Such a veto is contrary to the Social Democrats' policies. Also, the disputed nuclear plant, which is only half-owned by Croatia, is located in the EU member Slovenia, Swoboda said in a news programme of the Austrian public broadcaster.

Austria will continue advocating that the use of nuclear energy be abandoned in entire Europe, said Swoboda, adding that one would lose credibility by threatening a veto over the Krsko plant. He recalled that such threats did not yield any results in the case of the Czech nuclear power plant Temelin.

The right of veto would be used only if Croatia did not meet the necessary criteria with regard to the rule of law, said Swoboda.

The parliament of the Austrian province of Carinthia two weeks ago adopted a proposal asking the Austrian government to veto Croatia's accession to the EU if Zagreb opposed putting Krsko out of operation. The proposal was supported by all parties in the Carinthian parliament, including the Social Democrats. At the time, Swoboda distanced himself from his party colleagues who launched the initiative to vote on the proposal.

Petra Bayr, spokeswoman for the Social Democratic Party of Austria, said on Friday in the same news programme on Austrian Television that she would not rule out a veto on Croatia's EU accession, but she backed down shortly afterwards in a public statement, the Austrian news agency APA reported.