Slovenian leaders react to European Commission's decision

Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar said today that his government will on Thursday make a decision on whether to file a lawsuit before the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg for breaking the law by refusing to implement the arbitration border ruling.

“In this case, unfortunately, politics won over the law,” Cerar said.

Cerar said the ruling coalition was on the same page and would notify the leaders of all parliamentary parties on the lawsuit.

“European Commission’s dead silence is very concerning, because the Commission isn’t performing its duty and upholding treaties,” Cerar added.

Slovenian president Borut Pahor reacted to the EC’s decision as well.

“I understand that the European Commission has the option, not a duty, to give its stance, in line with Article 259 of the EU Treaty. I respect that. However, the EC has missed an opportunity to legally and politically increase efforts for implementation of the Arbitration Court’s decision on the Slovenia-Croatia border. The court made its decision based on the agreement between Croatia and Slovenia, to which the European Commission significantly contributed,” Pahor said.

He added that the EC’s stance could have made the implementation of the court ruling more successful, which could have been useful for solving bilateral issues between countries in Southeast Europe and honouring obligations and agreements.

“The European Commission failed to fulfil the expectation that it would side with European and international law and clearly signal that the agreements and court rulings should be respected. In spite of that, I am convinced that, sooner or later, the border between the neighbouring countries would be defined in line with the decision of the Arbitration Court,” Pahor said.

The three-month deadline for the European Commission (EC) to issue its stance on Slovenia's announcement that it would sue Croatia at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) expired today.

In its decision, the EC refused to take a stance on the matter, and opted to remain a neutral observer and a mediator.