Slovenian PM: EU enlargement at risk if Croatia border ruling ignored

Tribunal grants Slovenia access to international waters but Zagreb says the arbitration process was compromised.

Slovenia urged the European Commission to press Croatia to respect a ruling on the countries’ common border, cautioning that failure to resolve the case would put further EU enlargement at risk.

An international tribunal in The Hague issued a ruling Thursday on the precise location of the long-disputed land and sea border between the two countries. The boundary defined by the ruling gives Slovenia access to international waters — something the Slovenian government has long sought. But Croatia had declared in advance that it would not accept the decision, saying that unauthorized contact between a Slovenian judge on the tribunal and a Slovenian official had compromised the arbitration process. The decision “does not in any way bind Croatia and Croatia shall not implement it,” Zagreb said in a statement.

The two countries, which both emerged from the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, agreed to the process in a 2009 deal brokered by then-European Commissioner Olli Rehn that lifted a Slovenian veto on Croatian membership of the EU.

“No party in this process, neither Croatia nor Slovenia, will be fully satisfied but for us, it is important that both parties respect international law and the agreement,” Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar told POLITICO in a telephone interview ahead of the tribunal’s ruling.

As the deal to resolve the dispute via a tribunal was brokered by the Commission, “the EU has its part in this agreement,” Cerar said. He called on the Commission to restate that both countries should respect the tribunal’s decision.

Cerar said the case had broader implications. He said it would be difficult for other Balkan countries to join the EU if there was not a reliable way for them to resolve outstanding disagreements over borders and territory. The arbitration process was meant to be “an example for the future approach on how to resolve a dispute between the countries in the broader region,” Cerar said.

EU candidate countries Serbia and Montenegro are among the Balkan nations that still have outstanding disputes over boundaries and territory with their neighbors.

“If we do not show that we are able to solve our disputes in a legal way … it would not just undermine the trust between the two countries, Croatia and Slovenia, but also confidence in the EU because if it’s not capable of solving such issues according to the rule of law, then it will not be capable of solving other problems,” he said.

The arbitration process was thrown into disarray in July 2015, when newspapers published transcripts of two phone calls reportedly involving Slovenia’s tribunal member, Jernej Sekolec, and a Slovenian official, Simona Drenik. In a letter sent a few days later to the tribunal, Croatia complained that Sekolec “disclosed critical elements” of the tribunal’s deliberations.

Outraged, Croatia withdrew from the arbitration process. Slovenia distanced itself from the actions of Sekolec and Drenik, who stepped down, and the process was revamped so that neither country had a judge on the panel. But Zagreb maintained that it would not accept the tribunal’s decision.

“The decision was taken by five fully independent judges because there is no Slovenian or Croatian arbiter in the court anymore,” Cerar said. “If we don’t respect the rule of law the EU has no future, I am sure about that.”

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