Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Jandrokovic said in an interview with the commercial broadcaster RTL on Sunday that Croatia's completing its EU membership negotiations by the end of the year was realistic, adding that he expected the next report by Hague tribunal chief prosecutor Serge Brammetz to make it possible for Croatia to open the negotiation area on the judiciary and fundamental rights.
When asked if he expected Brammertz's report on Croatia's cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal to be positive, Jandrokovic said that he expected it to "be such as to enable the opening of policy chapter No. 23."
Commenting on reports from Slovenia about a possible new blockade of Croatia's EU entry talks if Slovenia's Ljubljanska Banka was not allowed to operate in Croatia, Jandrokovic said that he believed Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor, who recently said that there would be no new blockades for Croatia, more than he believed the Slovenian Foreign Ministry's spokesman.
"I believe that we can find a solution to that issue in a normal, civilised atmosphere. If we managed to agree on borders, which in my opinion is a more difficult issue, I see no reason why we wouldn't find a mutually acceptable solution to this one, too," Jandrokovic said.
