Justice Minister Orsat Miljenic said on Wednesday evening that the Croatian government would amend the law on judicial cooperation in criminal matters with EU member states, popularly dubbed Lex Perkovic, with regard to the time limit for the enforcement of the European Arrest Warrant (EAW), and that this would happen under regular procedure.
When asked if Josip Perkovic would be extradited to Germany, the minister said he could not comment because it was a matter to be decided by a Croatian court.
Speaking in prime-time evening news programmes on the three national television networks, Miljenic said that the Constitution needed to be amended in order to remove the statute of limitations on politically motivated crimes and that he hoped it would be done as soon as possible.
When asked whether the dispute with the European Commission was "an unnecessary war" considering the fact that the law would be changed after all, Miljenic said that the dispute had raised two issues that needed to be resolved. One was the attitude towards the past and the statute of limitations that protected perpetrators of heinous crimes, while the other was protection of the interests of Croatian citizens.
Miljenic said that the government would continue working to ensure that Croatian citizens enjoyed the same status in this regard as citizens of other EU member states.
He cited a letter he had sent to European Commission Vice-President Viviane Reding in which he wrote that the government would propose to the Commission to launch an initiative for the uniform enforcement of the EAW in all member states for the sake of ensuring equality among EU citizens and strengthening legal security.
That is the very reason why Croatia joined the EU, so that its citizens have the same rights and the same treatment as other EU citizens, the minister said.
Miljenic believes that Croatia has not suffered any damage to its international reputation, but that such damage would be done if Croatia fulfilled any order coming from the outside, "as has unfortunately been done many times in the past." He noted that Croatia was protecting its interests.
The minister recalled that the law had been aligned with two EU directives and a number of other regulations and that 57 of its provisions had been amended. He noted that the issue of the time limit had not been addressed during accession negotiations, which he said was a mistake, and that the government now tried to remedy that.
Commenting on statements that Croatia's reputation was damaged, Miljenic said that the Commission had initiated 58 actions against different countries before the court in Luxembourg last year and 40 actions this year. He said it was normal that one country interpreted a law in one way and the Commission in another. "Some cases are resolved in peaceful talks, as we have done, some end up before the court and then the court decides on them," he said.
