Slovenian media reported that CIA allegedly gave Croatia secret recordings which brought into question arbitration proceedings between the two countries.
The US Embassy in Ljubljana denied allegations that the United States turned over to Croatia recordings of conversations between Slovenian commissioner for arbitration and an allegedly independent arbiter, which were the reason why Croatia declared that the arbitration process was contaminated and decided to abandon it, reports Jutarnji List on November 26, 2016.
On Thursday, on the eve of a visit by Croatian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Davor Ivo Stier to Ljubljana, the Slovenian media reported that Croatia withdrew from the arbitration proceedings due to Americans, who allegedly recorded the illicit communication between former Slovenian commissioner for arbitration Simona Drenik and former Slovenian arbiter at the border dispute arbitration proceedings Jernej Sekolec.
“We deny allegations that the United States gave Croatia recordings in connection with the border arbitration proceedings. We have clearly said to both Slovenia and Croatia that we will not take sides in their dispute. Resolving of bilateral disputes between member states of the EU and NATO is within the jurisdiction of both governments and we are confident that they will find a solution”, announced the American embassy in Ljubljana, as quoted by Slovenian Television.
The public broadcaster and other media announced late Thursday that Slovenian Constitutional Judge Mitja Deisinger allegedly heard that the recording was given to Croatia by the US government security agency, to spite Slovenia due to its rapprochement with Russia. The media referred to alleged Deisinger’s statement in a weekly magazine in which he said that Croatian Constitutional Judge Mato Arlović admitted the fact at a seminar which they attended together. Arlović denied the allegations that he said anything to Deisinger.
The Slovenian-Croatian border dispute has remained unsolved after 25 years and the issue represents a major political burden in relations between the two countries. Last year, Croatia decided to leave the arbitration proceedings, which it considered to be irretrievably compromised after last year information appeared about illegal contacts between Sekolec and Drenik. Croatian Parliament made a unanimous decision to leave the arbitration proceedings, referring to the provisions of the Vienna convention on international agreements.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration based in The Hague decided in March this year to freeze the arbitration proceedings until legal consequences of the Croatian decision to leave the process had been assessed. Slovenia officially stated that arbitration was not interrupted, that there was no violation of the procedure which would lead to the interruption of arbitration, and that arbitrators must continue with their work until the final judgment.
According to a decision by the Court in June, the judges concluded that the arbitration proceedings were not violated to such an extent that the process could not continue, and added that the independence of other judges was not in question.
