However welcome the compromise that finally broke the Austrian veto on opening accession talks with Turkey, the European Union’s decision to start simultaneous talks with Croatia is disturbing. Not only has the former Yugoslav republic forced its way back to the table as a result of a squalid deal and brazen brinkmanship by its neighbour and former imperial ruler; but, in overturning the suspension imposed on talks with Croatia until a war crimes suspect was handed over, the EU has sent a unwelcome signal to those countries, Serbia and Bosnia in particular, unwilling to accept responsibility for past atrocities or take the steps essential for lasting Balkan reconciliation.

Croatia argues that its record in failing to arrest and extradite to The Hague General Ante Gotovina cannot be compared with the widespread and systematic human rights violations carried out in Turkey for years and now swept under the carpet. The comparison is false. No one is making light of Turkey’s failings in this area, least of all the Ankara Government, which has carried out a host of reforms in recent years to strengthen individual rights and liberties. Croatia, by contrast, has not only ignored the demand by the war crimes tribunal in The Hague to apprehend a man accused of killing at least 150 ethnic Serbs but has allowed him to lie low — probably in a Franciscan monastery — for four years. The general, accused also of forcibly deporting up to 200,000 Serbs when he reimposed Croat control over the Krajina region in 1995, is considered a popular hero by Croats, including many in the Government.

What rankles as much as the overturning of EU resolve on this matter is the way that the deal was done. Diplomats seized on a statement by Carla del Ponte, the prosecutor at The Hague, that Croatia was now “fully co-operating” with the tribunal; yesterday she insisted that she had not changed tack and was “disappointed” that he was still on the run. Austria’s intransigence in making the Turkish talks — already previously agreed — dependent on a switch in EU policy sets a bad precedent, especially from a country that takes over the EU presidency in January. And to bring Croatia back to the table only as a result of Austrian blackmail of its partners hardly betokens a warm or universal welcome.

In truth, all the states of former Yugoslavia, apart from Slovenia, have a long way to go before they qualify as EU applicants. Corruption is still widespread in many, with official tolerance of abuses by customs, police, law enforcement officials and civil servants. The rule of law is still perverted by ethnic factors and discrimination. And the commitment to reconciliation is still far from embedded in political culture. Croatia, of course, should not be kept waiting unnecessarily; it lies at the heart of the Balkans and was, until less than a century ago, linked by Habsburg rule to Austria. As with Turkey, talks must not automatically lead to membership or they lose all meaning. But Croatia should take the chance, early on, to justify the EU policy change and overcome the distaste left by the way talks have begun.