Croatia's ex-PM set for corruption trial

Croatia's former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader is due to go on trial in the capital Zagreb charged with corruption.He is alleged to have received a kickback worth nearly $695,000 (£432,000) for arranging a loan from Austrian bank Hypo in 1995.Serving as deputy foreign minister at the time, Mr Sanader is said to have facilitated Hypo's entry into the Croatian market.Mr Sanader, who was extradited from Austria in July, denies any wrongdoing.Croatia was still fighting its war of independence from Yugoslavia in the 1990s, meaning it had trouble accessing the international markets, the BBC's Mark Lowen in Zagreb reports.The former prime minister is the most high-profile figure arrested in Croatia's recent anti-corruption drive, our correspondent says.Other anti-corruption investigations Mr Sanader faces include one involving the Hungarian oil firm MOL. He denies wrongdoing.Croatia is on the brink of European Union membership, hoping to join in July 2013. It is mainly pressure from Brussels that has driven the country to tackle its widespread corruption problem.With Romania and Bulgaria deemed to have joined the bloc before dealing with the issue, the EU is taking a harder line with Croatia, our correspondent adds.