"Viewed from afar, as a bigger picture, our outstanding issues with Croatia aren't that big and we will use the time of Croatia's accession to the European Union for (reaching) an agreement," Rupel said on TV Slovenia.
He said Croatian-Slovene trade was EUR1.7 billion annually and that the tourist exchange was strong.
Asked if mention in Croatia of war crimes allegedly committed in Slovenia before it gained independence in 1991 would have an adverse effect on relations with Croatia, Rupel said he was "puzzled with that polemic" and that it was actually "a polemic with Slovene independence and Slovenia's successes" in the last 15 years.