EU committee OKs opening Croatia’s remaining chapters

The EU Permanent Representatives Committee (COREPER) green lighted the opening of the three remaining negotiation chapters in Croatia’s accession talks on Friday (June 25th). The chapters — judiciary, competition and foreign, security and defence policy — will be on the table at an intergovernmental accession conference this week. By the end of June, Croatia will have opened all 33 negotiation chapters. The EU agreed to open the judiciary chapter after Hague war crimes tribunal Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz’s latest report on Croatia’s co-operation with the court. Earlier this month, he concluded that while Zagreb has achieved only limited success in locating the missing “artillery diaries” from 1995’s Operation Storm, he believes the search will continue. Closing the judiciary chapter will depend on Zagreb’s full co-operation with the tribunal.