Congressman Gallegly: Following Gotovina´s Arrest, NATO Doors Wide Open for Croatia
Congressman Gallegly: Following Gotovina's Arrest, NATO Doors Wide Open for Croatia
The arrest of Gotovina has confirmed far beyond Croatia the assurances of Government officials in Zagreb that the fugitive general was not located on Croatian territory, said Congressman Elton Gallegly (R-CA).
In regard to the process of Croatia's integration into NATO, we asked him to assess the significance of the latest development: “I think that this is a very good day, because it removes a shadow from the Croatian Government in the eyes of all those who thought that the Government was dragging its feet and was not doing all it could to bring General Gotovina to justice. … Never have I adopted a stand on Gotovina's guilt or innocence, since this is something that needs to be ascertained in court. From the very beginning, my opinion has been that everything needs to be done in congruence with the law… The Croatian Government has steadfastly repeated that all information it possessed pointed to the fact that General Gotovina is not in Croatia, and that the authorities were doing all they could to cooperate with the Hague Tribunal in order to extradite the general to the Hague. The arrest has confirmed that Gotovina was not in Croatia,” said Gallegly.
Congressman Gallegly says that the arrest of the Croatian general should send a loud message to everyone who is working on the issue of Croatia's integration into NATO. We asked the California congressman what this means, concretely, in regard to NATO membership: “I think that it is irrefutable that this event removes the main obstacle that has in this process thus far been a cause for concern among many, for an extended period… Of course, there will be no automatic accession, but the case of [Gotovina] has perhaps been the chief obstacle in the past,” says Gallegly.
Let us recall, Congressman Gallegly has sponsored a House of Representatives Resolution, which seeks Congressional support for Croatia's urgent accession into NATO, without waiting for the fulfillment of a condition insisted upon by the State Department – the arrest of General Gotovina. The Resolution was upheld by the International Relations Committee of the House of Representatives, and is up for continual procedure in the House of Representatives.
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