Prime Minister Andrej Plenković assessed on Tuesday at Brdo near Kranj that despite disputes, relations with Slovenia are not in a dramatic phase, commenting on relations with the neighboring country in light of the legal proceedings it has initiated regarding the arbitration on the border and the issue of old foreign currency savings of Croatian citizens in Ljubljanska banka.
Plenković stated in a press statement after the summit of countries involved in the Southeast European Cooperation Process (SEECP) that in the current situation with Slovenia regarding the border issue, he regrets when open questions spill over to people, as is currently the case with fishermen from both countries fishing in Savudrija Bay, or the Gulf of Piran.
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Regarding Slovenia’s request for the European Commission to mediate in resolving the issue of old foreign currency savings and the announcement that Slovenia could sue Croatia if it does not suspend proceedings against Ljubljanska banka pending before Croatian courts, the Prime Minister said that such a stance is incorrect because “in Croatia, the courts operate independently of the Government of the Republic of Croatia.”
As for the border issue related to the arbitration decision and Slovenia’s announcement that it will sue Croatia in the EU court if it does not agree to implement the arbitration ruling, Plenković reiterated that Croatia is “in a strong position” and that it exited the arbitration process due to its compromised nature, although it entered that process in good faith.
Plenković reminded that last year Croatia offered Slovenia a framework for a bilateral agreement on that “actually the only real open question” and that within that framework it was possible to find “a fair and mutually acceptable solution.”
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In response to questions regarding the announcements of a possible Slovenian blockade of Croatia’s entry into the Schengen area if Croatia does not agree to implement the arbitration decision, Plenković replied that blockades are not a good way to resolve issues, and that such a method would not benefit Slovenia either, whose interest, due to monitoring illegal migrations, should be for Croatia to enter Schengen as soon as possible.
The Prime Minister added that Croatia will meet all technical criteria for entry into Schengen and that the goal is to enter by 2020, when it will take over the six-month presidency of the EU.
Plenković thanked Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar, with whom he only briefly met on the sidelines of the meeting, for the good organization of the gathering and the good topics that Slovenia, as the chair of that initiative, highlighted, especially assistance to countries in the region on their path towards Euro-Atlantic integrations.
