"The Office of Chancellor Angela Merkel confirmed yesterday that, because of other engagements, she would not be able to attend the main celebration of Croatia's entry into the European Union in Zagreb on June 30," the government said in a press release.

A German government spokesman told the media earlier in the day that Merkel had cancelled her planned trip to Zagreb "for lack of time" and that Germany would be represented by the Minister of State at the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Michael Link.

Meanwhile in the Croatian Parliament, the Opposition requested and was granted a recess in the session following the news that the German chancellor had cancelled her visit.

All important news websites are saying that Chancellor Merkel has cancelled her visit to Zagreb because of the Perkovic case, the chairman of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) group, Gordan Jandrokovic, said, demanding that a government representative come to Parliament and explain the situation. He also called for the bill governing judicial cooperation with the EU in criminal matters to be withdrawn from the procedure to save Croatia's face.

"The signals from Germany are clear, we need a recess," Jandrokovic said. The HDZ's motion was backed by the Labour Party, the regional HDSSB party and the parliamentary group of former Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor who is now an independent MP.

Jandrokovic accused the government of compromising Croatia's credibility at a time when the country was entering the European Union. "Unfortunately, public perception is such that the SDP (Social Democratic Party) is protecting people who carried out executions during the Communist rule," he said.

"Now you have received a clear message from a country that went through leftwing and rightwing totalitarianism and condemned it, just as the entire EU condemns it," Jandrokovic said and added: "Unfortunately, you cannot accept the fact that crimes were committed during Communist rule, that there were people who killed other people for political reasons, people who did not share their political views."

"We should be ashamed because the Croatian government is trying to protect those who committed crimes," Jandrokovic said.

The German Federal Criminal Police Office on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant for former senior Yugoslav secret service official Josip Perkovic for his role in the murder of Croatian emigrant Stjepan Djurekovic in Germany 30 years ago.

The warrant says that at the time Perkovic served in the former State Security Service of the Socialist Republic of Croatia and in the secret service of the Yugoslav Communist League. It lists addresses at which he could be located, including two in Zagreb and one in the northern coastal town of Novi Vinodolski.

German media said recently that Germany would renew its request to Croatia for Perkovic's extradition under the European Arrest Warrant, which becomes effective in Croatia on July 1 when the country formally joins the European Union.

At the same time, Croatian media reported that the Croatian parliament was considering amending the law to prevent the application of the European Arrest Warrant to crimes committed before 2002, which would also apply to the Perkovic case. Meanwhile, senior Croatian officials said that this legislative initiative was not connected with the Perkovic case.