Croatia News - CroatiaPress.com

Zagreb, February 2 (CP) – According to the Jutarnji List daily, cabinet ministers have been tasked with outlining to PM Ivo Sanader on Monday what they will be doing in each of their fields to speed up Croatia’s EU accession negotiations.

It seems that the Justice Minister Ana Lovrin will be feeling the heat most, as she is expected to secure the acceleration of reforms in the justice system, one of the key requirements in Croatia’s EU bid.

Jutarnji claims that ‘a diplomatic offensive’ is in the works in a bid to convince EU partners that Croatia was not the sole party to blame for the negotiations slowing down.

The government is allegedly fully aware of the possibility of further EU negotiations being frozen due to reforms in the justice sector not going quickly enough and Croatia’s implementation of the Protected Ecology and Fisheries Belt (ZERP) against EU members, something it was warned of on Thursday by the European Commission head of mission in Croatia, Vincent Degert.

President Stjepan Mesic might even push for the government and opposition getting together and trying to find a solution for the current situation as soon as possible. Mesic believes that Croatia has about six months to catch up with its reforms and secure its planned 2010 EU entry.