LJUBLJANA, Sept 13 (Hina) - Political dialogue with Zagreb, especially with regard to the proclamation of an economic zone in the Adriatic, is possible only after parliamentary elections and the conference on fishing in the
Mediterranean, scheduled for November, Slovene Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel has said in an interview with the "Vecer" daily of Saturday.
LJUBLJANA, Sept 13 (Hina) - Political dialogue with Zagreb,
especially with regard to the proclamation of an economic zone in
the Adriatic, is possible only after parliamentary elections and
the conference on fishing in the Mediterranean, scheduled for
November, Slovene Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel has said in an
interview with the "Vecer" daily of Saturday. #L#
Speaking to the Maribor-based paper, Rupel repeated positions
which over the past two weeks have marked Slovene reactions to
Croatia's plans to expand its jurisdiction in the Adriatic.
Ljubljana opposes the plans, claiming they would prejudge the
border at sea and annul an initialled border agreement between the
two countries, which Croatia claims has no legal effect.
"Ambassador Peter Bekes returns to Zagreb as a sign of our good
will, so Croatia could approach the dialogue in a constructive and
not exclusive manner," Rupel said.
He reiterated that the meeting of the countries' foreign ministry
officials, scheduled to take place in Slovenia on Tuesday, should
be an expert and not a political meeting, despite Croatia's
requests that it be held at a higher level.
The Slovene minister said that the proclamation of an economic zone
in the Adriatic could lead to "the prejudging of the border" and
"incidents at sea", as well as that Slovenia is a maritime country
with the right to have access to the open sea, which he considers a
precondition for political talks with Croatia.
Rupel is sceptical about possible arbitration with regard to the
sea border, and claims that Croatia has refused Slovenia's proposal
that the issue of deposits of Ljubljanska Bank Zagreb clients also
be settled through international arbitration.
Explaining his statement that Croatia is part of "the black hole of
the western Balkans", Rupel said that it should not be taken as an
insult.
"Croatia is part of the western Balkans according to the European
Union's nomenclature," he said, adding that Slovenia had always
played "a constructive role" in that region.
(hina) rml