EU hopes Croatia, Slovenia find solution to border dispute

The European Union (EU) hoped Croatia and Slovenia would find a solution to their border dispute, Donald Tusk, president of the European Council said in Zagreb on Tuesday.

At a news conference after meeting with Croatian President, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, Tusk said EU encouraged the two countries to find a consensus on the dispute, especially to find an effective procedure.

The cooperation between both countries was particularly important in the current situation when Europe faced problems such as an unprecedented migrant and refugee crisis, said Tusk, who was on an official visit to Croatia.

Grabar-Kitarovic reiterated Croatia's position that the arbitration process had been "irreversibly compromised" as the parliament had made a decision to exit the arbitration.

However, she said they would overcome the difficulty and eventually agree on the way of dealing with the issue.

"We would do all we could to remain the cooperation between two countries despite the border dispute," she added.

In July, Croatia decided to quit arbitration process on the disputed sea border with Slovenia in the Adriatic after a revealed phone conversation showed Slovenia was trying to lobby judges of Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

In 2009, the two countries signed an arbitration agreement, agreeing to resolve their territorial dispute before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

Croatia and Slovenia started a case before the court in June 2014.

Source: XINHUA