Slovenian Foreign Minister Anze Logar said during a visit to Zagreb on Friday that his country had concerns about the plans by Croatia and Italy to declare their respective exclusive economic zones in the Adriatic and that they should be addressed through trilateral dialogue.

The Croatian parliament is set to declare an exclusive economic zone on 29 January, which would enter into force on 1 February. Fearing that Slovenia might be left without access to high seas, some Slovenian politicians are criticising the government for not opposing the plan until Zagreb agrees to the arbitration ruling on the border between the two countries.

Addressing a joint press conference with his host, Croatian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlic-Radman, Logar said that Slovenia wanted to identify key issues with Croatia and Italy and seek the right answers in dialogue with the two neighbours.

Croatian FM: Cooperation will boost economic ties

Grlic-Radman said that the trilateral cooperation mechanism would improve the protection of the northern Adriatic and strengthen economic ties between the three countries. As for the border issue, he said he expected the long-running dispute to be settled by the present governments in Ljubljana and Zagreb.

“I am confident that the governments of Janez Jansa and Andrej Plenkovic have enough political maturity and mutual respect to resolve all the issues during their present term in office,” Grlic-Radman said.

Logar reiterated that the Slovenian government insisted on the arbitration ruling. “We didn’t break a single glass or plate. … We will probably have to work on this issue for some time to come,” said Logar, the first Slovenian minister to visit Zagreb after nine years.

Grlic-Radman thanked Slovenia for supporting Croatia’s ambition to join the Schengen area, requesting support for Zagreb’s proposal that Schengen information systems be installed on the Croatian border as the external border of the Union.

As for Croatia’s bid to join the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which Slovenia opposes because of the border dispute, Grlic-Radman said he had presented Logar with the advantages of Croatia’s membership to this organisation.