The Croatian premier Ivo Sanader thanked the joint parliamentary committee of Croatia and the EU for their strong support to Croatia during the last five years. After the last meeting in this mandate, the premier commented the bilateral dispute between Croatia and Slovenia.

“The European Commission report on the progress of Croatian negotiations is very encouraging. The only possible path to the solution of the border dispute is the International Court of Justice in The Hague, who recently solved the border dispute between Romania and the Ukraine” said Sanader.

The premier announced that on Tuesday in Slovenia’s Mokrice, he will seek all of the arguments that led to the blockade from the Slovenian premier Borut Pahor. He once again said that Croatia will not buy their membership in the EU with territory.

“Drobnjak’s team drives at a good speed”

Paul Schmitt, the head of a European Parliament delegation in the joint parliamentary committee of Croatia and the EU, stressed that during the last five years the cooperation between the EU and Croatia has strengthened, more precisely between their parliaments.

Schmitt said that Croatia has made great progress in negotiations, and that Drobnjak’s team is driving at a good speed that will result in opening and closing all chapters.

He considers the bilateral dispute with Slovenia to be a very sensitive problem and stresses that one member of the EU poisoned the excellent progress of Croatian negotiations towards the EU.

Schmitt also mentioned that no country has ever blocked another country from entering NATO. He concluded by saying it is especially surprising because a country that has good neighbourly relations with Slovenia is in question.