Jansa and Sanader Discuss Approaches to Solving Open Issues

Mokrice, 21 January

Slovenian and Croatian prime ministers, Janez Jansa and Ivo Sanader, reviewed all open bilateral issues and agreed on approaches to be taken in solving them as they met for their first working visit at the Mokrice Castle in SE Slovenia on Friday.

The pair said at a joint news conference after the meeting that it was agreed that an agreement on the prevention of incidents in the Bay of Piran should be drafted. According to Sanader, the document is also to include solutions of a temporary fishing regime.
It was also agreed that a joint session of the Croatian and Slovenian governments would take place in the first half of the year. On the agenda of the session, which will be held in Croatia, will be outstanding issues.
The two prime ministers said that arbitration on the border issue is one of the possible methods of searching for a solution. However, Jansa said that a bilateral solution must be sought before deciding for international arbitration.
The PMs committed themselves that the two sides would make efforts to finalise an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation.
Sanader welcomed the Slovenian proposal to form a joint historical committee. Zagreb officially received the proposal from the Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel in December.
The prime ministers said that the commission could raise awareness of the Croatian and Slovenian public about historical facts which might also be relevant in solving open issues.
Jansa stressed that the commission was not meant to do any work instead of the governments. He said that the idea for its formation lied in the fact that open issues stem from the past, from the period of the disintegration of the former common state, so the commission's findings based on historical facts would show that there are more things that unite the two countries than there are those that divide them. He believes this would have a positive effect on the readiness to find common solutions.
The two officials said that there was good will on both sides to resolve open issues. Sanader said that outstanding issues cannot overshadow good bilateral relations. Jansa stressed that these were not issues that would burden the relations between the two countries or their European prospects.
The Slovenian PM congratulated his Croatian counterpart on the favourable date Croatia received for the start of EU accession talks and promised Slovenia's further support on Croatia's path to the EU and NATO. Sanader in turn thanked for Slovenia's support at the December EU summit.
Jansa said that a list of open issues had been compiled today. An agenda of official meetings of foreign and prime ministers will be drafted by state secretaries, who are to meet as soon as possible, according to Sanader.
The Slovenian PM said that the meeting, which was held in an open and friendly atmosphere, was important for solving open issues in a realistic period and in the interest of both countries.
He said answers could not be found in a few months, but it was important to have solutions such as the agreement on the avoidance of incidents in the Bay of Piran, which would lead closer to final solutions.
The two PMs expressed the wish to find bilateral solutions to open issues, as they do not wish to burden the EU with them.
Asked about whether last year's border incident in which a dozen members of the People's Party (SLS) along with its president Janez Podobnik were apprehended strains the relations, Jansa said this was not "a strategic matter that would burden the relations very much" as otherwise today's meeting would not have taken place. He said that justice ministers of the two countries would meet shortly to discuss the avoidance of incidents.

Jansa and Sanader Discuss Approaches to Solving Open Issues

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