On 25 January, at a
midday press conference held by the
European Commission, journalists posed several questions to Peter Stano, spokesman
for Štefan Füle, the EC commissioner in charge of Enlargement and European
Neighbourhood Policy. The questions
regarded the degree of EC involvement in the ongoing negotiations between
Croatia and Slovenia regarding settlement of the Ljubljanska Banka dispute, a
dispute that sees Croatia attempting to obtain compensation for Croatian
depositors in the now-defunct bank – which was headquartered in Yugoslavia's Socialist Republic of Slovenia – and
Slovenia in return threatening to withhold its ratification of Croatia’s entry into the EU, which is
scheduled to take place on 1 July 2013.
In reply to the
questions, Stano indicated that the Commissioner for Enlargement and European
Neighbourhood Policy, Mr. Füle, had recently communicated to both sides the
need for urgency in their reaching an agreement in order that Croatia
“... And most recently the Commissioner has highlighted the urgency of
intensified efforts between Slovenia Croatia
... As the Commissioner has said several times, that this is really
necessary, as soon as possible, for both sides to urgently find mutually
acceptable solution to this issue. It is
for the both sides to find this solution, and it is urgently needed.”
This reiteration of
urgency by the Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy comes
little more than two weeks after a first visit to Brussels by Slovenia’s
newly-elected president, Borut Pahor, during which EC President José Manuel
Barroso is reported to have insisted to Pahor that Slovenia must respect the 1
July deadline for Croatia’s accession to the EU regardless of the outcome of
the Ljubljanska Banka dispute.
Sources:
Video of press conference: LIVE EC Midday
press briefing (2013-01-25)
Mark Pleas
[contact]
