The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, emphasised Spain's "satisfaction" at having directed the final process of helping Croatia to open all the negotiation chapters (35) to determine whether it is politically and economically ready to join the European Union.

“Today we have taken an irreversible step in Croatia's accession to the EU”, said Moratinos after chairing the Accession Conference of the former Yugoslav republic, and which will probably take place in 2011.

Chapters 8 (Competition Policy), 23 (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights) and 31 (Foreign, Security and Defence Policy) were opened today, while chapters 5 (Public Procurement) and 16 (Taxation) have been provisionally closed, once Croatia complies with the requirements laid down by the EU on these matters.

According to Mr Moratinos, the EU “is sending an unequivocal signal” with the progress towards Croatia's accession: that it is open to new member states.

He was confident that the commitment regarding the Western Balkan states' future in Europe is "unequivocal", and although each country is following its own process and calendar, "the strategic decision has now been determined". “It's not Croatia and then we close the door, it's Croatia and opening the door further to the Balkans”, he pointed out.

At the start of the Spanish Presidency there was “scepticism” about the progress that could be made in the process of EU enlargement, since this is one of the countries that does not recognise Kosovo's statute of independence, Moratinos explained.

“You will have to judge for yourselves: I will just briefly remind you of the success of the Sarajevo meeting”, said the minister, refering to the conference at the start of June, where the EU guaranteed the countries of the Western Balkans a European future.

When questioned specifically on the issue of Kosovo, Moratinos said that during its presidency Spain has put in place practical measures to help bring about improved coexistence between Serbs and Kosovars.

Croatia commits itself to reforms
The Croatian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gordan Jandrokovic, thanked the Spanish Presidency and Mr Moratinos for their “firm and constant support” in its process to join the EU.

He felt that the conference today had been "one of the most important" for the country's accession, and he acknowledged that the eventual success of this process will come from observing European regulations.

He went on to say that one of his government's priorities was a "zero tolerance" of corruption, cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and good neighbourly relations with the other former Yugoslav republics.

In the Croatian minister's opinion, the prospect of the Balkan countries joining the EU is the only way to guarantee peace and progress in the region, and he was in favour of resolving the remaining issues left after the break-up of Yugoslavia.

Entry in 2010
Jandrokovic expressed his satisfaction at Croatia's reaching the "last 100 metres" of its entry into the EU, after a "successful marathon".

According to Croatian estimates, it could join the EU club during the Hungarian Presidency in the first half of 2011.

The European Commissioner for Enlargement, Stefan Fule, considered this forecast to be reasonable, emphasising that it will depend on the Croatians themselves being able to tackle the reforms required. He stated that the road map laid out by the Croatian government for the reforms is "quite convincing", and he encouraged them to "continue down the right path".