Croatia resumes EU membership negotiations

BRUSSELS, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Croatia resumed negotiations Friday to be admitted to the European Union, now that the former Yugoslav state resolved a border dispute, officials said.

The 27-country European Union and Croatia were to open six new chapters of the 35 policy areas up for negotiation at an intergovernmental accession conference, the EUobserver reported. If talks go as planned, sources said Zagreb will have opened 28 chapters and closed 12 at the day's end.

The border issue centered on Croatia and EU member Slovenia's inability to agree on their common land and sea border. Last December, Slovenia blocked Croatia's accession negotiations over the dispute that dates back 18 years to the start of the break-up of the Yugoslav federation in 1991.

In September, European Union enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn said he thought Croatia could complete its membership talks by mid-2010, EUobserver said. Since the border dispute was resolved, some of the thorniest issues are now likely to include the fight against corruption and crime.

Sweden, now sitting in the EU's six-month rotating presidency, said it was planning at least two more intergovernmental conferences before the end of the year.