"I have seen that statement and I have clarified with the Austrian Foreign Minister the contents of Commissioner Rehn's (latest) initiative. I have expressed my surprise at his (Spindelegger) having made such information public, particularly if IT is not correct. Rehn's initiative is absolutely not what the Austrian minister has said, but something quite different," Zbogar said during a two-day informal EU ministerial meeting in the Czech town of Hluboka nad Vltavou.
The latest compromise proposal moved by Commissioner Rehn for the resolution of the Croatian-Slovene border dispute and for the resumption of Croatia's EU entry talks envisages the separation of the issue of border demarcation from the issue of Slovenia's access to the high seas, Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger said on Friday upon his arrival at the meeting in the Czech Republic.
The issue of access to the high seas should be separated from the border issue, which is a legal issue. If both sides agree to it, this would be a big step forward, the Austrian official said.
The Slovene minister said that the initiative, as presented by Spindelegger, was unacceptable for his country.
Zbogar said that the problem did not lie in access to the high seas, but that Slovenia insisted on direct contact with the high seas.
Rehn's spokeswoman, Krisztina Nagy, said this evening that she could not confirm the idea presented by Spindelegger, explaining that this was not the solution proposed by the European Commission.
The new compromise proposal remains confidential, she said, adding that Rehn and Spindelegger had talked about the matter last week before the last tripartite meeting including Rehn, Zbogar and Croatia's Foreign Minister Gordan Jandrokovic.
Slovenia has used its power to veto Croatia's EU accession negotiations over the two countries' border dispute.