Croatian authorities said Tuesday they will intensify the search for fugitive war crimes suspect Ante Gotovina. President Stipe Mesic and Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said they ordered intelligence agencies and the interior ministry "to continue and intensify to the maximum all necessary measures and activities to find the whereabouts of General Ante Gotovina, arrest him and transfer him to the tribunal in The Hague (ICTY)". Mesic and Sanader's order came a day after European Union Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn said Gotovina was within the reach of Croatian authorities, and that Zagreb failed to detain him. Rehn also said that the European Commission would not be able at the moment to recommend the opening of accession talks with Zagreb, which are to start on 17 March because Gotovina remains at large. Gotovina has been charged with war crimes against the Serbs by The Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia nearly four years ago. He has been on the run ever since. --SP 2321 Local Time 2021 GMT
