In a thinly veiled rebuke of the British government and older members of the European Union, Hungary's prime minister criticised the EU's recent decision to block the opening of membership talks with Croatia.

"We don't want Europe to be a club dominated by interests and opinions of some given countries. We are dreaming of a Europe based on equality," Fernec Gyurcsany said yesterday. The talks have been postponed until Croatia makes greater efforts to arrest fugitive general Ante Gotovina, wanted in The Hague on war crimes. Chris Condon, Budapest