Financial experts France Arhar and Zdravko Rogic, chosen by the Slovenian and the Croatian government respectively to help them solve the issue of Ljubljanska Banka, are to hold their first meeting in Otocac ob Krka, Slovenia, on Tuesday, according to a statement issued by the Slovenian foreign ministry on its web site on Monday.
The two experts are expected to propose a solution regarding the debt of the now-defunct Ljubljanska bank to Croatian clients as soon as possible.
The Slovenian ministry emphasises that Arhar and Rogic should focus on finding a solution regarding lawsuits against that bank at Croatian courts.
Slovenia regards the issue of the savings in foreign currencies deposited in that bank as an issue from the succession to the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) and deems the lawsuit to be unacceptable. Therefore, the Slovenian government has indirectly made the ratification of Croatia's European Union accession treaty conditional on the withdrawal of the lawsuits,
Croatia insists that this is a bilateral issue which has nothing to do with the ratification.
The proposal for engagement of two financial experts was made by Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic and her Slovenian counterpart Karl Erjavec at their informal meeting in Dubrovnik at this year's Croatia Summit.
The European Commission believes that the issue of the Ljubljanska Bank debt towards Croatian clients is a bilateral issue between Croatia and Slovenia and hopes the ratification of Croatia's Treaty of Accession with the European Union will be completed in time so that Croatia can enter the European Union on 1 July 2013 as planned, European Commission spokesman Peter Stano said in late July.
This is primarily a bilateral issue between Croatia and Slovenia. We shall continue to encourage both sides to find a mutually acceptable solution. When it comes to the ratification process, it is in the hands of individual member states and we, on behalf of the European Commission, can only say we hope the ratification process will proceed as planned and that everything will be wrapped up in time for Croatia to enter the European Union on 1 July 2013 as planned, Stano told reporters when asked to comment on statements by the Slovenian minister Erjavec who said that resolving the issue of the now defunct Ljubljanska Bank of Slovenia was a prerequisite for ratifying Croatia's Treaty of Accession with EU in the Slovenian Parliament.
Stano said it was not up to the European Commission to deal with the Ljubljanska Bank issue or to comment on statements made by Slovenian or Croatian officials, adding that Croatia had confirmed its readiness to resume negotiations on that issue under the auspices of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Basel in agreement with Slovenia.
