The Slovenian Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee has endorsed the policy of the government and Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec that ratification of Croatia's EU accession treaty should be conditional on resolution of the issue of the Slovenian bank Ljubljanska Banka and its Croatian depositors, STA news agency said.
Only after that issue is resolved in accordance with the already accepted international agreements will it be possible to start the process of ratification of the Croatian treaty, Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Jozef Horvat told STA after Erjavec informed the Committee late on Thursday about the latest round of talks between the two countries' financial experts on the Ljubljanska Banka issue.
Horvat said that the Ljubljanska Banka issue should be resolved in accordance with the succession agreement of all successor states to the former Yugoslavia and the commitments which Croatia had undertaken during EU accession negotiations concerning free movement of capital.
Our message is not to close the EU's door to Croatia, but we call on Croatia to stick to its commitments, Horvat said, adding that all members of the Foreign Affairs Committee, which represents all Slovenian political parties, agreed with that position.
Erjavec said he had a bad feeling that it would be hard for the two financial experts to find a solution that would be acceptable to both parties. He said that it would be acceptable to Slovenia if the Croatian Finance Ministry withdrew its power of attorney for the lawsuits which had been filed against Ljubljanska Banka in Croatia by the Croatian banks Privredna Banka Zagreb and Zagrebacka Banka.
The financial experts are due to meet for a third round of talks on October 4, but Erjavec said that unless they came closer to a solution he would propose that the two countries' foreign ministers join in their work.
