Sanader believes that Croatia will be ready for the EU in a year

Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader stated in an interview published on Saturday that he expects Croatia to be ready for entry into the European Union within a year.

"We hope that by the end of the year at least eight to nine chapters will be opened, which means that only one to two will remain to be opened and that as many as possible will be closed," Sanader said in an interview for the Austrian radio ORF, as reported by the Austrian news agency APA.

ORF assesses that this goal is very ambitious considering that Croatia has so far temporarily closed only three out of 33 chapters and that negotiations on difficult chapters such as agriculture and fisheries have not yet taken place, as well as that Croatia still has much to do in the fight against corruption and in the reform of the judiciary and administration. Therefore, ORF states that Croatia’s achievements so far in the three-year accession negotiations with the European Union can be assessed in two ways and notes that parliamentary elections in Croatia at the end of last year, the dispute with Italy and Slovenia over the Protected Ecological Fishing Zone in the Adriatic Sea, as well as the border dispute with Slovenia, have negatively affected the pace of negotiations. However, Sanader claims that "everything is prepared to achieve this."

"I can inform you that during this month we will submit negotiating positions for two more chapters, and these are two very difficult chapters, one is fisheries and the other is agriculture," Sanader said. Sanader also stated in the interview that Croatia takes the fight against corruption seriously and wants to accelerate the reform of the judiciary, which includes the rationalization of courts.

"In Croatia, we do not need as many courts as we have. This was a difficult political decision. State attorney’s offices should also be reduced and become more efficient, which is also underway," APA quotes Sanader’s words. ORF warns that critics argue that this rationalization may not be completed for another ten years and highlights the significant gap between announcement and implementation. Even if the Croatian government accelerates reforms, the date of Croatia’s accession to the EU also depends on resolving the EU crisis that arose from Ireland’s refusal to accept the Lisbon Reform Treaty.

"First of all, it is important that all 26 countries ratify the treaty, and then it will be seen how to reach a positive agreement with Ireland. I hope that not only will our friends in Ireland view this as we do, but that they will also think that Croatia is now next in line and that they will help us," Sanader said. APA notes that Sanader does not expect Slovenia to block Croatia’s accession to the EU in the event that the two countries do not resolve the border dispute before the end of Croatia’s negotiations with the EU. (Hina)