Majority of Slovenians Believe Relations With Croatia Poor
Some 71% of Slovenians included in a Foreign Ministry survey believe that relations with Croatia are poor, while almost 60% said Slovenia and Croatia should enter a strategic partnership. Over 16% of those interviewed in the survey published by the Slovenian Foreign Ministry on Friday, believe Slovenia's relations with Croatia are normal, and more than 9% said that relations were good.
The reason for the poor relations lies in unresolved issues stemming from the times of former Yugoslavia, according to some 40% of the respondents. While 32.4% believe the situation is Croatia's fault, 8.4% said it was Slovenia's.
When asked about Slovenia's policy towards Croatia, 66.5% said it should be more strict, over 14% believe it should remain as it is, while almost 4% said it should be milder.
The most important issue in Slovenia's relations with Croatia is the border, said 46.5% of those interviewed. Almost 30% see as the biggest problem Slovenia's territorial access to open seas.
Some 5% said the most controversial problem lay in the disputes related to the jointly-owned Krsko nuclear power plant, while almost 4% said the most important issue was the debt of Ljubljanska banka (LB) to Croatian savers.
Over 34% believe LB's debt should be repaid from the money Croatian companies owe to the bank, while over 24% said the countries should continue with negotiations. 16.3% meanwhile said the debt should be repaid by Croatia, whereas almost 3% said the responsibility was Slovenia's.
When asked about the economic cooperation with Croatia, 40.6% said it was satisfactory, almost 22% believe it to be good, while over 15% said it was bad.
Almost 60% of those interviewed said they would not spend their holiday in Croatia, a very popular holiday destination for many Slovenians, while over 35% said they will travel to Croatia.
The survey investigating public opinion in Slovenia about relations with neighbouring countries was conducted by the Faculty of Applicable Social Studies in Nova Gorica and interviewed 722 people between 11 and 15 June.
Almost 40% of those taking part in the survey said their favourite neighbouring country was Austria, followed by Croatia with 23.8%, Italy with 16.9% and Hungary with 4.8%.
When asked which neighbouring country Slovenia should have best relations with, almost 50% answered it was Croatia, followed by Austria (25.5%), Italy (6.2%) and Hungary (1.5%).
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