Eurasia Press & News
Excessive loud diplomacy, expressions that harm good relations, all this is harmful for Croatia’s cooperation with Slovenia.
Relations between Croatia and Slovenia are not good and a lot more needs to be done to mend them. Slovenian President Danilo Tuerk said in an interview published by Slovenia’s news agency STA.
– At this moment I see too much loud diplomacy, too many expressions that harm good relations. I think we should avoid that. Especially on the Croatian side, even among the highest ranking representatives, I notice the usage of terms and language that harm those relations – Tuerk said, adding that he would like to “use this interview to call on all our Croatian collocutors to give up from jargon that harms good relations”.
The Slovenian president believes that mediation is a good means of solving open issues and that it was a “good-willed offer of the European Commission that should be taken seriously”.
Mediation in line with principle of justice
– I want to stress that mediation must be carried out within the framework set by international law, therefore, not in violation of it. It can be successful enough to find solutions that are in the interest of both countries in the dispute. From that standpoint I think that mediation is an appropriate mechanism. In this case it is even more important because it is offered by the European Commission which Croatia should take seriously too – Tuerk said.
He thinks that Slovenia should stick to the principle of justice because “it is present in international resolving of disputes in one way or another”.
– There are, of course, issues as to how we interpret justice, which circumstances we should respect to come to a just solution. We must respect the totality of international law and the totality of historical and fact circumstances that define the disputable situation – Tuerk said.
The solution offered by the EU is good
Asked whether it is necessary that the dispute be solved before Croatia enters the EU, Tuerk said that he advocated all possibilities be used.
– It is not good to think about an alternative for the offer given by the European Commission because this is a serious offer. Such an offer could solve the dispute – Tuerk said.
He believes that “first the border on land and the point where the land border reaches the sea should be determined. Then a just solution should be sought that would guarantee Slovenia exit to the open sea and guarantee Croatia its border with the Italian territorial waters.. Creative solutions can be found, but we need to work on them – Tuerk said.
Regarding the referendum on Croatia’s entry into NATO, Tuerk stressed it was “unnecessary and useless”.
