British Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke visited Croatia

Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor briefed visiting British Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke on Wednesday (April 13th) about efforts to reform the judiciary. She assured him that the government is committed to fighting corruption and strengthening the rule of law. Kosor reiterated that Croatia’s aim is to wrap up its EU accession talks in June. Clarke praised Zagreb’s progress in talks with the bloc and said he was impressed with the judicial reforms.

Separately Wednesday, local media quoted EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele as saying there will be more clarity on Croatia’s meeting the benchmarks for closing Chapter 23 (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights) in May. He noted the European Commission is currently analysing a report by the cabinet regarding the benchmarks, but stopped short of saying whether the country could wrap up EU accession talks by the end of June.