Oplossing voor grensconflict Kroatië en Slovenië nog ver weg (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Slovenia and Croatia continue to be locked in a dispute over their border despite a meeting between their leaders on Tuesday (24 February).
"If no progress is made in dealing with the border issue, Slovenia will not withdraw its reservations about the opening and closing of policy chapters in negotiations between Croatia and the EU," Slovene prime minister Borut Pahor i told a press conference following the meeting, Croatian news agency Hina reported.
Slovenia and Croatia have been unable to agree on their common land and sea border since they both seceded from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.
But tension between Zagreb and Ljubljana has been increasing since December, when Slovenia blocked the opening or closing of 11 chapters of Croatia's 35-chapter EU negotiations package over the unresolved issue.
It argued that certain documents and maps provided by Croatia during its accession process could prejudge a solution to their long-running dispute – a claim that Zagreb denies.
"Considering the current [state of] bilateral relations, today's meeting is progress in itself and a step forward, first of all because we have agreed on future contacts at the ministerial level and between the two of us personally," Mr Pahor said.
According to a Reuters report, Mr Pahor and his Croatian counterpart Ivo Sanader "displayed cold courtesy and forced smiles." It was the first meeting between them since Mr Pahor took office in November last year.
Time pressure
Besides disagreeing on where the border should lie, the two countries also disagree on how to eventually solve the issue.
Croatia sees it as a legal matter which should be dealt with by the International Court of Justice in The Hague and also insists it is a bilateral problem which should not impede its integration into the EU or NATO, both of which Slovenia is a member.
"We want to resolve the dispute as soon as possible, but it cannot be a condition for our EU talks. I think an international court is the best solution," Mr Sanader said.
For its part, Slovenia is in favour of an EU mediation group, which has already been proposed by the European Commission and which would be chaired by former Finnish president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Martti Ahtisaari, solving the dispute.
Last week, EU commissioner Olli Rehn i said he expected clarity on whether the two countries would accept the group and under which conditions "latest in the first week of March."
If Slovenia's blockage of Croatia's EU talks is not lifted during the next EU-Croatia meeting at the end of March, Zagreb's objective of concluding accession negotiations by the end of this year may be threatened.
Croatia aims to become full EU member by 2011.
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