Erjavec agreed with the proposal that the two sides jointly approach the BIS regarding negotiations, so that a solution to Ljubljanska Banka and its Croatian depositors can be found based on the agreement on succession to the former Yugoslavia.
With such a proposal, Slovenia and Croatia "finally confirm the position" that the Ljubljanska Banka issue was the result of "the break-up of the former joint state" and that it should therefore be "dealt with as part of the succession", Erjavec said in his letter.
But resuming negotiations and seeking a final solution within the BIS is possible only if "the Croatian government withdraws the power of attorney in the lawsuits filed at Croatian courts", he said, adding that negotiations were not possible while the lawsuits were active because that "isn't in keeping with the principle of good faith or adopted international legal commitments".
Erjavec said in the letter the lawsuits which Zagrebacka Banka and Privredna Banka Zagreb filed against Ljubljanska Banka and Nova Ljubljanska Banka before Croatian courts, with the Croatian Finance Ministry's power of attorney, were actually filed on Croatia's behalf, because most depositors had been paid through Croatia's public debt.
Withdrawing the lawsuits would significantly contribute to a final agreement on the settlement of the Ljubljanska Banka issue, and in Slovenia it would provide a legal basis for beginning the parliamentary ratification of Croatia's European Union accession treaty, wrote Erjavec.
The two governments' commissioners for the Ljubljanska Banka issue agreed at their third meeting last week that the issue of the lawsuits becomes irrelevant if the two sides agree on the issue, and promised they will resume dialogue with full confidence and with the position that the issue can be solved if the two governments approve their concept, which they have not yet revealed.