption, which the country is seeking to crack down on as part of its bid to join the EU, the agency HINA reported.

The European Union has postponed an accession conference with Croatia planned for today after Zagreb failed to make progress in a border row with EU member Slovenia, the Czech EU Presidency said yesterday (23 April).

EU candidate country Croatia should voluntarily give up its right to veto future enlargements over bilateral disputes in an attempt to circumvent Slovenia's blocking of its accession negotiations, a leading MEP told EurActiv.

Slovenia may call for a referendum over Croatia's accession to the European Union if a long-standing border dispute between the two countries is not quickly resolved to Ljubljana's satisfaction.

There are no shortcuts to EU accession, but if Iceland decided to apply for EU membership, negotiations could be wrapped up swiftly, possibly alongside those with Croatia, the current frontrunner, Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn told EurActiv in an exclusive interview.

The EU yesterday (17 June) opened two new pre-EU accession negotiation chapters with Croatia and Turkey, just one day after the Union's foreign ministers signed an important pre-accession agreement with Bosnia, attenuating fears that the Irish referendum could have a negative impact on the bloc's enlargement process.

Croatia's foreign minister Gordan Jandroković said he was confident that his country would meet the June deadline for the completion of 11 pre-negotiation 'benchmarks' set by Brussels as a condition for opening accession talks.

Both the ruling conservative party and the socialist opposition separately opened coalition talks on Monday following parliamentary elections in Croatia, in what appears to be a tight race for a majority in parliament. The EU said it was confident that a government would be formed swiftly and gave its "full" support to the country's EU membership bid.

MEPs have urged Croatia to make progress on EU accession criteria but at the same time said that full membership will not be considered before the EU reforms its own institutions.

The Commission’s reports on the Western Balkans show that the EU has taken a tougher line on future enlargements. Tackling issues of judiciary reform, corruption and organised crime are some of the key issues.

The Commission has recommended opening the first of 35 chapters of detailed accession talks with candidates Croatia and Turkey.

In its 2005 progress report, the Commission urges Croatia to speed up its reforms and reminds Zagreb of the need to resolve the problems associated with the 1991-1995 war.

On 20 October, the Commission launched the process of screening Croatia's and Turkey's laws and regulations as a first step towards accession negotiations with the two countries.

EU ministers have failed to reach agreement on opening Turkey accession talks as Austria insisted on a mention of an alternative to full Turkish membership.

While no member state questions the need for the EU to live up to its enlargement-related commitments, the issue is increasingly likely to be relegated to the background at the 16-17 June EU summit.

Croatia's EU membership bid remains in limbo with the country still failing to "fully co-operate" with the Hague war crimes tribunal.

Croatian leaders are preparing to have another go at convincing the EU that the country is ready to start accession talks. Analysts say the chances are slim.

The cases of Croatia and Turkey are "not linked", and Ankara's accession talks will commence as scheduled, a leading Commission official said.

On 16 March, the EU decided to freeze membership talks with Croatia, arguing that Zagreb had failed to co-operate fully with the UN war crimes tribunal. 

The postponement of Croatia's accession talks with the EU would "breed euroscepticism and support the far right" in the country, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader has warned.

The clock is ticking towards 17 March, the deadline by which Croatia is expected by the EU to provide positive proof of its co-operation with the Hague-based UN war crimes tribunal. Meanwhile, Ante Gotovina is still at large.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn has explained that the EU is ready to start membership talks with Croatia on 17 March provided that, in the meantime, it fully co-operates with the war crimes tribunal in The Hague. 

Winning two-thirds of the vote over his conservative challenger, Stipe Mesic has secured a second five-year term in the presidential office in Croatia.