Last night in Brussels, the foreign ministers of the European Union member states failed to conclude the discussion on the enlargement strategy as they could not agree on a date to start accession negotiations with Macedonia. Therefore, today’s press conference and official conclusions, including those regarding Croatia, have been postponed.
Yesterday, without discussion, the ministers accepted conclusions stating that by the end of this year, the Working Group for drafting the accession agreement with Croatia will begin its work. A financial package for the first two years of Croatia’s membership was also accepted. However, these two good news were overshadowed by a third – the Netherlands continues to block the opening of the judiciary chapter. The reason is well known – the artillery logs. Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen stated after the meeting last night that he currently does not see the possibility of unblocking the Judiciary and Fundamental Rights chapter until Croatia responds to the requests of the Chief Prosecutor of The Hague, Serge Brammertz. Verhagen said that Brammertz has established permanent contact with Croatian authorities and that if there is progress regarding the artillery logs, he will immediately inform the European Union, which is ready to reconsider the issue.
