The Slovenian parliament on Thursday passed legislation which deems claims involving the transferred savings of Croatian nationals who had accounts in the now-defunct Ljubljanska Banka part of the issues stemming from the succession of the former Yugoslavia.

The new legislation is in line with the long-held Slovenian stance on the issue, and the reason why Ljubljana does not recognise rulings of Croatian courts in those cases.

The law on the protection of the state capital investment in Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB) – the modern-day successor of the old Ljubljanska Banka – was passed with 59 to 11 votes in the 90-seat parliament.

According to the Slovenian state news agency STA, the passed bill is intended to protect the NLB bank from claims in Croatia, and will pave the way for the privatisation of the country’s largest bank.

The majority of Slovenian lawmakers believe that the new legislation would enable faster privatisation of NLB, and may help the bank achieve a higher estimated value on the market, without the burden of possible damages stemming from lawsuits before Croatian courts.

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