Paris, 15/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - The Luxembourg presidency of the Council of the EU said that there was a need to think hard about whether to slow down Union enlargement following the French and Dutch no-votes on the European constitution. Croatian and Ukrainian leaders, however, appeared confident, declaring that this would no prevent them moving closer to the EU. Speaking at the opening of the 51st plenary session of the WEU on 13 June in Paris (EUROPE 8968), the Luxembourg minister for defence, Luc Frieden said that, “we now have to think twice before integrating new members”. He stated that enlargements perceived as being too rapid or badly explained were some of the reasons why there had been a no-vote. He asked whether the speed needed to be reduced but explained that this would impact on Romania and Bulgaria which had already signed the accession treaties. Croatian president, Stjepan Mesic was at the WEU Assembly on Tuesday morning and declared that despite the “institutional discussions between EU Member States, the integration process could not stop, there is no other option. We have to fulfil the required conditions and join”. He considered that the institutional debate at the EU would certainly not speed up the enlargement process but it would not stop it either. He also stressed that Croatia had every interest in taking the fugitive General Ante Gotovina to court in The Hague. He added that if it had not been done, it would be because he was not in Croatia. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko also rejected the idea that rejections of the Constitution would prevent her country moving towards the European Union. She affirmed that the no-votes were not the no votes of the Ukraine, adding, “if we begin with practical projects, notably in security and the economy, we could possibility put integration into place through different stages”.