The incident that occurred near the border crossing at Sveti Martin na Muri in Croatia and Hotiza in Slovenia is not within the competence of the European Union, but it is a bilateral issue which we hope Zagreb and Ljubljana will resolve successfully in the European spirit of good neighbourly relations, Degert told reporters.
We will call on the prime ministers of the two countries to find a solution, Degert said.
A provisional solution should be sought first in order to defuse the tension, after which a long-term solution should be found, a good agreement on the borders, he added.
These are recurring problems which we want to avoid in the future, the European Commission representative said.
A group of Slovene reporters were taken to the police station in Mursko Sredisce on Wednesday after a joint Croatian-Slovene police patrol found them in the border area without the necessary documents. The incident led to the escalation of political relations between the two countries, with special police platoons being deployed on either side of the border.