DRNOVSEK ADVOCATES ARBITRATION ALONG LAND FRONTIER, JANSA INSISTS ON AGREEMENT

LJUBLJANA, Aug 28 (Hina) - Arbitration regarding the border dispute with Croatia should refer not only to the border line in Piran Bay but also to several contentious spots along the land frontier, including the border along the Dragonja river, Slovene Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek told the national television on Wednesday evening. #L# According to him, the land frontier has already been defined in 99 percent of the cases and possible international arbitration would also consider the political significance of an agreement initialled by the Croatian and Slovene premiers. Drnovsek said arbitration was the last option. Before then, a possible solution would be to "freeze the situation", he said and added that an agreement on this would be difficult to reach considering that the two countries had different interpretation about the situation in Piran Bay. The president of the leading Opposition party in Slovenia (Social Democrats), Janez Jansa, told Slovene Television on Wednesday that Drnovsek made a mistake at today's press conference and sent a wrong message. In Jansa's opinion, Drnovsek should have waited several more months for Slovenia - after joining NATO and the European Union - to gain much more favourable strategic status in negotiations with Croatia. (hina) it