The Croatian government's failure to hand over war crimes suspect Ante Gotovina is expected to wreck the planned launch this Thursday of its talks for European Union membership

The Croatian government's failure to hand over war crimes suspect Ante Gotovina is expected to wreck the planned launch this Thursday of its talks for European Union membership. Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader has been on a last-ditch lobbying mission in Brussels. "I am fully of the position that negotiations should start on 17 March," he said. Sanader continues to insist that his country has cooperated fully with the U.N. war crimes tribunal for former Yugoslavia. It would be the first time the EU has put off the scheduled start of negotiations with a candidate country over a point of respect for human rights. The former general, Gotovina, is accused of crimes against humanity during a 1995 offensive against rebel Croatian Serbs. Many Croatians, however, see Gotovina as a hero of their 1991-95 war of independence, and anti-EU feeling has risen in Croatia lately. This Wednesday, EU foreign ministers are meeting to present Zagreb with their formal decision. A 'no' would also send a strong signal to other former Yugoslav states and to EU hopeful Turkey. Diplomats say the EU is unlikely to fix a new date for opening talks but will express readiness to start as soon as Croatia has proven its commitment to the process.