PM Kosor meets with EP Rapporteur Swoboda

Kosor was speaking about what her government was doing to close Chapter 23 (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights) in EU accession negotiations. "The government is ready to work round the clock to complete the negotiations by the end of June if possible."

"We also discussed other chapters, namely Chapter 11 (Agriculture and Rural Development) and Chapter 22 (Regional Policy and the Coordination of Structural Instruments), which are fully prepared. We have met all the benchmarks and we believe that we can definitely close them in April."

"We also think we have met all the benchmarks in Chapter 13 (Fisheries)," she said, adding that transitional periods were still being negotiated and that this chapter would be ready for closure soon.

Swoboda said that these were the final efforts to bring the negotiations to completion by the end of June.

Commenting on anti-government street protests in Croatia, Swoboda said that protests are a sign of democracy, which means that Croatia is part of Europe.

Swoboda said that in his opinion it was the responsibility of not just the government and parliament, but also of civil society organisations, to motivate Croatian citizens to vote in favour of EU entry at the forthcoming referendum.