In response to statement by Slovenian foreign minister

Croatia’s Chief Negotiator Vladimir Drobnjak paid a working visit to Slovenia in March 2008. That said, we would like to point out that Mr. Drobnjak had been waiting for that visit for nearly 11 months since he first sent his request.

The initial request was sent in May 2007, but received no response. It was sent again in the fall of 2007, but a positive response came no earlier than March 2008, when the visit was also finally realized. Therefore, it is not true that for years Croatia has sent not a single one of its negotiators to Slovenia.

We would also like to reiterate that Croatia’s EU accession was the topic of numerous meetings between Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Gordan Jandroković and then-foreign minister of Slovenia Dimitrij Rupel, the most prominent among them being the meetings during his official visit to Slovenia in Brdo kod Kranja on July 8th 2008, as well as the meetings at the margins of the 44th Munich Conference on Security Policy on February 9th 2008 and the 4th meeting of the EU-Croatia Stabilization and Association Council on April 28th 2008 in Luxembourg.

Lastly, Croatia’s EU accession was also the topic of Minister Jandroković’s meeting with Slovenian Foreign Minister Žbogar at the margins of the NATO Council’s meeting on December 2nd 2008 in Brussels.