ZAGREB, May 3, 2018 – Slovenia’s Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec said on Wednesday that he was satisfied with the oral hearing in Brussels at expert level regarding a complaint by Slovenia that Croatia was in breach of European Union law for not implementing an arbitration ruling on the border dispute between the two countries.
“Members of our delegation told me that they are satisfied that the European Commission conducted the meeting in an expert fashion and that the questions asked were of that nature,” Erjavec told the STA Slovenian news agency, commenting on the hearing held at Slovenia’s initiative about its claim that, by not implementing the arbitration ruling on the border dispute, Croatia was violating European law.
Erjavec said that during talks with representatives of both delegations, the EC’s representatives will endeavour to define the connection between EU law and Croatia’s decision not to implement the arbitration ruling. “Our representatives acted professionally and so were their responses to the questions, while Croatia did not present any new arguments,” he added.
According to him, Croatia put forward “political arguments,” saying that the “arbitration ruling doesn’t exist” and that is why it can’t be implemented, while Ljubljana’s official stance in the arbitration dispute is that the procedure wasn’t compromised to that degree that a ruling could not be proclaimed.
He said Croatia has to implement it and that by not implementing it, it is violating EU law and the arbitration agreement signed in 2009 by the then prime ministers, Jadranka Kosor and Borut Pahor, and that a solution to the border is no longer possible through bilateral talks because in Slovenia’s opinion that matter has “definitely” been resolved.
After today’s debate, Erjavec explained, the procedure will continue after the Commission examines the positions of both sides and then the Commission can present its opinion, but it doesn’t have to do so.
Slovenia has previously said that if Croatia doesn’t change its stance and start implementing the arbitration ruling, it would sue Croatia before the EU Court of Justice regardless of the Commission’s possible reservations, i.e. should its opinion not be as Slovenia expects.
