At today’s press conference, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Janez Janša, referred to recent Croatian interference with Slovenian property along the Dragonja River. In view of the seriousness of the situation, Mr Janša has already had a telephone conversation with the Croatian Prime Minister, Mr Ivo Sanader, in which he voiced protests regarding breaches of the 2005 Brioni Agreement.

 

(Photo: Bor Slana/Bobo)

 

"I also informed Mr Sanader that, were such interference to continue, the Bled agreement of August 2007 would be in jeopardy. The answer I was given was that the action did not fall within the competence of the Croatian government; it had in fact been performed by the Municipality of Buje," said the Slovenian Prime Minister. PM Janez Janša stressed that he had pointed out to his Croatian counterpart that the Croatian Ministry of Agriculture had also been involved in selling a parcel of Slovenian land. "This is Slovenian land. The disposal of parcels of land by unauthorised parties is, legally speaking, null and void," maintained Prime Minister Janez Janša. He added that, in the event of attempts to change this by force, “the owner would protect his property.”

 

According to the Slovenian Premier, his interpretation of the events and the reasons for them differed from that of his Croatian counterpart. They agreed, nonetheless, that the joint commission set up on the basis of the Bled Agreement should meet immediately with a view to precisely defining the points at issue on the border between Slovenia and Croatia. The Slovenian Prime Minister considered that this would facilitate the supervision of the implementation of the Brioni Agreement and enable appropriate solutions to the points at issue to be found.

 

He also emphasised that, in the event of further unilateral breaches of the Brioni Agreement, he would propose a moratorium on implementing decisions adopted by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia on the basis of the Bled Agreement. Such decisions relate to establishing the legal framework for referring the border issue to a third party, and setting up the joint commission for defining the points at issue along the border.

 

“We fervently wish the Republic of Croatia to be aware of the importance of this historic moment when it must conclude negotiations with the European Union,” said PM Janez Janša, stressing that Croatia needs friends to continue on this path and emphasising that unilateral moves are not a good way of building friendship.