There can be no overseeing of Croatia's judiciary

Bosnjakovic said in a radio talk show on Friday that Croatia was a step away from closing chapter 23 (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights) in its EU entry talks.

The head of the Croatian President's Office, Josko Klisovic, said in the same talk show that there can be no monitoring. There can be cooperation between the two governments, ministries and attorney's offices, but there can be no monitoring, Klisovic said.

Serbian Justice Minister Snezana Malovic told B92 on Thursday that turning over evidence in Purda's case to Croatia does not mean that the Serbian judiciary is withdrawing entirely from the case, adding that the case was in suspension and that Serbia had the right to oversee what the Croatian judiciary was doing.

If the Serbian judiciary is not satisfied with the ruling and the "outcome of the proceedings," it can reactivate the proceedings, Malovic said.

Asked about another Croatian war veteran, Veljko Maric, who was arrested at the Serbian-Bulgarian border in Arpil 2010, Minister Bosnjakovic said that now there was a legal framework to handle his case the way Purda's case was handled.