Simonovic, who has recently been appointed UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, is convinced he will have finished the work concerning the opening of negotiations on (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights Chapter) before taking up the position of UN Assistant Secretary-General.

"I sincerely hope and firmly believe that Chapter 23 Judiciary and Fundamental Rights will not only be opened, but that I will be able to negotiate with my colleagues the guidelines for the closing of the said chapter," Simonovic told reporters after the talks with Reding, who was not available for comment.

Simonovic was also scheduled to meet with European Parliament Rapporteur on Croatia Hannes Swoboda, but the meeting was cancelled due to Swoboda's health problems.

The Croatian minister said that at the talks with Reding, he learnt that at the end of this month the European Commission would send to EU member states a draft joint negotiating position for Chapter 23. After that, the EU members are expected to open a debate and unanimously adopt the joint negotiating position, which is a condition for the opening of negotiations on each chapter.

Several EU member states blocked Croatia's EU entry talks in the Judiciary and Fundamental Rights chapter over ICTY Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz's objections concerning Croatia's failure to provide the so-called artillery logs which the ICTY wants but Croatia claims it cannot locate them.

The blockade was lifted in mid February when the Netherlands removed reservations concerning the opening of Chapter 23 and Croatia was invited to submit its negotiating position.

After the EU member states receive the draft negotiating position at the end of this month, Brammertz's assessment of Croatia's cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal at The Hague will be the key element in the decision making process.

Brammertz is scheduled to visit Zagreb on 25 and 26 May, after which he is expected to submit a written report to the UN Security Council and then present it in person in New York, most probably on 28 June. The EU member states will not have to wait for his oral report, as they will be given a written copy of the report in advance.

Simonovic said that the glimpses of the content of benchmarks which the EU would set for Croatia to be able to close Chapter Judiciary and Fundamental Rights, could now be seen, declining to be more concrete, given that the benchmarks have not yet formulated,

Some of the benchmarks will most definitely be full cooperation with the Hague tribunal and an efficient fight against corruption, which includes rulings in ongoing corruption cases, the minister said.