Slovenia's Prime Minister Janez Jansa on Thursday told a press conference that the Slovenian government had confirmed a memorandum between the Slovenian and Croatian governments that relates to the issue of Ljubljanska Banka (LB) and the ratification of Croatia's EU accession treaty in the Slovenian parliament which could, according to some assessments, be completed within a month.
"The Slovenian government today confirmed the memorandum of agreement between the two governments which puts the issue of Croatia's public debt of taking over deposits of the defunct Ljubljanska Banka Zagreb branch back within the question of an agreement on the succession of the former Yugoslavia", Jansa told the press after the Slovenian government's meeting.
He added that the agreement which is to be signed on Monday in Mokrice (Slovenia) by the two countries' prime ministers should put a stop to all proceedings in Croatian courts against LB and no new suits would be filed.
Jansa said that Slovenia had achieved what was in its interest and that was to return the LB issue within the framework of succession negotiations while Croatia has achieved for Slovenia to complete Croatia's ratification process as soon as possible.
After the Slovenian government signs the agreement on Monday it will ratify it, probably during the week, most likely on Wednesday as it is authorised to do so without having to have the agreement ratified in the parliament. The same day, the government would put into parliamentary procedure a bill on the ratification of Croatia's accession treaty to the European Union.
Considering there is a high level of consensus between parliamentary parties with regard to ratifying Croatia's treaty, Jansa said that he expected the entire ratification process to be over within a month.
The ratification process in the Slovenian parliament will be completed when the Slovenian government receives a diplomatic note that the agreement on the Ljubljanska Banka has been ratified in Croatia, Jansa told the press conference.
Asked when a final solution over foreign currency savings in LB would be completed, considering that the memorandum notes that court proceedings against LB are suspended until a final solution is achieved within the framework of the issue of succession, Jansa said that this could last several years but not forever and practice in resolving matters of succession show that successor countries resolve matters relating to material succession a lot easier than other matters, such as those relating to borders.
