Slovenia could delay Croatia’s accession to NATO, which may increase tensions between the two neighboring countries, reports the American agency Bloomberg on Tuesday. The agency explains that the Slovenian parliament ratified Croatia’s NATO membership on February 9, but a non-parliamentary group “Zavod 25. lipnja,” led by former Prime Minister Marjan Podobnik, has submitted a request for a referendum on that membership.
The referendum could prevent Croatia from entering NATO at the summit on April 3, Bloomberg reports the assessment of Slovenian Foreign Minister Samuel Žbogar that it would "cast a shadow" over that meeting."If Slovenia delays Croatia’s NATO membership, it would partially overshadow the summit at a time when the European Union is seeking a new partnership with the new American administration", Žbogar said in an interview. The process could conclude on time if the proponents of the referendum do not collect the required 40,000 signatures, "but until then we will be quite tense", he added. Slovenia halted Croatia’s efforts to join the European Union in December, stating that "the neighboring country claims an unfairly large part of the Adriatic Sea coastline near the Slovenian town of Piran and prevents it from having direct access to the open sea", the agency adds.
Žbogar warned that delaying NATO accession could also undermine Slovenia’s and the EU’s efforts to resolve the border issue with Croatia. Marjan Podobnik stated to Bloomberg that he would withdraw the request for a referendum if the parliament, which reconvenes on Wednesday, accepts a resolution on "Slovenian sovereignty over the Gulf of Piran, the hamlets on the left bank of the Dragonja River and the left bank of the Mura River near Hotiza, and open access to international waters."
