"We expect that Arhar and the Croatian expert for Ljubljanska Banka, Zdravko Rogic, will have enough time to find an appropriate solution," Erjavec told the press in Ljubljana.
As for the mandates and work of the two experts so far, he said they concluded that the issue of the bank and its former clients outside Slovenia was an issue of succession to the former Yugoslavia which Croatia and Slovenia could solve bilaterally within the succession framework.
"We expect this to be dealt with as part of the succession, in accordance with the 2001 Vienna Succession Treaty," Erjavec said, adding that Slovenia had agreed to solving the issue bilaterally because of Croatia so that it could be solved before Croatia's EU accession.
"We know Croatia is in a hurry to have the Slovenian parliament ratify Croatia's Accession Treaty with the EU," he said.
"Slovenia supports Croatia in joining the EU as soon as possible but also expects that all outstanding issues burdening our relations be solved by then."
"I hope the Ljubljanska Banka issue will be understood in time," Erjavec said when asked if the unsolved issue could result in Croatia not joining the EU on July 1, adding that the possibility of Slovenia not ratifying the Accession Treaty by then did exist.
He once again denied that Arhar and Rogic had reached an agreement under which Slovenia would pay Croatia EUR 278.7 million over 30 years for the unpaid foreign currency savings of Croatian citizens.
As for the Croatian citizens who did not transfer their foreign currency savings in Ljubljanska Banka's now defunct Zagreb branch into Croatia's public debt and who continue to demand to be reimbursed by the bank and Slovenia, Erjavec said Slovenia was not to blame for their difficulties.
Some could not transfer their savings into Croatia's public debt because they did not have Croatian citizenship and some did not want to transfer them into Croatian banks, he added.