"Before taking up the new post, I would like to see Chapter 23 opened and Croatia receiving closing benchmarks," Simonovic said at a ceremony marking the Day of the Entrepreneur at Zagreb's Westin hotel.

Simonovic said he would know more about a date of his departure for New York after his talks at the UN on Thursday.

President Ivo Josipovic and Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor were involved in "the advanced stage of election procedure," the minister said. "I received their support, but also a clear instruction to try and delay my transfer until the work regarding Chapter 23 has been finished."

The European Commission assessed a year and a half ago that Croatia had met the benchmarks for opening negotiations on that policy area, but then some members decided to use their veto powers to block negotiations after the chief prosecutor of the UN war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Serge Brammertz, expressed his dissatisfaction with Croatia's cooperation with the Hague-based tribunal over Zagreb's failure to hand over some of the requested military documents needed for the trial of three Croatian generals.

Simonovic said last week that the blockade of Chapter 23 was politically motivated and had nothing to do with the situation in the Croatian judiciary.

Simonovic has been appointed assistant to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for human rights. He will be the first person to fill the new post, which was approved by the UN General Assembly in December 2009.