Croatian Deputy Prime Minister for interior, foreign and European policy Neven Mimica said on Saturday he was confident there were more reasons to believe than there were to doubt that Slovenia would ratify Croatia's EU Accession Treaty in time for Croatia to enter the bloc on 1 July 2013.
"We have time, not plenty, but we have time to try to provide arguments for everything relating to the completion of the ratification process in Slovenia. Which means providing arguments - bilaterally or within European frameworks - that Croatia has done practically everything necessary and Slovenia's possible arguments against the ratification do not hold water," Mimica said.
Recalling that another seven countries still needed to ratify the treaty, Mimica said Slovenia had "the firmest and most concrete levers by which it can affect the pace and the process of Croatia's EU Accession Treaty."
In an interview with Croatian Radio, Mimica also commented on public reaction to the government's decision for a pay rise for four state officials, saying it was possible that this topic had not been communicated well with the public.
"This is not a general increase of salaries to state officials or an increase of their number, it is a reduction, but we did not explain it right to the public," Mimica said adding that salaries would go up only for about a dozen officials in health and pension insurance institutes.
His message to the public is that 2013 will be a difficult year.
