ZAGREB, March 31, 2018 - Croatia did not have the right to walk out of the border arbitration procedure, whereby it caused problems to Slovenia as well as to the EU and its role in the Balkans, Slovenian Foreign Ministry state secretary Iztok Mirošič has said, speaking of the reasons why Slovenia had decided to take "legal steps", a likely lawsuit against Croatia.
"I'm sorry Croatia didn't fulfill its obligations that had been agreed so that it could join the EU. It didn't have the right to walk out of the arbitration agreement and the arbitration procedure. In doing so, it has caused many problems not only to Slovenia, but to the European Union and its role in the Balkans too," Mirošič told the Maribor-based Večer newspaper of Saturday.
He said that was why Slovenia had reached out to the European Commission and outlined its "likely" lawsuit against Croatia if it did not accept the implementation of the border arbitration ruling.
If the suit is filed at the Court of Justice of the European Union, a ruling will take about 18 months, Mirošič said, adding that there were differences of opinion in the Commission on Slovenia's position on the arbitration ruling and its implementation. "The College of Commissioners and the Commission's legal department have clearly said that international courts' rulings should be implemented," he said.
