Slovenian opposition parties last week collected a sufficient number of signatures to request an extraordinary parliamentary session on the agreement.

Prime Minister Borut Pahor denied today Opposition claims that his government had agreed a Croatian statement, following the Croatian-Slovenian border arbitration agreement, which said that the agreement did not foresee Croatia's consent to Slovenia being granted territorial access to the high seas.

The border will be defined in the arbitration process, Pahor said, adding that the arbitration agreement guarantees Slovenia a junction to international waters,

In the ongoing referendum campaign, the government is advocating the final confirmation of the arbitration agreement so that it could become valid, while the opposition claims that international arbitration in the border dispute with Croatia is bad for Slovenia's interests and should therefore be rejected at the June 6 referendum.

The Croatian-Slovenian border arbitration agreement was signed by the two countries' prime ministers, Jadranka Kosor and Borut Pahor, in Stockholm on 4 November 2009.

The debate on the agreement on international arbitration in the Croatian-Slovenian border dispute is expected to last around ten hours.