Officials from the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the two strongest opposition parties, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Croatian People's Party (HNS), said on Thursday they had no information relating to media speculations that at a meeting in Brussels on Thursday European Union Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele requested monitoring of Croatia after the completion of its accession negotiations.

The chairman of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, Frano Matusic of the HDZ, told reporters in the Parliament building that he was confident that the EU would not impose on Croatia a monitoring mechanism like the one that had been imposed on Bulgaria and Romania. He noted that Croatia was anyway required to send reports on the implementation of the obligations from the provisionally closed chapters until it joined the bloc as a full member.

When asked if he expected monitoring with sanctions, Matusic said he had not heard of that possibility and added that he did not think it was realistic.

"I'm confident that our European partners see Croatia as a serious candidate and forthcoming member," Matusic said.

The chairman of the European Integration Committee, Neven Mimica of the SDP, said it was too early to make any conclusions based on today's talks in Brussels, but added that monitoring would probably be arranged because it was already one of the negotiating methods. He said that the institute of monitoring should not be overestimated, because its intensity had not yet been agreed upon.

"We should not be against the monitoring of the implementation of the assumed obligations," Mimica said, adding that there was no reason to suspect that a member state would use the monitoring as a mechanism to slow down Croatia's entry into the EU.

When asked if he expected monitoring with sanctions, Mimica said that there were such proposals, but were not fully agreed, hoping that eventually there would be no need for sanctions.

According to his information, the ambassadors who talked to Fuele had neither instructions nor a wish to state when and how Croatia should complete the accession negotiations.

The head of the National Committee overseeing EU accession negotiations, Vesna Pusic of the HNS, said that according to her information during the three-hour meeting in Brussels Fuele submitted a detail report on the 10 benchmarks that had been met in Chapter 23.

"His position was that all the benchmarks have been mainly fulfilled, except certain things that have not been brought to completion. The position of some of the countries was that everything should be brought to completion first and then see what to do next," Pusic said.

The general view of the member states was that the European Commission should start drawing up a final document, because in some countries this document needs to pass through their national parliaments, she added.

On the issue of monitoring, Pusic said that monitoring was mentioned in Brussels, but that it was not the position of all member states and that, as far as she knew, there was no discussion on the nature of monitoring or the possibility of post-accession monitoring, as was the case with Romania and Bulgaria.

When asked what monitoring would mean for Croatia, Pusic said that in the event of pre-accession monitoring, it would concern preparation of reports on the implementation of our own laws and decisions. "That's something we should do for our own sake, irrespective of the EU, and my opinion is that it can be done in Parliament, namely within a body such as the National Committee that might monitor the implementation of the assumed obligations and the decisions adopted by Parliament."

Pusic said she had no information that the EU had considered the possibility of imposing sanctions on Croatia and that she did not expect that to happen. She added that should sanctions be imposed, it would be a problem if it was related to the date of accession.

Pusic said that more could be known about when Croatia might conclude the membership negotiations after an EU ministerial meeting on Monday.

Prime Minister comments on possible monitoring after completion of EU entry talks

Asked by the press on Wednesday about possible monitoring after the coming completion of accession negotiations with the European Union, Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor said the government had reiterated that it would work as hard after the completion of the talks as it had done so far and that it was already overseeing the processes under way together with the European Commission.

"Those are processes that must constantly be upgraded after EU accession as well," she said.

Kosor would not speculate on alleged resistance from Great Britain, the Netherlands and France to the completion of the negotiations, saying Croatia was in constant contact and working with all EU members. "We are currently arranging some bilateral meetings."

Asked if a festivity was being prepared in case Croatia wrapped up the entry talks, Kosor said it would be a "working celebration. But we will celebrate the 20th anniversary of independence and the completion of the negotiations would be a great gift to Croatia."

Asked about opposition leaders' support to the government for the completion of the negotiations, she said, "Some say they won't help Kosor and I say that this is a project for Croatia. This is about supporting Croatia and those who understand it will join in, while those who don't are standing still."

Kosor was speaking to the press after laying a laurel wreath at the bust of Croatian scientist Rudjer Boskovic in Zagreb on the 300th anniversary of his birth, saying he was "not only a Croatian, but a world mind that was ahead of his time."

Kosor said Boskovic, a Jesuit, scientist, philosopher, mathematician, physicist, astronomer, surveyor, diplomat and poet, proved that "Croatia really belongs to the European civilisation."

Laurel wreaths were also laid by the ambassadors of the countries in which Boskovic lived and worked - Italy, Poland, Austria, Turkey, Great Britain, the US, Russia, and the Apostolic Nunciature.