We have taken note of the vote in the Croatian parliament to withdraw from the arbitration agreement with Slovenia. We respect the democratic vote by parliament but we also regret that Croatia has unilaterally decided to exit the agreement it perviously signed, Andreeva said when asked to present the Commission's view after parliament adopted its decision.
Andreeva said that it was now up to the Arbitral Tribunal to investigate the legal consequences of Croatia's actions.
Once the tribunal is officially advised it will have to assess the legal consequences of those steps. Based on that the Commission will carefully monitor the situation, she said.
She said that the Commission would hear both sides and try and mediate between them. We do not see any alternative to the arbitration process, she said.
Earlier in the day, Andreeva told a press conference that the arbitration tribunal, set up to resolve the Croatia-Slovenia border dispute, would continue to operate, even if Croatia withdraws from the arbitration procedure.
The European Commission helped Croatia and Slovenia sign the arbitration deal, however, it has no jurisdiction in the arbitration process.