Croatia Agreed to Open Serbia's EU Accession Negotiations

Croatia has given its written consent for Chapter 23 in Serbia's negotiations with the European Union to be opened. It was the only country out of the 28 EU member states that did not agree for this chapter to be opened in June, reports the Patria News Agency.

The EU presiding country, the Netherlands, attempted to reach a consensus among member states, raising this issue to a higher, ambassadorial level of decision-making. The Croatian representative reiterated several times during this month that they could not agree to the opening of Chapter 23, citing arguments about the regional jurisdiction of Serbian courts for war crimes and the representation of the Croatian minority in the Serbian parliament.

Some member states, particularly Germany, insisted that the opening of Chapter 23 was necessary to preserve the credibility of the process, reminding Zagreb of the declaration by the Croatian Parliament, which committed not to block its neighbours in European integration due to bilateral issues not part of European legislation.