The latest on the Croatian-Slovenian border dispute.
Croatian president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović said on Monday that the arbitration issue between Croatia and Slovenia is a bilateral issue that will have to be solved by Croatia and Slovenia themselves. The president participated at the Bled Strategic Forum in Slovenia, together with the leaders of several countries of the European Union and Southeast Europe. Among the participants were the president of the European Council Donald Tusk, Slovenian president Borut Pahor and Serbian prime minister Aleksandar Vučić. Some of the main issues discussed were the refugees arriving to Europe in increasing numbers and the relations with Russia due to the Ukrainian crisis, reports Novi List on September 1, 2015.
Asked about the arbitration issue, the Croatian president said that it is a bilateral issue that will ultimately be resolved by Croatia and Slovenia which, despite everything, remain in good and friendly relations.
Arbitration issue did not dominate the discussions in Bled, despite unconfirmed reports published by the Slovenian media that the European Council president Donald Tusk, who will after Bled come to Zagreb, is ready to get involved in finding the solution to the disagreement.
Ljubljana and Zagreb have completely opposite opinions, because Croatia believes that the arbitration agreement is irretrievably compromised and is committed to finding a new way to resolve the issue in front of some other international institution. Slovenia has refused that proposal, arguing that the arbitration agreement is still in force and that the arbitrators must continue their work until the final judgment is made.
Slovenian Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec has spoken with a range of representatives from other countries about the arbitration dispute with Croatia and has asked them to support the Slovenian views. The arbitration issue was discussed during Erjavec’s meeting with Baroness Joyce Anelay, British minister of state for foreign affairs. After the meeting, Erjavec told reporters that Baroness Anelay supported the arbitration process as “the only proper instrument” for the border dispute, unless the two countries come to an agreement by themselves. “Arbitration is the most appropriate way to resolve the border disputes in the region, and Croatia has unresolved border issues with almost all neighboring countries”, said Erjavec. He also spoke with Igor Crnatko, foreign minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Slovenian minister said that his colleague told him the arbitration is the only way to resolve disputes of this kind if the dialogue between two countries fails.
