"I will present the political situation in Slovenia to her and recommend that our experts on Ljubljanska Banka find a solution as soon as possible," Erjavec said in a Slovenian Television current affairs talk show in which the leaders of the ruling coalition parties spoke of the political situation in the country after most parties called for the resignation of Prime Minister Janez Jansa.

Erjavec, who leads the Democratic Party of Pensioners (DeSUS), was most determined in his assessment that the present political crisis over accusations of Prime Minister Jansa by the anti-corruption commission needed to be ended by calling an early election in May.

Responding to the question on relations with Croatia in the light of the Slovenian political crisis, Erjavec said that the experts on the Ljubljanska Banka issue, Zdravko Rogic of Croatia and France Arhar of Slovenia, should find a mutually acceptable solution as soon possible.

"Both the Slovenian and the Croatian government should reach a consensus on the solution to be proposed by the experts," he said, warning that if the consensus was not reached soon and the Slovenian parliament was dissolved for an early election, Slovenia would not be able to ratify Croatia's EU accession treaty in time for its scheduled entry into the EU on July 1.

"Some time is still left for the ratification. I think it is possible to reach a compromise with Croatia within a month, it's in Croatia's interest," Erjavec said, noting that it was why he now expected "a more constructive attitude" from Croatia. "If a solution to the Ljubljanska Banka issue is found, ratification of Croatia's accession treaty could be completed very quickly," he concluded.