Reactions are coming in after Slovenian Foreign Minister alluded to the possibility that Slovenia might make problems for tourists coming to Croatia.
Croatian Members of European Parliament Ivan Jakovčić and Jozo Radoš sent a question to the European Commission with regards to a recent statement by Slovenian Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec about possible introduction of measures which would hamper the flow of tourists from Germany and Austria through Slovenia to Croatia. They warned that the free flow of people, goods and services was one of fundamental values of the European Union, reports tportal.hr on January 14, 2017.
In a question to the European Commission, MEPs Jakovčić (IDS/ALDE) and Radoš (HNS/ALDE) cite Slovenian Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec, who in a recent interview with the Slovenian Television announced the possibility of making problems for German and Austrian tourists who travel through Slovenia on their way to Croatia. Such difficulties could harm Croatian tourism in the event that Croatia rejects the implementation of the arbitration ruling on the Croatian-Slovenian border dispute which is expected later this year.
MEP pointed out that Croatia generated almost 20 percent of its GDP through tourism, and Germans and Austrian represented largest groups of foreign tourists. According to the MEPs, this would lead to jeopardizing the free flow of people, goods and services, which is one of the fundamental values of the European Union. Therefore, in their letter to European Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc, they asked “whether Slovenia has the right, due to unsolved bilateral relations, to hamper the free flow of people, goods and services”. They also asked “what will the European Commission do to prevent inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour among member states”.
In a separate development, Slovenian Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec said on Friday that he was misquoted and that there was no threat to Croatia about sabotaging tourist season. “Croats obviously need a strong message, and if it does not exist then they create it themselves through media spin”, said Erjavec in Ljubljana. He added that there was always some turmoil in relations between Croatia and Slovenia, but stressed that he was “confident that the respect for the arbitration ruling is a prerequisite for long-term and permanent coexistence between our two countries”.
