Speaking to reporters after delivering a talk to Zagreb law students on the subject of "Croatia and the United Nations", Zuzul said that talks on arbitration were a matter of bilateral relations and that the European Union would welcome any agreement reached in a friendly fashion.
Asked if it was possible that Slovenia would never agree to solve the problem of Piran Bay by arbitration, the Croatian minister said he thought this possibility was only theoretical. He added that that two countries that shared a lot of interests, such as Slovenia and Croatia, should resolve their outstanding issues, and expressed hope that they would eventually agree to do so.
"But we will never allow to be accused of attempting to resolve this issue unilaterally. We will protect our interests, and if our friends in Slovenia think this is against their interests, then the simplest solution is to agree on arbitration, but only on the condition that its outcome is binding on both parties," Zuzul said.
Asked when he would officially submit a proposal for arbitration to the Slovene side, Zuzul said that as soon as Slovenia formed a new government Croatia would invite Slovene leaders to visit, because in the cycle of reciprocal visits it was now Slovenes' turn to come to Croatia.
"This issue was discussed in detail with the previous (Slovene) government, and the former foreign minister and I said at a joint press conference after our last meeting in Slovenia that we would proceed towards arbitration, and we informed the then Slovene prime minister and the president of that," Zuzul said.
Zuzul would not say which arbitration authority would be approached "because Croatia cannot decide that unilaterally." "Although I have my preferences, it is a matter of agreement or even negotiation with Slovenia," he said, adding that it was not of crucial importance which body would be in charge of arbitration.
Asked if Croatia would agree to Slovenia's condition that one of the starting points of arbitration should be an initialled agreement between the former Croatian and Slovene prime ministers, Ivica Racan and Janez Drnovsek respectively, Zuzul said: "There is no need to arbitrate something that does not exist. That agreement does not exist -- and not only for us, but also from the legal point of view. It is a fact that the agreement was initialled, but it has not been accepted by the Government and the Parliament has never considered ratifying it."
"The Croatian government will never agree to arbitration on a non-existing agreement," Zuzul stressed.