Croatia cries foul as Slovenia blocks its EU talks

(ZAGREB) - Croatia accused Slovenia on Thursday of creating a problem for the European Union by blocking its EU accession talks over a deepening sea border row, and renewed a call for Ljubljana to back down.

"This is not our problem any more, this is Brussels' problem. Ljubljana is Brussels' problem, not one for Zagreb," Croatian President Stipe Mesic said in a statement to national television.

Sources at the French presidency of the Union in Brussels, meanwhile, said Thursday that due to Slovenia's move, the bloc had allowed Croatia only a small further step towards membership.

The presidency had hoped to be able to open on Friday 10 of the 35 policy chapters which all candidate nations must successfully negotiate prior to membership. In fact, the bloc allowed Croatia only one -- on public procurement.

That came a day after Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor announced his government would veto some talks due to the long-standing border dispute between the two former Yugoslav republics, prompting Zagreb to react angrily.

Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader reissued an appeal on Thursday for Ljubljana to reconsider its decision.

"We expect Slovenia to change its decision," Sanader said.

Slovenia had cautioned Croatia not to present documents to Brussels that included maps and references to their disputed common sea and land border, before the next stage of its membership bid.

To avoid blocking Croatia's accession, Ljubljana proposed that Zagreb guarantee that none of the documents presented during the accession talks would prejudge a solution of the border dispute.

It also sought to prevent documents being used in any future international arbitration or talks on the issue, but Sanader said Thursday that was "unacceptable."

"We do not want to prejudge the border. For us it is unacceptable that documents cannot be brought before an international judicial body," Sanader said.

"We want a fair and correct approach," said the Croatian prime minister, adding he would write to his EU counterparts regarding the situation.

Croatia and Slovenia, two neighbouring former Yugoslav republics, have been in dispute over their shared land and sea borders since their independence in 1991.

So far, Zagreb has opened 21 of the mandatory 35 policy negotiating chapters since it opened talks to join the bloc in 2005. It hopes to become the bloc's 28th member by 2011.

Nevertheless, with the opening of one more chapter, which will officially happen on Friday, Croatia has now begun talks on 22 of the 35 policy chapters, compared with 10 for Turkey, the only other EU candidate nation.

However the bilateral row with Slovenia threatens to unravel the "road map" foreseen by the European Commission under which the technical talks would be completed by the end of next year.

In Brussels, commission spokeswoman Krisztina Nagy voiced regret over Slovenia's veto stressing the French presidency had deployed "substantial efforts to find a solution to problems raised by Slovenia."

Meanwhile, Sanader pledged his government would do its utmost to ensure Slovenia does not hamper Croatia's bid to become the bloc's 28th member by 2011.

"Such a Slovenian blockade will not slow down our reforms and our efforts to finish the job in order to conclude the talks by the end of 2009," he said.

The EU ambassadors also agreed Thursday to close three chapters, the signal that negotiations in those policy areas have been successfully completed with the candidate nation's laws in conformity with European legislation.