"Slovenia's expectations to see Ljubljanska Banka enter Croatia is something apart from the blockades which have been removed so far by the (border) arbitration agreement. It is a matter od market freedom which also requires responsibility on the market. I hope that our neighbour and Ljubljanska Banka are aware of that," Josipovic said at the presentation of a book by Zagreb Law School professor Josip Kregar.
Slovenia will make its green light to the provisional closing of the still unopened policy chapter on market competition within Croatia's EU accession negotiations conditional on the possibility of Ljubljanska Banka operating in Croatia, Slovenian Foreign Ministry spokesman Milan Balazic said on Thursday.
Croatian National Bank (HNB) governor Zeljko Rohatinski said later on Thursday that Slovenia's latest condition regarding Croatia's EU entry talks - the entry of Nova Ljubljanska Banka on the Croatian market - represented direct pressure on the HNB and that the HNB would have the strength to resist the pressure.
Rohatinski said the information so far had been that Slovenia would make the closing of the negotiation chapter on the free movement of capital conditional on Croatia's consent to the reopening of negotiations on foreign currency savings in Ljubljanska Banka under the auspices of the Basel-based Bank for International Settlements.
In line with the agreement on succession to the former Yugoslavia, such negotiations were already held in 2001 and 2002, yielding no results.
"Regardless of that, the HNB will suggest that the government agree to the reopening of those negotiations, provided that all other successor countries agree to it. If the negotiations succeed, namely when depositors get their savings back, there will be no more obstacles to the arrival of Nova Ljubljanska Banka on the Croatian market," Rohatinski said, adding that this had been the situation to date.
"(Thursday's) statement by the Slovenian Foreign Ministry, however, asks for much more, that the HNB allow Nova Ljubljanska Banka to operate in Croatia by the end of the accession negotiations," he said, adding that this put Slovenia in a position to impose solutions as part of the Basel negotiations that were only to its own benefit.