SLOVENE FOREIGN MINISTER BELIEVES ARBITRATION IS NOT SIMPLE

LJUBLJANA. Oct 12 (Hina) - Slovene Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel has said that arbitration on a sea border with Croatia could take years, so an agreement on a temporary fishing regime at sea was adopted to calm the situation even though, "economically and ecologically", it is not the best one, Ljubljana's daily "Dnevnik" reported on Saturday. #L# "Countries solve such issues for decades and we were afraid that if the situation got strained, things would go so far that there would even be victims. That's why we hurried with a solution which is transitional, even though this is not the best solution in the economic and ecological sense," Rupel said in an interview for the daily. "The budget does not foresee expenses for arbitration. The government is prepared for this solution, we are not afraid of it and don't dismiss it. However, we have warned the Croatian side that the procedure is not simple, and we fear that at this moment the Croatian government too cannot receive the majority (vote) necessary to make a competent decision on arbitration. Considering that such a decision has not as yet been made, there is no point in thinking about arbitration," Rupel said. (hina) it