News that German Chancellor Angela Merkel will not come to Zagreb on Sunday to a central celebration of Croatia's European Union accession was the top headline in German public television ARD's news show Nachtmagazin on Wednesday night.
According to Deutsche Welle, anchorman Sven Lorigu wondered if this was a "diplomatic slap" for Croatia. He said the case of former secret service chief Josip Perkovic and the issue of his extradition to Germany was a possible reason for Merkel's cancellation.
After a feature taped in Croatia, including German reporters unsuccessfully ringing Perkovic's door bell as well as the background of the whole case, the anchorman commented on the way in which German government spokesman Steffen Seibert denied that the case had anything to do with Merkel's cancellation. "His body language betrayed evident tension," he said.
ARD's Vienna correspondent Ralf Borchard headlined his radio report as "The chancellor ruins Croatia's EU entry celebration", which was also released on the tageschau.de website, also speaks of a diplomatic slap to Croatia.
"For weeks the chancellor was mentioned as the most important guest at the festivity on the occasion of Croatia's EU accession, and the Croatian media are sure the reason for Merkel's cancellation is the conflict over the extradition of former secret service chief Josip Perkovic."
On Friday, two days before the accession, the Croatian government wants to pass a law that would protect Perkovic from extradition, tageschau said on its website, as carried by Deutsche Welle.
In its political show "Kontrovers" on Wednesday night, Bavarian Television aired a six-minute feature it did on the subject together with the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, whose print edition has a big article on the Perkovic case. The TV feature said some members of the European Parliament sought drastic measures.
"If Croatia does change the legal situation, the European Commission must launch proceedings for accession treaty breach which, in the worst case scenario, could lead to a cut in the financing (which Croatia is to receive from the EU)," Bavarian Television quoted MEP Manfred Weber of Merkel's CDU/CSU as saying.
Merkel's cancellation was also reported by Reuters' German edition and the Focus, Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung and Die Zeit papers. The latter on its website quoted former Croatian foreign minister Gordan Jandrokovic as saying that because of the incumbent government's actions, "Croatia is embarrassing itself instead of celebrating."
