ZAGREB, CROATIA – Bilateral issues should not be an obstacle for some countries to enter the European Union. The solution to the Croatian-Slovene border issue should be legal, in accordance with the Bled Agreement a year and a half ago, Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said in Strasbourg on Tuesday. 

- Unfortunately, Slovenia is blocking 11 chapters, but we hope we can solve that problem which should not be mixed with the European agenda. This is unprecedented and the issue of the border line should be solved by legal means as we agreed on Bled a year and a half ago – Prime Minister Sanader said after talks with the president of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering.

The best would be a political solution that has a strong legal foundation. I understand that it is Prime Minister Ivo Sanader’s viewpoint is that a legal solution is the best. In principle, that is the best solution, but if both sides do not accept it, my recommendation is to continue with political talks and, as we see it, a legal solution should be the result of those political talks, Poettering said.