Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor stated on Saturday that Slovenia’s condition for unblocking Croatia’s accession negotiations with the European Union – the withdrawal of Croatian documentation created after the independence of the two countries, which allegedly prejudges the border with Slovenia – will not change.
"Our position remains clear: documents created after June 25, 1991, which were sent to the European Commission cannot prejudge the border either in negotiations with the EU or before any potential third party," Pahor said in an interview with the Maribor daily newspaper "Večer" on Saturday. Pahor stated that he blocked Croatian chapters at the last accession conference under the French presidency because Janez Janša had done the same before him, and that the two of them are among the few in Slovenia who understood the national importance of the border and open sea.
"Only Janša and I knew how important and worthy of attention these issues are," Pahor said in the interview with the Maribor newspaper, adding that they also expected in Brussels that he, after winning the elections, would be more accommodating than Janša. However, the reasons for the blockade remained the same as during Janša’s government, and European countries are analyzing them more closely after Slovenia began a wide diplomatic action at all levels to explain why it blocked certain chapters, Pahor said.
The reasons for the blockade remained the same as during Janša’s government, Pahor said.
When asked about the prospect of a meeting with Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, Pahor replied that he had already sent that invitation last month, but he regretted that the last weeks were not being utilized as they should be, as the date for the first accession conference under the Czech presidency approaches.
"I regret that the last days and weeks were not used for diplomacy and politics to finish the work that could not be completed under the French presidency due to time constraints," Pahor said, reiterating that Slovenia’s positions will not change. The Slovenian Prime Minister added that his voters and the opposition would not forgive him if he yielded to Croatia and allowed Zagreb to open and close most of the negotiation chapters.
"If we had allowed Zagreb to continue negotiations, they would have told us that we turned a blind eye to Croatia," Pahor assessed.
"If we had acted that way, they would have told us that we turned a blind eye to Croatia, there would have been populism and street rhetoric, acute poisoning of bilateral relations, and a situation in which we would not be able to ratify the accession protocol for Croatia’s inclusion in NATO and organize a referendum on Croatia’s entry into the EU," Pahor assessed in the interview with the Maribor newspaper. (Hina)
