Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-09-07-Speech-3-251"
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"en.20050907.20.3-251"2
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".
With the greatest of respect to the questioner, I find there is a curious connection between the first part and second part of his question, in the sense that I can assure him that there is an honest endeavour on the part of the Council to uphold the rules and that is exactly what we are seeking to do in the case of Croatia.
Although I recognise that opinion in this Parliament is divided on the issue of Croatian accession, there can surely be few of us who would deny that upholding the international rule of law is one of the tenets of the European Union. In that regard it is important that Croatia is recognised to have upheld international law and its clear obligations to the International Criminal Tribunal under international law, not just in the interests of the Union but also in the more general interests of all of us who wish to see international law upheld within the western Balkans generally. It is also important that, at a critical time, we do not collectively resile from the very clear position on the steps Croatia needs to take.
I find it curious, as a British Minister standing here on behalf of the Presidency, that implicit in the questions is a suggestion that Britain is somehow averse to the accession of a country such as Croatia, given Britain's longstanding commitment to enlargement and our determination that Croatia should be able to take its place within the European Union in due course. The bar to that is simply the fact that it is obliged to uphold the international obligations as set out by the International Criminal Tribunal. That is why I am keen to emphasise today that the ball is primarily in the court of the Croatian Government and I am hopeful that, in light of the taskforce work that is being undertaken at the moment, we will see further progress in Croatia that will allow accession to move forward expeditiously."@en1
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