Slovenia and Croatia have decided to try and resolve their border dispute at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. There is consensus in principle that the land as well as the sea border would be the subject of arbitration, Prime Minister Janez Jansa said after reaching the agreement with his Croatian counterpart Ivo Sanader on Sunday.
The other outstanding issues would be tackled at the bilateral level in the coming days and weeks in order to "push things along" regarding the Zagreb subsidiary of Ljubljanska banka and the Krsko Nuclear Power Plant, Jansa told the press after the meeting with Sanader on the margins of a Bled Strategic Forum conference. "We are not resolving these issues in a package; resolution of the border issue is not conditional on any concessions by any of the sides in other open issues," Jansa stressed.
The list of disputed points on the border has largely been compiled but the two countries will relaunch the work of a joint commission on the border to come up with a precise list for referral to the Hague court.
"With regard to border arbitration, the countries agree in principle that we take as a basis the situation on 25 June 1991 – as agreed in the Brioni Declaration," said Mr Janša. Taking this into consideration, a mixed group of legal experts is expected to draw up a draft agreement on submitting the border dispute to the International Court of Justice in the Hague, and thus establish a concrete framework for resolving the dispute. The Slovenian PM said that the group is expected to reach conclusions by the end of this year, adding that the framework – before it is submitted to the Court – would be discussed in the national Parliaments.
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