"No, that's not true. Slovenia is one of the countries that strongly support Croatia's entry into the European Union, so that information isn't true," Sanader told reporters in Helsinki on Thursday evening before a summit of leaders of the European People's Party (EPP), the strongest political group in the European Parliament.
"Someone is obviously trying to sow dissension between the Slovenes and the Croats. We're good friends who have outstanding issues between them, which no one denies, but Slovenia, the Slovene government, prime minister and president, have always strongly supported Croatia on its path to the EU," he added.
"Croatia and Slovenia signed an agreement on cross-border cooperation, which also includes the issue of fisheries. By joining the EU, Slovenia adopted European legislation relating to fisheries. Croatia is now conducting talks on EU membership in which Slovenia has a direct interest, but Slovenia can hardly be said to be obstructing the negotiations. It's more about the conditions each member has to meet," said Jansa, who was also attending the EPP summit.