Croatian PM Ivo Sanader said on Tuesday, 6 Sept, that since Slovenia and Croatia had not solved the border issue over the past 15 years, the time had come for international arbitration.
Sanader said all Croatian parliamentary parties were in favour of the idea, which he would propose to his Slovenian counterpart Janez Jansa. Jansa, however, assessed a day later the proposal was no new development, with President Janez Drnovsek stressing arbitration had always been an option. FM Dimitrij Rupel, meanwhile, believes that Croatia should first negotiate a fishing regime which is set down by the Slovenia-Croatia border transport accord (SOPS). He also expected, he said on Friday, 9 Sept, Croatia to explain what exactly it had in mind, as arbitration can be carried out in several ways. Mixed reactions came from Slovenian parliamentary parties, with some claiming arbitration was an ordinary way of settling problems (SLS) and some interpreting the proposal as "a failure of Slovenia's policy on Croatia" (LDS). The SD said all parliamentary parties should meet to discuss this option, whereas the SNS stressed Slovenia should insist on being a maritime country with access to the open seas.
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