The border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia has been definitively resolved with the arbitration ruling which will be implemented sooner or later, Slovenian president Borut Pahor said on Friday.

Pahor released a message on the anniversary of the arbitration ruling which determined the land and sea borders between the two countries, reached on June 29, 2017. Croatia does not recognise the ruling and has left the arbitration process in 2015 after a scandal which involved leaked tapes showing Slovenian government official discussing the case with the court’s judge.

“I am convinced that the arbitration court ruling will be implemented in line with the court decision sooner or later,” Pahor said.

“The arbitration court has reached a decision based on the bilateral agreement reached by the two governments, ratified by both parliaments, and confirmed in Slovenia in a referendum. In this way, the two neighbouring countries, Slovenia and Croatia, have peacefully solved the border dispute in a legally binding way. Now, their task is to implement it,” Pahor said.

Croatia is suggesting that the countries resolve the issue through bilateral negotiations, a stance recently supported by the European Commission which decided not to join Slovenia’s side in its announced lawsuit against Croatia, and to remain neutral in the matter.

According to Slovenia’s daily Delo, by interpreting the border dispute as a bilateral issue of two EU member states, the Commission did not take a neutral stance, but supported Croatia’s view, as Ljubljana sees it as an issue of the rule of law.

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