Traditionally good and friendly relations between Croatia and Slovenia; The border dispute takes time to resolve

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković met today in Banski dvori with Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia Robert Golob, who was on his first official visit to Croatia. They discussed bilateral and economic relations between the two countries, energy cooperation and prevention of illegal migration. Two important agreements were also signed - on cross-border cooperation in the provision of emergency health care and solidarity measures to protect the gas supply.

In a statement to the media, after the meeting, Prime Minister Plenković expressed his satisfaction with today's talks, as well as with the cooperation so far. He congratulated Slovenia on its election as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council in 2024 and 2025.
 
"We look forward to your contribution to world peace and security in that role as well," he said.
 
Plenković thanked Slovenia for its strong support for Croatia's entry into the Eurozone and the Schengen area, which achieved two strategic goals of deeper integration.
 
The Prime Minister expressed his satisfaction with the further growth of trade between the two countries, which is at the level of 7.3 billion euros. He emphasized that in the first four months of 2023, it amounted to 2.4 billion euros, which is a significant increase of almost 8 percent compared to the previous year.
 
Energy cooperation and cooperation in combating illegal migration
 
The two prime ministers also discussed cooperation in the field of energy. Plenković said that Prime Minister Golob confirmed Slovenia's readiness to join the initiative launched a few months ago with Austrian Chancellor Nehammer and Bavarian Prime Minister Söder on energy cooperation.
 
He added that by increasing the capacity of the LNG terminal on Krk, Croatia would become a regional hub, and joint investments in gas pipelines, which can also be used to transport hydrogen in the future, will make an additional step forward in energy security in the entire region of Central Europe.
 
They also discussed cooperation within the Krško Nuclear Power Plant as well as the improvement of transport cooperation, especially in the context of Croatian membership in Schengen.
 
The prime ministers also discussed the prevention of illegal migration. Plenković said that he fully agrees with Prime Minister Golob's assessment that illegal migration is one of the most important problems that the European Union is dealing with.
 
The positions of Croatia and Slovenia on the border are clear, the solution should be found at the expert level
 
When it comes to the Croatian-Slovenian border, the Prime Minister said that the position of Croatia and Slovenia has not changed. He reminded that the National Assembly of Slovenia accepted the arbitration verdict, while the Croatian Parliament completely rejected it. He believes that the solution should be found at the expert level. 
 
Croatian Prime Minister Plenković and Slovenian Prime Minister Golob agree that the border dispute between Slovenia and Croatia should not be the focus of the two countries because it is a problem that needs to be given time and removed from daily politics.



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