Slovenian Media on Obersnel’s Tweet

The Twitter message in which the mayor of Rijeka deemed the statement of the Slovenian Minister of Foreign Affairs that Croatia may never join the EU as inappropriate, if the Slovenian parliament does not soon ratify the Croatian accession agreement with the Union due to the political crisis, may be a sign of the approaching local elections in Croatia, according to Ljubljana’s Delo from Sunday.

‘They say Slovenians that we may never join the EU. It is time for someone to finally tell them: maybe we won’t join the EU, but you won’t get to the Adriatic either,’ are the words posted on his Twitter profile by Rijeka’s mayor Vojko Obersnel, thus expressing his thoughts on the statement of Slovenian Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec, who doubts that Croatia will enter the EU if the Slovenian parliament does not soon ratify the Croatian accession agreement, which Ljubljana links to the issue of Ljubljanska Bank.

According to the article published by Delo regarding Obersnel’s ‘tweet’ and the reactions of Slovenian diplomats in Zagreb to it, this polemic could perhaps be understood as part of the pre-election scene in Croatia, where local elections are expected. – Local elections are approaching in Croatia, and Istria is currently at the center of pre-election media attention due to the conflict between the coalition partners SDP and IDS – the paper states. Therefore, Delo assesses that the Twitter message from Rijeka’s mayor Obersnel, who is a member of the SDP, can be understood as part of a pre-election play, especially considering that it has been prominently reported by the media.

Slovenian Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec said on Thursday in a program on Slovenian television that he would do everything to reach a compromise solution to the issue of Ljubljanska Bank by the end of February, even if he acts as a minister in resignation due to his party’s withdrawal from the government, and that there is still some time for the Croatian accession agreement with the EU to be ratified on time, so that Croatia can become a member of the Union on July 1 of this year as planned. However, if the crisis prevents the current parliament from ratifying this agreement, it could happen that Croatia does not become a member of the EU at all, as the expansion of integration is currently not in the interest of the Union due to economic problems, stated Slovenian Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec while speaking in the program ‘Views of Slovenia’.

In it, he spoke about the political crisis due to the demand for Prime Minister Janez Janša to resign and the possible developments together with other political party leaders. With his statement about Ljubljanska Bank and the possibility that there may not be ratification and Croatian membership in the EU at all, Erjavec actually responded to the appeal of the president of the Social Democrats (SD) Igor Lukšič in the same program. Lukšič told the members of Janša’s coalition, among whom is also Erjavec’s Democratic Party of Pensioners (DESUS), that the current parliament, regardless of the crisis, as one of its priorities, despite the danger of early elections, ‘must’ ratify the Croatian accession agreement with the EU, for the stability and future of Slovenia and its international reputation.

Erjavec, on the other hand, claims that he is ready to engage with Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Minister Vesna Pusić and experts on the issue of Ljubljanska Bank, Argar and Rogić, to resolve the issue of Ljubljanska Bank by the end of February, but he also warned that Ljubljanska Bank is ‘undoubtedly a serious problem’, and that Slovenia continues to demand that lawsuits against Ljubljanska Bank in Croatia be withdrawn.

Ljubljana’s Delo, regarding the media reactions and online comments triggered by Obersnel’s ‘tweet’ on the Croatian side, nevertheless notes that they are not as ‘aggressive and attacking’ towards Slovenia as they have been on some other occasions of cooling bilateral relations, and it conveys a statement from the Slovenian embassy in Zagreb that the Slovenian minister in the program did not threaten to withhold ratification but rather the opposite, announced that it would be his priority and that he has a very precise plan on how to achieve it.

The leading Slovenian daily illustrates the importance of good relations with Croatia on this occasion with data showing that trade between the two countries exceeds one billion dollars. In addition, Delo reminds that Slovenians are the second or third foreign tourists in Croatia by the number of overnight stays, and especially many come to the areas of Istria and Kvarner, where they also own a large number of properties, reportedly around 110,000.