Responding to a question whether Croatia would attend the meeting on the 2nd of May in Brussels, Erjavec said that its failure to do so would be a slap in the face of the European Commission. Foto: EPA
Responding to a question whether Croatia would attend the meeting on the 2nd of May in Brussels, Erjavec said that its failure to do so would be a slap in the face of the European Commission. Foto: EPA

According to Brussels, it will be an opportunity for both sides to present their different views. Brussels stressed that it's still willing to mediate in the dispute. However, the commission did not wish to speculate whether it would take a position on the issue within the three-month deadline, in line with Article 259 of the Lisbon Treaty.

Slovenia's outgoing foreign minister Karl Erjavec, said that Slovenia understands the EU Commission's proposal as an attempt to persuade Croatia to respect the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration on the border between Slovenia and Croatia.

"If anything else happens it will be a surprise for me," said the Slovenian head of diplomacy, adding that Slovenia cannot debate the validity of the arbitration award.

Erjavec also said that the legal procedure, initiated by Slovenia and calling for the respect of the arbitration award, encouraged the European Commission to "start dealing with the matter more seriously".

Responding to a question whether Croatia would attend the meeting on the 2nd of May in Brussels, Erjavec said that its failure to do so would be a slap in the face of the European Commission.

The Commission has tools to make Croatia respect its commitments
Foreign Minister Erjavec said there was no need for the EU Commission to file a lawsuit against Croatia together with Slovenia with regards to the arbitration award. According to Erjavec, the EU Commission already has tools to make Croatia respect its commitments and the rule of law, which is why he sees no special reason for the Commission to take Croatia to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, together with Slovenia.

The European Commission, and especially its president Juncker, does not always consider this issue as a legal matter, but sometimes also as matter of politics, said Erjavec. The outgoing foreign minister added that the fact that Juncker and Croatia's PM Andrej Plenković belong to the same political group, certainly influences the whole procedure.

Mr. Erjavec reiterated that if there is no action from the European Commission, Slovenia would carry on with the legal procedure on its own.