Croatian PM Responds to EU Sanction Threats: No Sanction, Zero!

“There will be no sanctions. Choose who you want to believe, a democratically elected government or someone who is rushing for their 7th term in the European Commission,” said Croatia’s Prime Minister Zoran Milanović on Tuesday in response to yesterdays news that the European Union would start to impose sanctions because of Croatia’s refusal to amend its judicial cooperation laws, reported RTL television.

“I will not let them wipe the floor with Croatia! We are not a bird reserve,” said the PM, adding that Croatia respects the European Arrest Warrant legislation and has already extradited 30 people. ‘ We do not protect anyone, we will honour all of our commitments,” Milanović said.

An EU spokesperson confirmed on Monday that the college of the European Justice Commission considered Croatia in serious breach of European laws. The college 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.