In a statement to the media, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia today denied allegations claiming that Slovenia was blocking the process of Croatia’s accession to the European Union, as certain official statements from the authorities in Zagreb yesterday had seemed to suggest. Mr Janša maintained that Slovenia’s main concern was that its position in terms of fisheries should not revert to a position worse than in the period before Slovenia joined the European Union.
(Photo: Domen Grögl/STA)
“It would be absurd for Slovenia to agree to an arrangement that would be less favourable for the country than the arrangement which pertained before Slovenia joined the European Union,” said the Prime Minister. Prior to Slovenia joining the European Union, the fisheries situation was defined by the Agreement on Border Traffic and Cooperation between Slovenia and Croatia, which established a joint fishing area in the Adriatic Sea – without, however, prejudicing the maritime border between the two countries. “The solution benefited both countries. It was also adopted and ratified by the Parliaments of both countries. Since Slovenia has joined the European Union, however, it has become a matter of concern for the European Union as a whole. Since that time, any talks on the subject should have been taken up between Zagreb and Brussels,” said Mr Janša.
The Slovenian Prime Minister further announced that he and the Croatian Prime Minister had agreed to meet as soon as the Republic of Croatia had a proposal for resolving the current situation. “This would not, of course, be a meeting between Ljubljana and Zagreb alone. It would be a meeting of the same parties which had reached an agreement in June 2004, i.e. in cooperation with the European Commission and Italy,” said Mr Janša. “Until there is a proposal on the table putting forward a solution that is just as acceptable as the previous one, our stance is clear: the terms of the previous agreement must be respected. It was not a bilateral agreement between Slovenia and Croatia but a commitment undertaken by Croatia with regard to all the Member States of the European Union,” he emphasised.
Mr Janša said that he hoped that the results of the internal supervision being carried out at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would be announced soon. He also touched on the subject of the letter sent by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates calling upon EU Member States to increase the number of units in Afghanistan and specified that the Government, which is responsible for taking such a decision, had not officially been notified of the letter in question.
On the occasion of the opening, today, of the exhibition in the National Museum of Contemporary History to mark the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Committee for the Protection of Human Rights, the Prime Minister stressed that Slovenia had achieved great progress during these years, drawing a comparison between the time when civilians were tried by military courts in a foreign language and the present time with Slovenia, now a member of the European Union and NATO, holding the Presidency of the European Union.
