Brussels, 09/10/2003 (Agence Europe) - Croatia can expect a positive opinion from the European Commission on its request for accession, on the condition that the former Yugoslav Republic continues political and economic reforms and that it considerably improves its cooperation with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia. This is the main message of Commissioner for Enlargement, Gunter Verheugen to the Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan during a meeting in Brussels. The Commission intends submitting its "opinion" on Croatia's request on 30 March 2004. If it is given the go-ahead from the Commission, Member States could decide next year to open negotiations for accession with the country. In an interview with The Financial Times, Mr Verheugen said that, "We should tell Croatia that they don't have to wait until other countries in the region have the same level of preparation". The Commissioner also asserted that the Commission still remained, at this stage, "worried" by the lack of willingness by Croatian authorities to cooperate with the ICC.
The Hungarian Prime Minister, Peter Medgyessy, during a hearing in Zagreb, at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, underlined that his country would support "the accession to the EU of Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia (no mention was made of Turkey).