Sanader: Croatia will not buy EU membership with territory

Croatia will not buy its EU membership with territory nor will it ever accept blackmail and exclusivity that have no place in the EU, said Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader on Wednesday at an extraordinary press conference following Slovenia’s announcement of a blockade on EU negotiation chapters.

"Croatia is not and will not be ready, nor will it ever accept blackmail and exclusivity that have no place in the EU," said Sanader. "We will not buy our EU membership with territory. This is our firm stance, and our friends in Slovenia must know this," Sanader stated to reporters immediately after returning from the USA, where he chaired two sessions of the UN Security Council.

Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor announced on Wednesday in Ljubljana that Slovenia will block seven chapters at the Croatia-EU accession conference on Friday in Brussels, in which, according to its opinion, the border solution is prejudged, as well as four others for different reasons, while it will agree to open or close a total of four chapters. The Croatian Prime Minister reiterated to reporters that Croatia has done everything on its part to guarantee Slovenia that no document in the negotiation process prejudges the final resolution of border issues between the two countries.

"If it does not reconsider its positions and change its decision to block Croatian negotiations by the COREPER meeting, which he announced could take place tomorrow, the Slovenian government will show exclusivity that is at odds with the fundamental principles of solidarity, good neighborliness, and unity on which the EU and all of Europe rest," said Sanader, adding that he is not overly optimistic.

"Blocking 10 chapters, eight for opening and two for closing is an unprecedented move in the history of EU membership negotiations," said Sanader. The Croatian Prime Minister stated that Croatia continues the negotiation process, encouraged by the support it has from 26 EU member states and the European Commission, following the timeline set by the EC, and reiterated the determination to conclude negotiations by the end of next year. When asked by reporters how he interprets that, after the announcement of the negotiation blockade, Slovenian Prime Minister Pahor expressed a desire to meet with Sanader perhaps as early as next week, the Croatian Prime Minister responded with a smile.

"What does that mean, first you will block us, and then you propose that we meet. I would have met before that," emphasized Prime Minister Sanader. He reiterated that he is open to any conversation that will be open, friendly, and neighborly dialogue for the benefit of both countries and their citizens, and stressed that he wants good bilateral relations with Slovenia. However, regarding that meeting next week, Pahor obviously knows more than I do, and since he is supposed to meet with me, I think I should know something about it," said Sanader.

The President of the Croatian government stated that he still considers Slovenia a friendly country because Slovenian and Croatian citizens have much more in common than open issues, "among which we will now, if that happens, include the blocking of Croatian negotiations." The friendship between Croatia and Slovenia is not the friendship of Croatian and Slovenian politics, emphasized Prime Minister Sanader, although, as he said, there is no reason why there should not be friendship among the politics. (Hina)