Croatian Foreign Affairs and European Integration Minister Gordan Jandrokovic said on Thursday he did not expect new Slovenian blockades of Croatia's European Union accession negotiations, in accordance with announcements from Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor.
He was asked by the press to comment on announcements from the Slovenian Foreign Ministry that Slovenia will make the opening of the negotiation chapter "Competition Policy" and the closing of chapters on the free movement of goods and capital conditional on allowing Nova Ljubljanska Banka to operate in Croatia.
Jandrokovic said Pahor recently said there would be no new Slovenian blockades and that he expected it to be so.
He was speaking to the press after talks with Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn.
Responding to the same question, Asselborn said that a brief meeting, if necessary, between Croatian and Slovenian presidents, premiers or foreign ministers could resolve the situation which could otherwise cause new problems.
He voiced confidence that after the recent approval of the border arbitration agreement between the two countries at a Slovenian referendum, the matter was politically settled.
Asselborn said there were rules in the EU which member countries could use while non-members sometimes had to tolerate them.
He said rules should be honoured, but that it was also necessary to talk with the country setting the blockade so that the blockade could be removed as soon as possible. He added this meant finding a compromise, and that everyone should give in a little in the search for a solution.
Asselborn advised the countries in the region to cool down, saying that what bothered him the most was that the picture from the region was that even minor misunderstandings between the countries appeared to be more important than joint achievements.
Asked if the liberalisation of the visa regime with Serbia had contributed to a rise in crime and the fact that some Serbian criminals were seeking refuge in Croatia, Jandrokovic recalled that visa requirements with Serbia were suspended in 2003 and cancelled last year.
He said the visa regime was not the only reason for such occurrences and that cooperation between the police forces, the judicial authorities and all institutions dealing with these issues was key to preventing them.
