"According to Slovene sources, nothing has changed and Croatian and particularly Slovene diplomats are making efforts to preserve the existing regime of crossing the border only with an ID card," Nobilo said.
Slovenia joined the European Union in 2004 so the new Schengen regulations, under which citizens of third countries would cross EU borders with passports which could be stamped in order to monitor their stay in EU countries, apply to that newcomer.
Ambassador Nobilo said that diplomatic efforts to maintain the soft border regime would give results because it was in the interest of both countries, given that Croatia and Slovenia signed an agreement on crossing the border with ID cards in 1997.
"I believe the bloc will show a certain amount of flexibility," Nobilo said, stressing that Croatia was a candidate country negotiating with the EU its accession to the bloc.
The ambassador also said that the cross border trade and cooperation agreement between Croatia and Slovenia was already an integral part of the EU's acquis communautaire, so its regulations regarding a more flexible border-crossing regime for border area residents would remain in force.