PM: SLOVENIA DOESN'T WANT TO BLACKMAIL CROATIA WITH AGREEMENTS

LJUBLJANA, Nov 8 (Hina) - Slovenia does not wish to blackmail Croatia by linking the enforcement of an agreement on the jointly owned Krsko nuclear power plant with the ratification of a border deal, but the blockade of this issue is obstructing the settlement of another one, Croatian depositors' savings in Ljubljanska Banka, Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek has said. "It is a matter pertaining to succession (to the former Yugoslav federation), but can be also settled with a partial bilateral succession agreement if, by settling one or two open issues, we make headway in our relations," Drnovsek told POP-TV on Thursday. Commenting on a recent interview with the Croatian weekly Globus, the PM said it had been misinterpreted as an attempt at blackmail. "If you look at the whole interview, positive recommendations to Croatia prevail. The basic recommendation is that escalation would be detrimental to both sides. It is true that... I realistically assessed that the Slovenian parliament too (as Croatia's) would have difficulty ratifying the border deal... It is not blackmail but facts," said Drnovsek. He maintains that the Croatian reactions to the interview were indicative of internal difficulties in Croatian policy with regard to the realisation of the agreements. "The Croatian policy at this moment evidently isn't able... to answer those questions." In case of headway in relations with Croatia, Drnovsek said a liberal border regime, once Slovenia becomes the European Union's Schengen frontier on Southeast Europe, was possible. (hina) ha