ZAGREB, June 19, 2018 – Slovenia’s Prime Minister Miro Cerar said on Monday that his government would adopt an official decision on filing a suit against Croatia for refusing to implement an arbitration ruling in the border dispute between the two countries and expressed his disappointment with the European Commission’s decision not to be involved in that dispute.
“The government will adopt a decision on Thursday regarding a suit against Croatia because it is not respecting European Union law, with regard to the non-implementation of the arbitration ruling,” Cerar said in a statement to Slovenia’s STA news agency.
He added that his ruling coalition was united in its position to launch a suit and that he would convene a meeting of the leaders of all parliamentary parties on Wednesday and inform them of the intention to file a suit before the European Union Court of Justice in Luxembourg.
Cerar was disappointed that the European Commission had failed to react to Slovenia’s intention to sue Croatia which means that Slovenia will go it alone in the suit for the alleged violation of European and international law.
The European Commission on Monday said that it had decided to stay out of the Slovenia-Croatia arbitration conflict and not to give its opinion on Slovenia’s claim that Croatia violated the European Union law, urging the two neighbouring countries to find together a solution to their border dispute in a friendly manner and that it would be prepared to assist in that regard.
“I am quite concerned with the European Commission’s silence because with that stance it is not executing its duty as the keeper of European agreements which is a dangerous precedent for the European Union’s future,” Cerar said.
“These aren’t easy matters because they refer to the issue regarding the Schengen Area. In this case, politics have unfortunately prevailed over law. The European Commission stands or falls in fact on the principle of the rule of law,” he said. “I expect the EU Court to consider the suit responsibly and that its ruling will state that Croatia has to immediately implement the arbitration ruling,” Cerar said.
The President of the European Union Court of Justice, Koen Lenaerts, in April expressed doubts about the legal path Slovenia has opted for. Lenaerts said then that it would be more appropriate for the two countries to resolve the dispute in another way, namely to present the case jointly to the EU Court of Justice in agreement, under Article 273 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
