The ruling of the European Court of Human Rights that found Slovenia liable for the payback of "old" foreign-currency savings to clients of Ljubljanska Banka outside Slovenia unquestionably establishes Slovenia's liability, but Croatia will continue seeking a compromise for the transferred savings deposits of Croatian nationals, Croatian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Danijela Barisic told the media on Tuesday.
"This ruling establishes beyond doubt Slovenia's liability, and we are still working on finding a compromise solution for transferred savings deposits of Croatian citizens. When it comes to the untransferred savings, there is no doubt because they are covered by this ruling," the spokeswoman explained.
The ECHR on Tuesday delivered its judgement in the case of three nationals of Bosnia and Herzegovina against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia and Macedonia who had asked the court to determine the liability of the respondent states for failure to pay old foreign-currency savings to clients of the Sarajevo branch of Ljubljanska Banka and the Tuzla branch of Investbanka for years.
Slovenia and Serbia were found to be in breach of Article 1 of Protocol 1 to the Convention (protection of property) and Article 13 (right to an effective remedy).
The two countries were given six months from the date on which the court's judgment becomes final to allow the applicants and all others in their position to be paid back their old foreign-currency savings under the same conditions as those who had such savings in domestic branches of Slovenian and Serbian banks.
The ECHR said that its judgment should serve as a model for other similar cases in which private depositors in the territory of the former Yugoslavia were suing successor states over old foreign currency savings. The court said that more than 1,650 similar applications were pending before it, involving more than 8,000 applicants.
Today's judgment is not final as the parties have three months to file an appeal with the ECHR Grand Chamber.
