EU to Sanction Croatia Over Arrest Warant Laws

The European Union is set to start enforcing sanctions against Croatia this week because of its refusal to amend its judicial cooperation laws, reports local media.

An EU spokesperson confirmed that European Justice Commissioner Viviane Redding, together with EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Commissioner Stefan Fule informed their colleagues on Friday that Croatia was in serious breach of European laws. The commission agreed that the situation was serious and that the commission must act in accordance with Article 39 of the accession agreement.

The EU are asking the Croatian government to remove the limit on the application of the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) for crimes committed after August 2002. A few days before joining the European Union, Croatia passed the law on judicial cooperation, of which the EAW is part and which limits its application to crimes committed after August 2002.  The EU legislation breach was highlighted by the case of Joisp Perkovic, who is wanted by Germany for his role in the murder of a Croatian dissident in 1983.