Croatia backs down in EU arrest warrant row
Photo © Volker Hammermeister - Fotolia
(ZAGREB) - Croatia backed down Wednesday in a dispute with the European Union it joined only last month and said it would fully comply with the bloc's extradition law after Brussels threatened sanctions.
"Croatia will ensure its laws on judicial cooperation comply with the community criteria agreed during accession talks," Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said in a letter to European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso.
The bloc had warned its newest member Monday that some funding could be suspended because Zagreb changes its extradition laws just three days before joining the bloc on July 1.
The changes prevented the extradition of suspects of crimes committed before 2002, when the European Arrest Warrant, which regulates extradition between members states, came into force.
Zagreb, whose economy is on the brink of bankruptcy, was initially defiant when a Brussels deadline on conforming with the bloc's laws passed and the bloc threatened sanctions.
But a Commission spokeswoman said the executive had received a letter from Croatia which "could indicate a constructive approach" to the row that erupted between the bloc and its 28th member.
"We welcome this constructive approach and we are in touch with Croatia to see ... if it is followed up by swift legislative action" to remedy the problem, said Mina Andreeva, spokeswoman for EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding.
The Commission meanwhile "was preparing appropriate measures (which) ... could be taken in early September" if Zagreb failed to meet its EU obligations, she added.
After amending its extradition laws in June, Zagreb declined a German request to extradite a former spy, Josip Perkovic, sought in connection with a Communist-era murder.
Reding told Croatian media last week that making "a unilateral change to one of the most important EU laws a few days before accession" was not just a breach of law, but a "breach of trust".
"This must be corrected at once or the relations between Croatia and the rest of the union could be burdened for years," Reding said.
Croatia's justice ministry has complained that Austria, the Czech Republic, Luxembourg and France had all amended the EAW.
But the Commission retorted that Croatia should have advised Brussels beforehand during its negotiations to join the bloc.
Croatia has said it turned down the German extradition request for Perkovic, a former secret service agent, since it involved a crime committed before 2002.
He is wanted for involvement in the murder of Croatian dissident Stjepan Djurekovic in Germany in 1983.
Perkovic headed Croatia's military intelligence services after the country proclaimed independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.
He was also deputy defence minister during the country's 1991-1995 independence war.