Croatia says no border arbitration with Slovenia, EU can't interfere

Croatian Foreign Minister Davor Ivo Stier on Thursday refused European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's position on an arbitration of border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia, saying it was as unacceptable.

Stier said that under a Croatian parliament decision, the dispute over the Piran Gulf, off the two neighboring countries' coasts, now was a bilateral issue and Croatia decided to settle it via a bilateral agreement.

The European Commission supported to resolve the border dispute between Croaita and Slovenia through an arbitration in the interest of both sides, Juncker said in an interview with Slovenia's news agency STA on Wednesday before his official visit to Ljubljana.

Juncker said he hoped both sides would respect unconditionally the arbitration ruling when it was delivered.

Juncker'position, Stier said, undermined the European Commission's authority because it was not within the European Commission's jurisdiction to resolve bilateral border disputes.

Croatia has pulled out of the arbitration and this issue must now be solved bilaterally, Stier added.

Croatia and Slovenia started arbitration procedure before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague (PCA) over disputes of sea borders of the Piran gulf in June 2014 under an agreement reached by two countries in 2009.

However, Croatia withdrawn the arbitration in July 2015 after media revealed claimed secret call records between a judge at the PCA and the Slovenian representative in the court about lobbying other judges to influence the outcome of the arbitration in Slovenia's favor.

Croatia is now seeking alternate avenues for resolving the issue, but Slovenia insists on sticking to border arbitration.

Regarding disputes between the two countries on sea borders of Piran gulf, located on the Adriatic Sea, Slovenia claims at last 66 percent or more in the gulf, while Croatia claims 50 percent for itself. Endit