"As far as Croatia goes, for now we've decided to support the start of the country's negotiations with the EU," Rupel told the news conference at which he spoke about his ministry's activities and the EU summit scheduled for 17 December at which the EU ministers are expected to decide on the start of negotiations with Turkey and Croatia.
Slovenia advocates that Croatia be given the date for the start of EU entry talks as soon as possible, the minister said.
"We want to see Croatia enter the process of adjustment to EU standards as soon as possible. That will be good for us as well," Rupel said.
He expressed satisfaction with the fact that the Slovene Parliament supported a simpler procedure for the ratification of the Croatia-EU Stabilisation and Association Agreement.
Asked about Croatia-Slovenia open issues and the current state of affairs in the two countries' relations, Rupel said the two governments were communicating, and added that he held talks with his Croatian counterpart Miomir Zuzul during the recent OSCE ministerial meeting in Sofia.
Rupel said Croatia-Slovenia relations were good, but added that more time would be needed to solve the more difficult outstanding issues.