Croatia will lose financially if it does not complete European Union entry talks in June, something that will require huge effort, a senior official involved in the negotiations said in an interview for Reuters on Wednesday.
"We could wrap up the talks in June if we make a huge effort to meet all the remaining criteria. But even then, success cannot be taken for granted. However, failure is guaranteed if we do not push hard," Vesna Pusic, head of the national committee for monitoring the talks, told Reuters.
The EU has earmarked up to 3.5 billion euros ($4.92 billion) for Croatia's first two years of membership, provided Zagreb joined in 2012, but this is already impossible due to a ratification process that lasts up to two years.
"We have already lost funds for 2012 and if we do not complete the talks in June we will lose the funds for 2013 as well. Then there is a completely new and still unclear financial framework on the EU agenda from 2014," Pusic told Reuters.
Pusic said Croatia's problem was more about convincing EU members of the credibility and sustainability of reforms than about its ability to meet the formal criteria.
"But besides working on meeting criteria, our policymakers must make a major diplomatic effort towards the EU members to remove possible doubts about the quality of reforms," said Pusic, who is also a major opposition leader.
Some EU diplomats believe Croatia might need a few more months to persuade EU members that its reforms are fully on track. "I think that it will be difficult to complete the talks in June, though not impossible. Maybe a few more months would do the trick," Reuters cited one Zagreb-based diplomat as saying.
