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Zagreb and Ljubljana bury the hatchet

Reconciliation between Slovenia and Croatia

The Slovenian yes in the referendum paves the way for resolution of territorial disputes between the two countries around the Gulf of Piran by an arbitral tribunal. Croatia can now expect to quickly wrap its negotiations for accession to the EU

SLOVENIA and Croatia took a major step towards resolution of a territorial dispute which last year poisoned relations within the European Union invited to ratify by referendum a bilateral negotiated compromise last year, 51.9% of Slovenian voters agreed Sunday to submit the question of the exact location of their land and maritime boundary with Croatia in an international court of arbitration.

After three years of acrimonious exchanges, the two capitals had finally bury the hatchet in the fall of 2009. The dispute was over the Gulf of Piran, tiny spit of land perched on the Adriatic. With just 47 km of coastline, Slovenia has always claimed full sovereignty this language Coast, deemed essential to maintain a corridor wide enough to allow its ships to reach the high seas

Since independence in 1991, Croatia claimed it, the equitable sharing of the bay. In 2009, Ljubljana had vetoed the negotiations begun by his neighbor with Brussels, to the dismay of its European partners. Slovenian leaders blamed their Croatian counterparts to have submitted their application to the European Union maps and documents that do not meet the Slovenian position on access to the sea on both countries.

Expedited procedures for accession to the EU

In November 2009, Prime Minister of Slovenia Borut Pahor and his Croatian counterpart Jadranka Posor (pictured below) put on mute their rivalry around Piran, calling for the creation of an international tribunal of arbitration, approved by the parliaments of both countries. But Slovenia, the center-left cabinet of Pahor was facing pressure from the center-right opposition, conceding the holding of a referendum.

If a victory for "no" would have greatly affected the chances of Croatia in early accession to the EU and Slovenia placed in an isolation embarrassing, "yes" removes a Slovenian spine of the foot to the Croatian government, which hopes to quickly wrap these negotiations before the end of the year. Croatia could be expedited as soon as 2012 or 2011, becoming the second Balkan countries after Slovenia in 2004 to join the EU. The arbitration tribunal would meet only after the accession of Croatia became a reality.

Praised by the EU executive as a "model for the western Balkans as a whole" reconciliation Slovenian-Croatian opens up new prospects for membership for Albania, Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo and Macedonia, all potential candidates or reported to the EU.