Slovenian Foreign Minister has some harsh words for Croatia.
Slovenian Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec commented on the affair with boxes of chocolates with a controversial map of Croatia which officials of his ministry received as a Christmas gift from Croatian Ambassador in Ljubljana. He said it was a diplomatic gaffe, reports Jutarnji List on December 22, 2016.
“That was a very bad selection of gifts. Croatia really does not have any luck with that”, said Foreign Minister Erjavec to reporters who asked him to comment on the case, which the media in Ljubljana has called the “chocolate affair”.
Several officials and diplomats at Slovenian Foreign Ministry had received modest Christmas gifts, but they had to return them because – according to the media – it was concluded that this was a Croatian “provocation”. The chocolate boxes included a map of Croatia with the border between Slovenia and Croatia marked in the middle of the Bay of Piran, which is controversial for Slovenia. Although Croatian Ambassador to Slovenia Vesna Terzić said that she herself chose the gifts as an act of goodwill, the Slovenian media speculate that it was a political “message” from the Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, and reportedly there are even demands for Slovenia to submit an official protest, which Erjavec has so far refused to do.
Commenting on the “affair”, Erjevec said that relations between Croatia and Slovenia could be better. He also expressed his expectation that the arbitral tribunal on the border dispute will make a decision that will be valid for both countries, although Croatia had withdrawn from the arbitration proceedings which Slovenia compromised.
“The decision of the arbitral tribunal on the border between Slovenia and Croatia will have the status of an international decision that should be implemented”, said the Slovenian Foreign Minister. He added that the final verdict will also decide on the division of costs for the arbitration proceedings, although Slovenia will have to pay for all the costs incurred after Croatia decided to withdraw from the proceedings, following the discovery that Slovenian arbitrator and an official from the Slovenian Foreign Ministry were in collusion. After secretly taped recordings of their conversations were published, both the arbitrator and the official resigned from their posts.
“The arbitration agreement is still in force and will have legal effects, not only with regard to the border, but also in terms of financial obligations”, said the Slovenian government, adding that it was not just a position of Slovenia, but also of the European Commission and the international community.
