INTERVIEW with Ivo Sanader, Prime Minister of Croatia

Croatia lies on the map of the European Union like a gap in a puzzle waiting to be filled. Croatian Prime Minister, Ivo Sa nader spoke to New Eur ope’s Editor Alexandros Koronakis on the eve of the EU Summit, discussing EU and NATO membership, corruption in the region, the financial crisis, the situation in Bosnia- Herzegovina, and what the election of Bar ack Obama me ans for Croatia. Croatia has assumed the Presidency of the UN Security Council on December 1st. The Croatian Premier will chair a session of the Security Council in New York this week dedicated to the situation in Somalia and the fight against piracy. At the closing press conferen ce of the EU Summit Fre nch President Nicolas Sar kozy acting as President of the EU Council noted that Cr o atia will shortly be the 28th Member State of the EU.

Concerning the accession, when do you expect the accession process to be complete for Croatia in light of the recent turmoil?

The European Commission has indicated a very realistic timetable; that is to complete the negotiations by the end of 2009. Of course it will require some more time to finish the contract, for ratification. Then in Croatia there will of course be a referendum on the membership but as far as the negotiations are concerned we expect that 2009 will be the final year.

The European Commission perceives South-East Europe as having a problem with corruption. What steps do you think need to be taken to deal with this negative image?

I think every country should undertake the utmost measures and efforts in order to fight corruption and my government is doing this very well. I think that a lot of actions and measures have been realized already but we are continuing this effort.
Even if one country becomes a member of the European Union it should continue with this fight against corruption. I think this is unfortunately something which is not only related to non-member states so we have to fight against this. My government is very decisive, very determined, very committed to this fight.

With Bulgaria and Romania we have seen now and even after they have become members they have many problems with corruption.

But that was the reason for the European Commission to introduce new tools in the negotiations and those are the benchmarks. Before we open one chapter, we have to fulfil opening benchmarks and then before we close one chapter we have to fulfil closing benchmarks. I think this is a very good tool where the European Commission can measure what one acceding country has achieved. And I fully welcome this new approach.

The Balkans are facing a difficult situation, particularly with the situation in Bosnia. What is your outlook for the region?

The European Union has done a great job by passing the resolution of Thessaloniki in 2003, opening the prospective for all South-Eastern European countries. That was a great achievement and it has shown that this is the best incentive for all countries in the South-Eastern Europe.
As far as Bosnia-Herzegovina is concerned, Bosnia-Herzegovina should be and should remain a unique state; so no partition, no division of BH and the three constituent peoples there Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats should find a solution for Bosnia-Herzegovina possibly based on the Dayton Peace Accords which we support, but, with improvements. There are some problems in the functioning of the state of Bosnia- Herzegovina and these should be improved. Also the federation between Bosniaks and Croats is not functioning well and it should also be improved.
The Croats, being the smallest nation there, should not lose the equal status with the two other nations. It’s important that during Yugoslavia, during Tito’s time, Bosnia-Herzegovina consisted of three constituent peoples- Croats, Serbs, Bosniaks. The same should be maintained today. And I think this is the main basis, the major basis for the future of Bosnia-Herzegovina – unique, sovereign Bosnia-Herzegovina and as such approaching Euro-Atlantic integration.

Financial crisis: How has Croatia been affected by the financial crisis compared to the rest of the European Union?

We are not affected to that extent, thank God. We are also a smaller economy in comparison to economies of leading European countries, but of course we are still not out of the crisis; especially the economic part of the whole crisis, not the financial one, but the economic one, will affect also Croatia. We are currently fighting to preserve jobs. I think that the financial crisis will of course produce the problems for the bank sector to give loans, to give credit. Of course that will cause a reduction in economic activity, which could lead to the losses of jobs. And this is the most dangerous aspect.

What does the election of Barack Obama mean for Croatia?

The United Sates is a leading superpower in the world. It is very logical that no matter which party, Republican or Democrat, is in power, policy won’t change. There might be smaller changes, but I don’t expect strategic changes.
I very much welcomed the election of president-elect Barack Obama and we, Croatia and the United States, have an excellent bilateral relationship. The United States was among first states to support Croatia on our way to NATO and, you know, we are aiming at full membership before the NATO summit in April next year.
The ratification process on Croatia’s membership is well under way. Already ten countries ratified and we expect the remaining to do so before the end of March in order for Croatia to become, along with Albania, new NATO members. That was of course along with the support of other allies, the US, and President Bush supporting it. President Bush visited Croatia in April this year and stayed for two days. This was the first official visit of an American president to Croatia.