Slovenian diplomacy wants the conclusions on the EU enlargement, which will be adopted by EU leaders on Friday, to include the formulation that Croatia must continue to address bilateral and regional issues ‘including succession’, the purpose of which is to link the ratification of the Croatian accession agreement in Slovenia with the resolution of the Ljubljana Bank issue, Slovenian media report.
Slovenia holds the so-called old foreign currency savings as a matter of succession of the successor states of the former SFRY, and Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec conditions the start of the ratification process of the Croatian accession agreement with the EU on the prior withdrawal of lawsuits against the Ljubljana Bank regarding that savings being conducted in Croatian courts.
Slovenian newspaper ‘Delo’ also recalls the warnings of German officials following the release of the autumn report on Croatia’s progress, from which it could be concluded that it is not excluded that in the case of weak reform progress, Croatia’s entry into the EU on the scheduled date of July 1 next year could be jeopardized, but also the official statements from Brussels that this date remains the goal and will be met because ‘anything else would be a disaster.’
