No 2007 entry for Croatia

[Tom]

British think-tank says no EU membership for Croatia in 2007

07 November 2003

Croatia has no chance of realising its ambition of entering the European Union in 2007, the director of one the world's leading think-tanks, London's Royal Institute of International Affairs, said here Friday.

"I believe that Croatia will be invited to start negotiations, but it will not enter the EU before Romania, which means probably not before 2012," Victor Bulmer-Thomas told an international conference, quoted by the HINA news agency.

He believed that, following a recent European Commission report, Romania will not enter the EU before 2010, rejecting a possibility that Zagreb might outstrip Bucharest.

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said in a report Wednesday that Romania was not yet a functioning market economy, casting doubt on the country's readiness to join the union. Bulgaria and Romania both hope to join in 2007.

Croatia applied for EU membership in February hoping to get the status of an official candidate early next year and catch up with Bulgaria and Romania.

Bulmer-Thomas added that one of the biggest problems for Croatia was its regional position.

If the EU accepted Croatia as a member it would then have Bosnia, a "fragile state which does not function," for a neighbour, and it does not want that to happen, he said.

The two-day conference, entitled "NATO-EU and southeastern Europe", brought together participants from institutes in Albania, Bosnia, Britain, Canada, Croatia, France, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Russia, Sweden and the United States.

[Bob]

I wouldn't worry to much about what Britain think as Germany run the European show and Britain is a puppet state of the USA.

Britain use the Bosnian de-stable border region as a valid reason to exclude Croatia.Britain is one of the Major reasons Bosnia is the way it is.

Lets cut to the chase here.Britain real reason for excluding Croatia is not Bosnian border issues but Yugoslavian entry into the Eu.Serbia is not stable enough at the moment and if Britain stalls enough to give them time then they will argue that Yugoslavia should join the same time as Croatia.

What do you think?

[Nick]

I'm not sure what the REAL reason is that Britain has decided to voice their objections to Croatia joining the EU.
I'm sure they don't give any more of a d**n about Serbia than they do Croatia. Maybe they're waiting to get the rest of ex-Yugo into the EU together at a later date, for whatever reason.
Many Brits don't care about foreign nations, some don't know that Yugoslavia is no more and wouldn't be bothered to differenciate between a Croat and a Serb.
Whatever the Brit governement's agenda is, it's unlikely to be anything punishing the Croats specifically.

[Anja]

They are trying to push Croatia into the West Balkan Union.
Reason for this?
Let's get realistic: Bosnia is currently being "governed" by the "coalition forces" and so is Macedonia together with Kosovo.
Serbia is yet not very far from it.
Only Croatia is still standing apart and it has been pressurised to join the club!