The way the European Commission (EC) is communicating regarding the limit placed on the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) is an ideological-political campaign and Cold War rhetoric which does not respect Croatia's equality as a member of the European Union, Independent Democratic Serb Party MP and president of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee Milorad Pupovac said on Tuesday.
The ruling coalition needs to discuss as soon as possible and find a solution to the problem relating to the EAW, Pupovac told reporters in the parliament, but added that the EC's tone is as if "Croatia is behind the Iron Curtain and is protecting communist criminals".
"Every member of the EU, including Croatia, must respect the provisions of the acquis, but in respecting these provisions the equality of each member must be protected. These are two values that must be respected equally", Pupovac underscored.
As a new member of the EU, Croatia is without a doubt interested in respecting the acquis wherever it has not managed to until now, including in the prosecution of crimes, all forms of crime, not only those politically motivated but also war crimes, some of which too were politically motivated, said Pupovac.
Likewise, he continued, Croatia is interested in being a respected and equal member of the EU, and that was not the case in the communication of the EC's spokeswoman, on behalf of Vice President Vivian Reding's office.
"The language which spokeswoman Mina Andreeva used contains elements of Cold War language and an ideological-political campaign. That cannot be characteristic of the EC's communication, of its members with member countries and with governments, regardless of whether the member countries give cause or not", Pupovac, who was a former observer in the European Parliament, cautioned.
"We are a country that is still pressured by various difficulties of the war and a legacy of war crimes and there is no doubt that Croatia has to have the possibility to manage these processes on its own, naturally, by respecting the provisions that are common to other EU members. But no one must accept ideological-political campaigning", he said.
Mina Andreeva sharply criticised the Croatian government because of a law relating to the EAW, dubbed Lex Perkovic, because it set a time limit for the EAW's application to crimes committed after August 2002. The EAW would not apply to a former Yugoslav secret agent and former associate to Croatia's first president Franjo Tudjman, Josip Perkovic, who is wanted in Germany for masterminding the assassination of Croatian emigrant Stjepan Djurekovic.
Pupovac believes, because there seem to be differences in opinion in the ruling coalition on this matter, that this should be discussed as soon as possible. It is necessary to sit down and agree how to align the disputed law so that it is not in collision with the EAW, he said.
