Topical question asked in the House of Commons, by Andrew MacKay (Conservative). It was answered on Tuesday, 19 January 2010 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Topical Questions

Question: Following the election of the new President in Croatia and the successful resolution of a territorial dispute with Slovenia, will the Foreign Secretary accept that there is no need for any further delay in Croatia becoming a member of the European Union, and will he and his fellow Foreign Ministers use their best offices to ensure that that happens as quickly as possible?

Answer: We welcome the election of the new Croatian President, although I hope that on reflection, the right hon. Gentleman will realise that he slightly misspoke. There is a major outstanding issue before membership of the European Union, namely full co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in respect of the situation in the 1990s. I spoke to the Croatian Foreign Minister last week and said that the UK would not block the opening of chapter 23, which is an important chapter in the renegotiations, but I emphasised to him that while we welcome what the Croatian Prime Minister has done in terms of setting up a taskforce to find the important lost documents that are at the heart of ICTY co-operation, it remains the responsibility of the Croatian authorities to pursue this case to the end. I hope the right hon. Gentleman recognises that that sort of conditionality is an important part of becoming a functioning member of the European Union. May I make this point, Mr. Speaker, because I think it important? The Croatian Foreign Minister said that he agreed with that approach, because he is helping to drive a process of reform in Croatia so that it can come to terms with its own past. That requires the sort of openness and transparency that is at the heart of the EU accession process.

Secondary information