The leader of this parliamentary party, Dragutin Lesar, said in a statement that without consent from the Croatian parliament Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor and her cabinet were not allowed to transform the debt of the now defunct Slovenian bank into an issue of the succession to the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
On 14 October, Croatia expressed its readiness to have the issue of Croatian depositors of Ljubljanska Banka resolved under Article 7, Annex C to the 2001 Agreement on Succession to the former Yugoslavia.
Article 7 defines assumption of guarantees for citizens' foreign currency deposits through the mediation of the Bank for International Settlements in Basel.
Following Croatia’s decision, Slovenia said it would support the closing of the remaining policy areas in Croatia's EU entry talks,
Lesar accused Slovenia of persisting in negating the existence of the debt of that bank towards clients in Croatia and in shifting this issue to others to solve it.
Later on Sunday, the Croatian Foreign Affairs and European Integration Ministry responded to Lesar's statement emphasising that the government's decision of 14 October was in accordance with Article 7, Annex C to the 2001 Agreement on Succession to the former Yugoslavia which was signed in Vienna on 2001 and which was ratified by the Croatian parliament in 2004.
The ministry reiterates that the negotiations between the two countries would not restrict the rights of individuals.
It also recalls that the government's decision was agreed with Croatian National Bank.
The ministry said the outcome of the negotiations must be the repayment of the debt to Croatian clients of the Ljubljanska Banka.