LJUBLJANA, Nov 4 (Hina) - Open border issues between Slovenia and Croatia will not impact the entry of the former into the European Union, but they could influence the elaboration of the invitation, namely the avis for Croatia in the
first half of the next year, the European Union Enlargement Commissioner, Guenter Verheugen was quoted by the Slovene television as saying on Tuesday evening.
LJUBLJANA, Nov 4 (Hina) - Open border issues between Slovenia and
Croatia will not impact the entry of the former into the European
Union, but they could influence the elaboration of the invitation,
namely the avis for Croatia in the first half of the next year, the
European Union Enlargement Commissioner, Guenter Verheugen was
quoted by the Slovene television as saying on Tuesday evening. #L#
Commenting on the performance of ten countries which are to join the
EU in 2004, Verheugen described Slovenia as most successful.
Asked whether Slovenia's admission into the EU would be affected by
Croatia's declaration of an ecological and fishing zone in the
Adriatic and by their open issues regarding the demarcation of the
border, the EU official answered in the negative, adding that
Croatia was a different case.
Croatia is now waiting for the invitation, i.e. the opinion of the
European Commission on its membership application, and it is well
known that at this stage a foreign policy is analysed, too. In this
sense, border issues can be a problem," Verhaugen told the Slovene
television.
(hina) ms