Members of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee held talks in Brussels on Thursday with Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi, whose country is the European Union president in the first half of this year, discussing the forthcoming completion of Croatia's accession negotiations and the violence against participants in a Gay Pride parade in Split last Saturday.
German MEP Franziska Katharina Brantner, of the Green Group, voiced concern about the violence in the Croatian seaport.
We support the completion of the negotiations with Croatia but are concerned about what we saw in Split a day after the European Commission proposed completing the negotiations. That's not a good signal and we are concerned about how Croatia will continue meeting its commitments, which is why monitoring is necessary. We must continue supporting those in Croatia who fight for European values, said Brantner.
Martony said he agreed that the violence in Split showed why monitoring was necessary. He added that Council of the EU bodies were working out the kind of monitoring to be in force between the completion of the negotiations and Croatia's EU accession.
Martony said the negotiations must be completed by midnight on June 30, as June 31 did not exist, and that it was possible. He added the completion of Croatia's negotiations would be discussed at a meeting of foreign ministers in Luxembourg on June 21 and at a summit of EU heads of state or government on June 23-24.
