The Slovenian President speaks to diplomats about the border dispute.
Slovenian President Borut Pahor said on Thursday that the Croatian government should, by formal or informal channels, send a message to Ljubljana and Brussels stating that it is ready to comply with the arbitral judgment, which could calm the current tensions and bring about the final agreement on the arbitration implementation, reports Index.hr on January 5, 2018.
“The issue of the implementation of the arbitral judgment is possible to resolve with a patient dialogue, and if Croatia sends a message that it accepts the border as defined by the arbitration as soon as possible,” Pahor said in his speech to Slovenian diplomats, who are convened on two days of regular consultations at Brdo near Kranj.
Pahor explained that, in to his opinion, the Croatian government should send such a message via official or unofficial channels and from a credible source to Ljubljana and Brussels, which would then allow the agreement of the two governments on the final delimitation.
A more active role in this process by the European Commission would also be desirable, the Slovenian President said. He added that this would be his central message to the EU and NATO leaders with whom he was scheduled to meet in Brussels at the beginning of next week, during his first international visit after his recent re-election as Slovenian President.
“I think it would be useful to involve the European Commission more actively in the effort to implement the border decision, since it, in a certain way, took part in the initial arbitration agreement,” said the Slovenian President, who signed the arbitration agreement on behalf of Slovenia back in 2009. He was the Slovenian Prime Minister at the time, and he signed the agreement together with his Croatian counterpart Jadranka Kosor. At that time, the border arbitration was Slovenia’s condition for its assent for the continuation of Croatia’s accession negotiations with the European Union.
“In order to improve the political atmosphere with Croatia and to implement the judgment in a peaceful manner, it would be useful for the neighboring state to send, on or off the record, officially or unofficially, a message as soon as possible that the arbitration decision is binding for it as well,” he added. Pahor said that such a move by Croatia would relieve the current pressure created after the six-month deadline for the arbitration implementation passed.
“Such a message from a credible source in Zagreb should be sent simultaneously to Ljubljana and Brussels,” Pahor concluded.
Translated from Index.hr.
