Response to statements by Slovenian FM Erjavec

The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs sent a letter of protest to Slovenia over its unlawful erecting of barbed wire fence on Croatian territory...

The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs sent a letter of protest to Slovenia over its unlawful erecting of barbed wire fence on Croatian territory at Sutla River near the Harmica border crossing and at Bregančica River near the Bregana Naselje border crossing, demanding that the fence be removed from Croatian territory without delay. By erecting the fence, Slovenia has knowingly violated Croatia’s territory which even according to official Slovenian land records does not belong to Slovenia, a fact the Slovenian officials are well aware of.

Even though it was stressed during the meeting with the chargé d’affaires of the Slovenian Embassy in Croatia that the refugee crisis should not be dragged into the border dispute and that situations that could lead to incidents at the border should be avoided, statements by Slovenian Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec run contrary to it and use the humanitarian crisis and plights of vulnerable groups to provoke incidents which obviously serve the Slovenian side to further pressure international judicial bodies with the aim of continuing contaminated proceedings.

As is publicly known, Slovenia has gravely breached the Arbitration Agreement in an unprecedented manner, as evidenced by the recorded talks between the official Slovenian representative and an arbiter, after which Croatia moved to terminate the Arbitration Agreement which consequently ceased to apply. Slovenia was invited to enter talks with Croatia about a new solution to the border dispute, in accordance with the highest international standards, as that is the only way to reach the right and lasting solution to this outstanding issue. The arbitration that Minister Erjavec refers to is irreversibly compromised and cannot yield a decision that would be relevant, acceptable and implementable.

Slovenia’s statements and behaviour show that Croatia was right to withdraw from the arbitration process. As evident also from the latest events, the Slovenian sidehad no interest to resolve the border dispute through an independent arbitration process. While  attempting to unlawfully influence the Arbitral Tribunal’s decision during the duration of the arbitration, now it seems that Slovenia is trying to impose one-sided solutions and use them to press for its continuation.

Resolving outstanding issues in an unbiased and legitimate manner and in accordance with international law is paramount for good relations between Croatia and Slovenia, as well as for all other countries in Europe’s southeast and beyond, and that is precisely what Croatia is advocating. 

 

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