PM says EC has rightly decided not to interfere in Croatia-Slovenia border row

The European Commission made the right decision that it should not interfere in the Croatian-Slovenian border dispute, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Tuesday, reiterating that Croatia wanted to resolve the dispute in agreement with Slovenia.

"I think the Commission did the right thing. Not interfering in such a dispute was the best thing the Commission could have done," he told reporters.

The Commission said on Monday it had decided to stay out of the dispute, not to give its opinion on Slovenia's claim that Croatia violated European Union law by failing to implement an arbitration ruling it does not recognise, and that the two member states should find a solution to the dispute in a friendly manner.

"I repeat Croatia's position that we want to solve this border issue with Slovenia, which is our neighbour and friend," Plenkovic said, adding that this issue "isn't so big" that it should in any way bring Croatian-Slovenian relations into a "negative context."

"On the contrary, we will try, after Slovenia forms a new government, to talk with our partners and look for a solution," he said.

In March, Slovenia wrote to the Commission, proposing a suit against Croatia over its failure to comply with the border arbitration ruling, contending that Croatia was in breach of the EU law, in the hope that the Commission would take its side and reply to the proposal.

Plenkovic said that seeking a solution in court "isn't a good path for partners in the European Union, allies in NATO and two friendly countries... That's why we will once again propose to our friends in Slovenia solutions to this dispute, in a way which could later be adopted in both parliaments."

Plenkovic said he and Croatia's representatives had done "everything to protect national interests" and that the Commission's decision was a result of both the intensive dialogue they had conducted and the good approach by the Croatian team at a hearing in Brussels.

Text: Hina

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