LJUBLJANA, May 14 (Hina) - On the second day of his official visit to Slovenia, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic met Slovene Parliament President Borut Pahor and spoke to Slovene MPs about relations between the two countries.
LJUBLJANA, May 14 (Hina) - On the second day of his official visit to
Slovenia, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic met Slovene Parliament
President Borut Pahor and spoke to Slovene MPs about relations
between the two countries. #L#
Croatia and Slovenia were part of the same states for centuries,
from foreign rules to the two Yugoslav states which neither of the
two peoples ever truly accepted as their own. Today the two
countries are neighbours sharing the same future in a united
Europe, Mesic said in his address to Slovene MPs.
There are open questions between the two countries, but they can be
solved with good will and readiness to make compromises, Mesic
said.
Asked about border issues, Mesic said that the borders of former
Yugoslav republics had been recognised by the Badinter commission
as state borders. He added that the draft border agreement the
countries' premiers had signed but which had not been ratified was
no longer topical for Croatia.
When talks about an issue are hampered by lack of consensus in
parliament, one should resume talks on a new or modified basis, the
president said.
He explained that the problem of clients of Ljubljanska Bank Zagreb
could be solved by first paying smaller savings deposits and
interest to clients with bigger accounts. If this is done, most of
the clients would probably decide to keep their deposits in the same
bank and Ljubljanska Bank could continue operating in Croatia,
Mesic said.
Commenting on his proposal that the Adriatic economic belt between
Croatia and Italy be broadened, which was met with disagreement in
Slovenia, Mesic said the proposal had nothing to do with the future
Croatian-Slovene agreement on the sea border. The proposal is part
of efforts to find a way to establish ecological control on the
Adriatic and prevent disasters similar to those which recently hit
the Spanish coast, he said.
Commenting on a plea by the chairman of the Slovene parliament's
committee on foreign affairs for Croatia to ratify the Vienna
agreement on succession to the former Yugoslavia, Mesic said
Croatia's reservations in that regard concerned funds which had
gone missing from blocked accounts of the National Bank of
Yugoslavia abroad. "A lot of money leaves a big trace," he said,
adding that Croatia in no way wanted to harm the interests of other
successor states.
As Slovene MPs also asked about the clearing debt of the former
Soviet Union, Vice-Premier Slavko Linic, who is in the delegation
accompanying Mesic on the visit, said there would be no problems on
the Croatian side in that regard.
Asked to comment on the privatisation of the Suncani Hvar hotel
company and efforts by Slovenia's Terme Catez to buy it, Mesic said
business and other activities were hampered by open issues.
As both countries have an expert and political public, Terme
Catez's deal fell through the moment it became known that
Ljubljanska Bank is in its ownership structure, Mesic said.
(hina) rml