The Slovene press on Thursday reported that Slovenia was planning in the coming days to offer to Zagreb a draft agreement on prevention of border incidents on the land and at the sea.
"Regarding long-term interests of the two countries, Croatia remains open to political dialogue and negotiations on all remaining outstanding issues and is also open to proposals of Slovene Foreign Minister Ivo Vajgl," a source in the Croatian ministry said.
Slovenia's Vajgl has said that until the end of this year a bilateral agreement should be reached as the first step towards defusing tensions at the border before international mediation.
The Croatian source reiterates that the two countries have already had relevant agreements such as the code of conduct of fishermen and an agreement on police conduct in Savudrija Bay.
The latest Slovene proposal, nevertheless, is seen as a sign of Ljubljana's readiness to add a dose of responsibility in the relations with Croatia, which was suggested by the European Union High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana.
During his visit to Ljubljana last Tuesday, Solana said that only minor frictions existed between Slovenia and Croatia which should be settled bilaterally, and the help of a third party should be asked only if bilateral talks failed.
The Croatian ministry agrees with this position, too.