"The dispute between Croatia and Slovenia will be settled sooner or later on the basis of the international law. (...) We cannot demand that in international communication the international law be applied on the ones and not on the others," Mesic told Croatian reporters on Saturday on the margins of a World Economic Forum for the Middle East meeting in Jordan.
Mesic recalled that Croatia had unconditionally endorsed the latest proposal by European Union Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn for the resolution of the border dispute, which pushed Croatia's EU accession negotiations into a stalemate.
On the other hand, Slovenia, has expressed some reservations pushing for amendments to the proposal.
"We have received Rehn's proposal which is not in its entirety what we wished. Nevertheless, we say it is O.K. and better than nothing," Mesic said, accusing the Slovenian political elite of having "insatiable appetites".
While commenting on the Slovenian-Croatian relations and their border dispute, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said on Friday that he hoped that "Slovenia will be flexible in the European spirit" when it comes to the border issue.
"I believe that the European Commission's proposal should be accepted. The proposal takes into account the justified Slovenian wish regarding access to the open seas and also Croatia's wish that 12 policy chapters (negotiating areas) should not be blocked by only one bilateral issue," Frattini said.
Slovenia has suggested some amendments and according to the Slovenian media speculations, changes refer to Ljubljana's insistence on the principle of equity (ex aequo et bono which in Latin stands for "according to the right and good") in efforts to demarcate the sea border.
The entire Europe intends to support both sides. We express solidarity with Slovenia, an EU member, as well as with the justified aspirations of Croatia so that it can finally join the EU in 2010, the Italian minister said adding that Italy was in permanent contact with both countries in a bid to find a solution to the issue.
Commissioner Rehn has said that he will closely study Slovenia's amendments to his latest proposal for the resolution of the Slovenian-Croatian border dispute and for the resumption of Croatia's European Union accession negotiations locked in stalemate due to the border row.
I will closely study the amendments together with my advisors and European Commission legal experts, and since Croatia has accepted the compromise proposal in its present form, new talks will have to be held with it, Rehn said, adding that it is important that the two countries reach an agreement.
Speaking at a news conference after meeting Bosnia-Herzegovina's Foreign Minister Sven Alkalaj in Brussels on Friday, Rehn said he had not yet received the results of the Slovenian political considerations, and that he expected them later in the day or in the coming days.
The European Commissioner said he was not going to give up seeking a solution now that an agreement was within reach.
Both countries are very committed to this process of the European assistance, supported by the EU presidential troika and EU member-states. We are so close to an agreement that it makes no sense to give up now, he said.