- Published: 18.12.2017.
PM Plenkovic and PM Cerar schedule bilateral meeting on Tuesday in Zagreb
Croatian and Slovenian Prime Ministers Andrej Plenkovic and Miro Cerar, who held talks on the margins of an EU summit in Brussels on Friday, agreed that Cerar would pay a visit to Zagreb on Tuesday, 19 December, for a discussion on efforts to solve the border dispute.
After their two-hour-long talks in Brussels, PM Plenkovic told the press that that they had agreed for the continuation of the talks on the border demarcation "in a bid to try define the elements about which both the Croatian and Slovenian side can agree."
PM Plenkovic called for developing good neighbourly relations on positive experiences such as this summer's agreement on targeted controls at the border crossings.
We want to show that we are mature and responsible countries that understand the positions of each other and we strive for seeking the solution to the border issue, the Croatian premier said.
This is the essential element of the talks we held today and the basis for the talks in Zagreb on Tuesday, he added.
This autumn, the two premiers held a few meetings on the margins of European and international meeting, and in Brussels it was the seventh time for the two to hold talks.
Asked about the points on which they can agree now, Plenkovic said that "we primarily agree on the method, and it is essential to maintain a cooperative atmosphere of dialogue."
"This is extremely important for prevention of any unilateral moves, incidents or moods not conducive to efforts to find the solution."
PM Plenkovic reiterated the the boundary lines such were on 25 June 1991 should be the starting point for further talks on how to make the two countries' positions closer, and other things would be tackled in dialogue that would ensue, first with the meeting in Zagreb, next week.
PM Cerar was due to have visited Zagreb on 27 September, but cancelled his travel in protest at Plenkovic's speech in the UN General Assembly in New York when the Croatian head of government commented on the contamination of arbitration process before the Permanent Court of Arbitration that handed down a ruling on 29 June. Croatia refused to accept the arbitration award stemming from the contaminated process.
"Compromising the impartiality or independence of international adjudicators and tribunals, as was the case in the terminated arbitration process between Croatia and Slovenia, makes their decisions legally void and left Croatia with no choice other than to withdraw from the arbitration process," the Croatian prime minister said in his speech in New York on 21 September.
Text: Hina