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Austrians say: either Croatia is in or we block Turkey
Turkey's bid to start talks to join the European Union could be complicated by a separate dispute over Croatia's membership application, senior EU diplomats are warning.
Some EU members, including Britain and several Nordic countries, have reservations about initiating talks with Croatia because of its failure to hand over wanted war criminals.
Austria and Germany, however, lead another group of EU members determined that talks with Croatia begin at the earliest opportunity. EU diplomats fear the two membership bids could become entangled when European leaders meet in Brussels on December 16-17 to consider them. They are concerned that Austria, which is hostile to Turkish membership, could be obstructive over Ankara unless it gets its way over its historic ally, Croatia
“If we say no to Croatia, then there could be problems over Turkey,” said one EU ambassador. “Austria, for one, could have a problem; maybe even Germany.”
The Croatian question arises from a report this month by Carla del Ponte, chief prosecutor at the UN's International Criminal Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia.
She claims that Croatia has slowed down its efforts to find Ante Gotovina, a fugitive Croatian general, since the summer when the EU formally accepted the country as a candidate for membership.
“Today neither results nor significant progress can be reported,” she said. “This is a cause of serious concern, for the non-arrest of Gotovina could influence the arrest of [alleged Serbian war criminals Radovan] Karadzic and [Ratko] Mladic.”
Austria believes that Croatia is doing its best to find the wanted men and that the EU should not have its membership policy decided by Ms del Ponte.
It insists it will not try to link the Croatia and Turkey membership bids. “We want to separate the two of them,” said one Austrian diplomat. Nevertheless, many believe such a link will inevitably be made in coming weeks. One EU diplomat described Austria's position as “an opportunity”, in which Vienna's hostility to Turkey could be bought off in return for a green light to Croatia.
Both Turkey and Croatia want to start talks in 2005, although the latter is hoping to join the EU by 2009, while the Turkish negotiations will take much longer.
The biggest question facing the Turkish bid is what conditions would be attached by EU leaders. France, where a majority of citizens oppose Turkey's membership, wants the EU to be specific that the “open-ended” nature of the talks could lead to something less than full membership. Turkey's leaders are insisting they will not accept such a status.
Some EU members, including Britain and several Nordic countries, have reservations about initiating talks with Croatia because of its failure to hand over wanted war criminals.
Austria and Germany, however, lead another group of EU members determined that talks with Croatia begin at the earliest opportunity. EU diplomats fear the two membership bids could become entangled when European leaders meet in Brussels on December 16-17 to consider them. They are concerned that Austria, which is hostile to Turkish membership, could be obstructive over Ankara unless it gets its way over its historic ally, Croatia
“If we say no to Croatia, then there could be problems over Turkey,” said one EU ambassador. “Austria, for one, could have a problem; maybe even Germany.”
The Croatian question arises from a report this month by Carla del Ponte, chief prosecutor at the UN's International Criminal Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia.
She claims that Croatia has slowed down its efforts to find Ante Gotovina, a fugitive Croatian general, since the summer when the EU formally accepted the country as a candidate for membership.
“Today neither results nor significant progress can be reported,” she said. “This is a cause of serious concern, for the non-arrest of Gotovina could influence the arrest of [alleged Serbian war criminals Radovan] Karadzic and [Ratko] Mladic.”
Austria believes that Croatia is doing its best to find the wanted men and that the EU should not have its membership policy decided by Ms del Ponte.
It insists it will not try to link the Croatia and Turkey membership bids. “We want to separate the two of them,” said one Austrian diplomat. Nevertheless, many believe such a link will inevitably be made in coming weeks. One EU diplomat described Austria's position as “an opportunity”, in which Vienna's hostility to Turkey could be bought off in return for a green light to Croatia.
Both Turkey and Croatia want to start talks in 2005, although the latter is hoping to join the EU by 2009, while the Turkish negotiations will take much longer.
The biggest question facing the Turkish bid is what conditions would be attached by EU leaders. France, where a majority of citizens oppose Turkey's membership, wants the EU to be specific that the “open-ended” nature of the talks could lead to something less than full membership. Turkey's leaders are insisting they will not accept such a status.
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