Slovenia warns might delay Croatia's EU entry over bank row

(LJUBLJANA) - Slovenia might still block Croatia's accession to the European Union, planned for July 2013, if a long-standing dispute over bank savings is not quickly resolved, Slovenia's foreign minister warned Friday.

"It is a possibility if Croatia does not meet its commitments," Foreign Minister Karel Erjavec told journalists, when asked whether Slovenia might delay Croatia's entry into the bloc.

He added the parliamentary foreign affairs committee had told him that "before discussing the ratification of Croatia's EU accession agreement they want this thing (the bank dispute) solved."

Croatia signed the EU accession treaty in 2011 and hopes to become the bloc's 28th member in July 2013.

But Slovenia has repeatedly warned it will not ratify the text unless Zagreb agrees to resolve a decades-old row over Croatian savings in Slovenia's Ljubljanska Banka (LB) before the former Yugoslavia collapsed in the 1990s.

The two neighbours disagree over money that needs to be repaid and whether to resolve the dispute bilaterally or as part of ongoing internationally brokered talks on the distribution of the former Yugoslavia's wealth.

Last month, Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic said the two countries were close to resolving their row.

"Experts have agreed on a proposal for a compromise solution that has to be presented to their governments. I believe that on the basis of that agreement we could resolve this problem," she said.

Ejavec was less optimistic about a deal being reached soon, saying an agreement might not be reached until the end of 2013.

"If they do it before, that would be even better," he said.

Croatia needs all 27 EU members to ratify its accession treaty.