ZAGREB, February 8, 2018 – Slovenian Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec expressed his surprise after European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Tuesday that the border dispute between Slovenia and Croatia was a bilateral issue, adding that Slovenia would resort to legal action unless Croatia changed its position and started implementing the arbitration ruling.
“I am surprised that Juncker said it is a bilateral issue because it is actually a problem of the European Union and the rule of law,” Erjavec told Slovenian television late on Tuesday.
Juncker said in the European Parliament earlier in the day that the border dispute between the two EU members was their bilateral issue, adding that the EU would no longer import unresolved disputes between countries aspiring to membership.
Croatia does not honour the arbitration ruling and refuses to implement it, thus violating EU rules, Erjavec said. He emphasised that unless Croatia changed its position, Slovenia would sue it to the Court of Justice of the EU in Luxembourg.
If the Commission cannot force Croatia to respect and implement the arbitration ruling, the Court of Justice will do so, the Slovenian foreign minister said. He added that the resolution of the Slovenia-Croatia dispute by arbitration could be a model for settling border disputes in the Western Balkan countries during their accession talks.
Erjavec also noted that Croatia had unresolved border issues with all its neighbours except Hungary, while Slovenia had a border dispute only with Croatia.
