LJUBLJANA, Oct 24 (Hina) - Eight Slovene presidential candidates spoke about relations with Croatia and the solution of open issues in a TV debate on a private station, POP, on Thursday night.
LJUBLJANA, Oct 24 (Hina) - Eight Slovene presidential candidates
spoke about relations with Croatia and the solution of open issues
in a TV debate on a private station, POP, on Thursday night. #L#
The incumbent prime minister, Janez Drnovsek, who is running for
president, defended the official policy towards Croatia which he
represented over the past several years.
He claimed that the issue of deposits of Ljubljanska Banka clients
from Croatia was a matter of succession and a problem that cropped
up upon the disintegration of the former Yugoslav federation's
monetary system. Slovenia has always claimed that the matter should
be settled through succession, while Croatia has been "passive" and
demonstrated "lack of interest", Drnovsek said.
Speaking about the signing of a border deal, Drnovsek said that an
agreement had been achieved (Drnovsek and his Croatian counterpart
Ivica Racan initialled the document), but that Croatia backed down
on it due to internal reasons, which one should wait for to be
settled.
Speaking about the border, Drnovsek's main rival, former state
prosecutor Barbara Brezigar, advocated a bilateral agreement
between Croatia and Slovenia.
Most other candidates believe that Slovenia should wait until it is
admitted to the European Union and NATO, which will give it a
stronger negotiating position. National Party leader Zmago
Jelincic said all contentious issues would be settled at an
international conference on the sea and land borders of Yugoslav
successor-states in Belgrade early next year.
(hina) rml