Slovenia Cancels Session with Croatia

Diplomatic sources in Ljubljana claim that the cancellation of the session is the first consequence of the exchange of harsh notes.

Although Slovene Prime Minister Janez Jansa and Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said last week that preparations were underway for a meeting with Croatia, it seems the Slovenes will hold a meeting with Italy and Hungary before that. The dates for the meeting are as yet unknown. 

At a meeting on Brijuni Island on June 2005, Slovenia committed itself to organise a session with Croatia a year later, but nobody is mentioning the meeting any more, Vecernji list reports.

The Slovene Foreign Ministry has said that the tension should not be additionally intensified, adding that he expects facilitated solutions to certain issues when negotiations between Slovenia and Croatia begin.

They believe that issues such as the border crossings would be automatically solved by Slovenia’s entry into the Schengen zone, while the fishing part of the Border Traffic and Cooperation Agreement would not be possible to implement without the European Commission.

Diplomats also say that a meeting between the two countries would be useful because Croatia and Slovenia have other outstanding issues to be solved, not relating to borders.