Slovenian veto sparking fury in Croatia

An EU integration conference is to open in Brussels where Croatia will be unable to turn a new page in talks with the EU after a Slovenia veto.

Izvor: B92

Friday, 19.12.2008.

10:07

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An EU integration conference is to open in Brussels where Croatia will be unable to turn a new page in talks with the EU after a Slovenia veto. While Europe sees the decision as a new escalation in tensions between Slovenia and Croatia, Slovenia sees the veto as a means of defending its national interests. Croatia sees the move as a precedent and a scandal in the history of European integration. Slovenian veto sparking fury in Croatia The decision not to allow the opening of 11 new chapters in Croatian talks with the EU was supported by the Slovenian government yesterday, a move that has received full backing from the Slovenian public as well. In a recent phone-in poll on Slovenian POP TV, 84 percent of people supported the decision, while 64 percent in a similar TV poll stated that Slovenia’s policies towards Croatia were not tough enough. Slovenian President Danilo Tirk also supported the move, stating that Slovenia’s national interests must be protected. Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said that relations between Croatia and Slovenia were no longer just Croatia’s problem, but the EU’s. Slovenia’s EU ambassador Igor Sencar officially informed Brussels of Ljubljana’s decision yesterday. Slovenia rejected a French proposal for the two countries to reach an agreement amongst themselves, stating that it required an international legal guarantee that Croatia would remove from its accession documents those which, in Slovenia’s opinion, prejudice the settlement of the open border issue. Ljubljana said that it had had bad experiences and a “lack of trust” in Croatia when negotiating these matters. The Slovenian veto is the lead story in all the newspapers in the two countries, and has sparked a wave of comments on web portals in both countries that can be considered hate speak, to put it mildly. Croatians have called for a boycott of all Slovenian products, while Slovenian groups want their fellow countrymen to stop vacationing in Croatia over the summer.

Slovenian veto sparking fury in Croatia

The decision not to allow the opening of 11 new chapters in Croatian talks with the EU was supported by the Slovenian government yesterday, a move that has received full backing from the Slovenian public as well.

In a recent phone-in poll on Slovenian POP TV, 84 percent of people supported the decision, while 64 percent in a similar TV poll stated that Slovenia’s policies towards Croatia were not tough enough.

Slovenian President Danilo Tirk also supported the move, stating that Slovenia’s national interests must be protected.

Croatian President Stjepan Mesić said that relations between Croatia and Slovenia were no longer just Croatia’s problem, but the EU’s.

Slovenia’s EU ambassador Igor Senčar officially informed Brussels of Ljubljana’s decision yesterday.

Slovenia rejected a French proposal for the two countries to reach an agreement amongst themselves, stating that it required an international legal guarantee that Croatia would remove from its accession documents those which, in Slovenia’s opinion, prejudice the settlement of the open border issue.

Ljubljana said that it had had bad experiences and a “lack of trust” in Croatia when negotiating these matters.

The Slovenian veto is the lead story in all the newspapers in the two countries, and has sparked a wave of comments on web portals in both countries that can be considered hate speak, to put it mildly.

Croatians have called for a boycott of all Slovenian products, while Slovenian groups want their fellow countrymen to stop vacationing in Croatia over the summer.

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