He labelled as historic the Hague war crimes tribunal's acquittal of generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac, calling them heroic commanders in the Homeland War, as well as the removal of the incrimination of a criminal conspiracy.

Thereby Croatia ends the war of liberation and can proudly join the EU. All those who built their political careers on the theory that Croatia was founded on crime and ethnic cleansing have been defeated, Karamarko said during an interview on Croatian Radio.

A close friend of Gotovina, Zeljko Dilber, said on Sunday that there were people in the HDZ whose actions went against Gotovina but that Karamarko was not one of them. Dilber added that one day the truth would be known of who spread false information and aided in Gotovina's arrest.

I think that Croatia is one of those rare countries where state secrets seem to 'leak' immediately and end up in the headlines. We should be building the state and see what the services are doing, what the police and the state prosecution are doing, and when something should become open for public debate and is in public interest and what should be kept confidential, Karamarko said.

He fervently rejected accusations by the HDSSB party of his role in Gotovina's arrest and believes that it was using this for petty politics because it was losing its ground.

He went on to say that the most important issue at hand is Croatia's accession to the European Union. We are facing an historical turning point and should geo-strategically move away from what is called the Balkans and share our future with the EU, preserving our dignity and originality, he said.

Asked what he thought of the possibility of Gotovina entering politics and if he wanted him in the HDZ, Karamarko said that he believed both Gotovina and Markac were above party politics.