SLOVENE PM: ARBITRATION ON BORDER WITH CROATIA ACCEPTABLE

LJUBLJANA, Sept 15 (Hina) - Croatia's proposal for settling the border issue through international arbitration is not unacceptable for Slovenia, Slovene Prime Minister Anton Rop said in Ljubljana on Monday, addressing Slovene ambassadors to foreign countries who gathered for a regular annual meeting. #L# Rop welcomed the latest statements of Croatian officials, which do not mention the declaration of an exclusive economic zone in the Adriatic, but only a fishing and environmental zone. He said that "unilateral measures" in the Adriatic would lead to the deterioration of bilateral relations. The Slovene PM said the solving of the two countries' open issues would be easier after Croatia joined the EU, adding that his government supported that process. "The initiative regarding international arbitration is not unacceptable for Slovenia. We are ready to talk about this, as well as about what arbitration would be based on," Rop said. According to earlier statements by senior Slovene officials, Slovenia believes that international arbitration should include the land border and not only the border at sea. Rop told the Slovene diplomats that the Racan-Drnovsek agreement from 2001 still had political weight for Slovenia despite the fact that Croatia did not recognise it as a document with legal effect. He proposed that the two countries simultaneously discuss the economic zone in the Adriatic and the border agreement, adding that other issues also could not be solved overnight and outside the context of implementation of the EU policy. Commenting on tomorrow's meeting on the economic zone, to be held in Slovenia's Smarjeske Toplice, Rop said Slovenia hailed Croatia's intention to start negotiations with a debate on fishing and environmental zones. (hina) it