The Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in its response to the position of the European Commission that the two countries should implement the ruling of the Court of Arbitration announced that the ruling was not binding for Croatia, and that they had no intention of implementing. Photo: BoBo Foto:
The Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in its response to the position of the European Commission that the two countries should implement the ruling of the Court of Arbitration announced that the ruling was not binding for Croatia, and that they had no intention of implementing. Photo: BoBo Foto:

While the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Zagreb insists that the border dispute with Slovenia is a bilateral question, Dubravka Šuica, the member of the European parliament from the HDZ party, expressed her surprise that the Commission even discussed that topic, as their position is not in the least binding for Croatia. "The Commission never said it would force Croatia to implement the arbitration ruling, but once again invited both parties to a dialogue," Davor Ivo Stier, until recently the foreign minister, said in the Croatian TV show Otvoreno.
The Croatian members of the European parliament were not surprised by the decision made by the Commission, especially because the European Commission was one of the political sponsors of the arbitration procedure. Some believe that Croatia failed to give a clear explanation of the reasons for their withdrawal from the procedure, but that the Commission has no means to force them to implement the arbitration ruling.
Tanja Borčić Bernard, Radio Slovenija; translated by G. K.