The memorandum of understanding solves the last outstanding issue between Croatia and Slovenia which was an obstacle to the ratification of Croatia's European Union accession treaty in Ljubljana, Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa said in Mokrice on Monday, while Croatian PM Zoran Milanovic said this solution satisfied both sides.
After one-hour talks, they signed a memorandum of understanding between the two governments to resolve the Ljubljanska Banka issue within negotiations on succession to the former Yugoslavia, while the Slovenian parliament will immediately initiate the ratification of the accession treaty.
The Slovenian government will send a request to parliament to begin ratification already this week, Jansa said at a joint press conference, adding that the procedure was likely to be completed by the end of this month.
"We finally have an agreement. It required some good will, some contacts, some activity by experts, ministers, negotiators. Now we have a solution that satisfies both sides," said Milanovic.
Asked by a Slovenian reporter if Ljubljanska Banka would enter the Croatian market, Jansa said Croatia would join the EU on July 1 and become part of the single European market with rules on the free movement of capital, so European banking rules would apply to Croatia too.
Milanovic regretted that the Slovenian bank had not been on the Croatian market for 20 years "because it was a trustworthy bank... Had the problems been solved earlier, Ljubljanska Banka could have entered the Croatian market first and made billions."
