Pahor: On Croatia’s NATO Membership Without a Referendum, but Possible for the EU

Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor stated on Sunday in Brussels that he is pleased that the initiators of the referendum on Slovenia’s accession to NATO will not collect the required 40,000 signatures that would otherwise obligate the parliament to call such a referendum.

"Thus, we can expect that the constitutional right to collect signatures will be preserved, while at the same time there will not be enough to reach a referendum. Therefore, the ratification of the Croatian accession protocol, which was decided by three-quarters of the representatives in parliament, will come into force, and Croatia will be invited to the NATO summit in Strasbourg and Kehl," Pahor said on Sunday, as reported by Slovenian media.

The Slovenian Prime Minister said that he explained this situation regarding Croatia’s NATO membership to all his interlocutors with whom he met on Sunday at the EU summit in Brussels. Pahor stated that he also discussed the standstill in Croatia’s accession negotiations with the EU, warning them that the referendum initiated in Slovenia regarding Croatia’s NATO membership is possible in the case of ratification of the Croatian accession agreement with the European Union, for which a two-thirds majority in parliament will be required beforehand.

As is known, Slovenia has blocked Croatia’s negotiations with the EU, claiming that Croatia is trying to "prejudice the border" with Slovenia, a claim that Croatia has repeatedly rejected, maintaining that it is ready to declare that no document sent to the European Commission during the negotiations prejudices the border. Slovenia did not accept these guarantees and claims that Croatia must withdraw all alleged documents that prejudice the border.

Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor rejected the claim that his policy towards Croatia has damaged Slovenia’s established reputation in the international community and that due to the blockage of Croatia’s accession negotiations, the resolution of the border issue is "further away than ever." In response to the claims of former Prime Minister Janez Janša, who leads the strongest opposition party in the current parliament, Pahor said on Sunday, on the occasion of the first hundred days of his government, for commercial television POP-TV that the previous Janša government of the right center was the first to block the continuation of Croatia’s accession negotiations with the EU due to unresolved border issues and that he inherited that situation.

"The blockage of Croatia’s accession negotiations occurred during Janša’s government. Immediately at the beginning of my government’s term, we tried to find a diplomatic solution for that situation, and when it was not found, the blockage continued," Pahor said. Pahor also rejected Janša’s claims that he further radicalized the situation when he personally spoke with the marginal Slovenian People’s Party (SSN) and other "nationalist" groups, urging them to abandon the collection of signatures in support of the referendum that would prevent Croatia’s accession to NATO.

Pahor stated that he met with the initiators of the referendum initiative when parliament had already ratified the Croatian accession protocol because he wanted to ensure that both domestic and foreign public understand that the government does not support the referendum, especially when the mentioned "exotic" party had already become the "master of fate" in the protocol ratification process as they have a legal right to call it. Pahor also rejected media criticisms that he is "flirting with nationalists" and the claims of President Danilo Türk that he "exaggerates with the politics of consensus" in negotiating with the opposition and other groups. Pahor explained that he negotiates with the opposition and tries to reach consensus solutions in situations when it is in the "national interest" and when a two-thirds majority of votes in parliament is needed for solutions.

"Agreements regarding Croatia are the best illustration that such a policy is necessary," Pahor stated, announcing that on Tuesday he will discuss the "modalities" of the expected mediation of the European Commission in the border dispute with Croatia with the leaders of all parliamentary parties. Pahor said that Slovenia perceives this mediation as a process in which a final solution for the interstate border can be achieved, but also for the continuation of Croatia’s accession negotiations with the EU.

"Our government has already given its principled consent for mediation, we believe that the Croatian government will also make some decision. If it does not accept mediation, Croatia would be cornered regarding the border issue," Pahor said. If Croatia also agrees in principle to mediation, then there will be enough time for discussions on the "modalities of mediation" with dialogue from both sides and the European Commission," Pahor said. (Hina)