Mixed views on EC mediation

Slovenia is in favor of mediation to help resolve the border crisis with Croatia, something that the European Commission expects Croatian support for too. Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor said on Tuesday night, after meeting with party leaders, that Slovenia was united and accepted the proposed European Commission mediation to help resolve the border dispute with Croatia. Mixed views on EC mediation “The European Commission proposal for mediation is fundamentally acceptable and we expect the Croatian government to make the same decision next week,” Pahor said, adding that this would enable talks to begin about the elements of the mediation, so that it could start as soon as possible. Pahor said that the Slovenian goal was to have the mediation lead to a proposal for determining land and sea borders with Croatia. EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said in Brussels on Tuesday that he expected Croatia to accept the mediation soon as well. “I expect this to be a constructive and positive answer, without added, impossible, conditions,” Rehn said, adding that he was concerned that Croatia would not be able to complete its EU negotiations within the established time frame if it did not accept his invitation. Croatia is more skeptical about the mediation, which it will have a hard time rejecting, but it will try to elicit a specific legal framework from the mediator for presenting the case before some kind of international court, which would resolve the border issue in line with international law. While Croatia wants to go to court, Slovenia would rather not. European Commission rapporteur Hannes Swoboda said that Rehn’s mediation proposal leant more towards the Slovenian side. “In that situation I’m 100 percent on Croatia’s side. You cannot have mediation without a legal framework before an inter-state court,” Swoboda told Croatian web portal Javno, adding that the mediators would not be completely objective as a result. He said that Croatia’s stance had not been sufficiently respected in the mediation proposal, and that the situation could lead to a postponement of Croatia’s EU integration, with talks unable to end until late 2010 possibly. If this were to occur, Croatia would not be able to become an EU member state until 2012. Borut Pahor (FoNet, archive)

Mixed views on EC mediation

“The European Commission proposal for mediation is fundamentally acceptable and we expect the Croatian government to make the same decision next week,” Pahor said, adding that this would enable talks to begin about the elements of the mediation, so that it could start as soon as possible.

Pahor said that the Slovenian goal was to have the mediation lead to a proposal for determining land and sea borders with Croatia.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said in Brussels on Tuesday that he expected Croatia to accept the mediation soon as well.

“I expect this to be a constructive and positive answer, without added, impossible, conditions,” Rehn said, adding that he was concerned that Croatia would not be able to complete its EU negotiations within the established time frame if it did not accept his invitation.

Croatia is more skeptical about the mediation, which it will have a hard time rejecting, but it will try to elicit a specific legal framework from the mediator for presenting the case before some kind of international court, which would resolve the border issue in line with international law.

While Croatia wants to go to court, Slovenia would rather not.

European Commission rapporteur Hannes Swoboda said that Rehn’s mediation proposal leant more towards the Slovenian side.

“In that situation I’m 100 percent on Croatia’s side. You cannot have mediation without a legal framework before an inter-state court,” Swoboda told Croatian web portal Javno, adding that the mediators would not be completely objective as a result.

He said that Croatia’s stance had not been sufficiently respected in the mediation proposal, and that the situation could lead to a postponement of Croatia’s EU integration, with talks unable to end until late 2010 possibly.

If this were to occur, Croatia would not be able to become an EU member state until 2012.