‘Decision on Croatia does not Affect Turkey’
Following the decision regarding Croatia on March 16, suggestions were made that Austria might attempt to block negotiations with Turkey that are due to start on October 3rd. The EU Commission Turkey Representative Hansjorg Kretschmer emphasized on Thursday (March 17) that he does not see any reasons not to start negotiations with Turkey. Croatia had been informed about the decision of the postponement because it had not handed over the war criminal General Ante Gotovine to the court in The Hague.
Informing Zaman, an official from the Austrian Foreign Ministry said that his country does not see a link between Turkey and Croatia. Noting, "Turkey is Turkey and Croatia is Croatia", the same official stressed that it is wrong to falsely exert that the EU destinies of the two countries are linked with each other; however, he also disclosed that it is currently impossible to predict what sort of developments might occur within three to five months. The Austrian media and extreme rightist parties, on the other hand, claim that Croatia is was being treated unjustly and that Turkey was being given preferential treatment. Herbert Scheibner, chairman of parliamentary group of the Austrian Freedom Party (FPO), an extreme rightist party, made a statement to the Austrian media following the European Council’s decision for postponing negotiations with Croatia and expressed that it is "incomprehensible" to say "no" to Croatia when negotiations with Turkey are about to begin. Defending, "Turkey’s human rights records are still very bad; however, the problem in Croatia is related only to one person," Scheibner claimed that the EU applies double standards to Turkey and Croatia. President of the European Parliament (EP) Foreign Affairs Committee Elmar Brok had also made a similar statement the other day (March 16).
On the other hand, French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier spoke to French newspaper Le Monde and said the EU decision for the postponement of negotiations with Croatia should be evaluated as a warning to all the candidate countries.
