The Croatian government is prepared to withdraw power of attorney it gave to Croatian banks for the lawsuit against the Ljubljanska Banka if an alternative solution to this long-standing dispute is found before that, a spokeswoman for the Foreign and European Affairs Ministry said on Wednesday commenting on the latest announcements from Ljubljana that the Slovenian parliament could ratify Croatia's EU accession treaty by early March on condition that lawsuits are withdrawn.
"As (foreign) Minister Vesna Pusic has said on several occasions, we are prepared to withdraw power of attorney if we find an alternative solution," spokeswoman Danijela Barisic told the press.
Slovenian Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec said earlier today it was possible that Slovenia would ratify Croatia's EU accession treaty by early March provided that the lawsuits against Ljubljanska Banka in Croatia were dropped.
"Solution first and then dropping the lawsuits," Barisic told the media, reiterating Zagreb's position that the Ljubljanska Banka dispute was a bilateral issue which should be separated from the ratification of Croatia's EU accession treaty.
Croatia's accession treaty has so far been ratified by 21 EU member states, with Slovenia, Germany, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands yet to do so. Britain's House of Lord has recently ratified the document. In order for the ratification process to be formally completed in Great Britain, the document must be signed by Queen Elisabeth.
All the remaining members with the exception of Slovenia have started the process.
Minister Pusic said in parliament today that Croatia had put forward five proposals regarding resolution of the Ljubljanska Banka issue, noting that "we have a realistically good chance to settle this issue relatively quickly."
