Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) president Tomislav Karamarko said in Opatija on Sunday that Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic should have defined with his Slovenian counterpart a long time ago the status of the Ljubljanska Banka issue, adding that the issue must not affect the ratification of Croatia's European Union accession treaty.
Responding to a question from the press about the United States' recommendation that Croatia should seek an agreement with Slovenia, Karamarko said he welcomed this friendly gesture by the US.
He said the Croatian diplomacy was doing nothing, adding that "we must deal with the Ljubljanska Banka issue as two friendly states, EU members."
Karamarko said that because of the incumbent government, the issue remained undefined "five months before accession to the EU," adding that this was not good.
Asked if the political situation in Slovenia could also be an obstacle for Croatia, he said it would be an even bigger tragedy for the Croatian government if the political crisis in Slovenia were to jeopardise Croatia's EU entry.
Karamarko said that "if Croatia doesn't join the EU on July 1, that will be a historic, millennial responsibility of this government," adding that Euro-Atlantic integration had been a priority since the creation of the Croatian state.
