Croatia's accession to the European Union will result in even bigger economic cooperation with Slovenia, Slovenian Foreign Minister Samuel Zbogar told Ljubljana's Dnevnik daily of Friday.
"I notice a lot of satisfaction among our business people who expect a further strengthening of economic cooperation since with Croatia's EU accession, administrative obstacles to business will disappear," Zbogar was quoted as saying.
He assessed the border arbitration agreement which changed the atmosphere in the relations with Croatia and made it possible to lift the blockade of its accession negotiations with the EU as a big success of Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor's coalition government.
Economic relations with Croatia are already very developed and after Croatia's EU accession the cooperation will be augmented, Zbogar said, adding the negotiation process had a positive effect on Ljubljana-Zagreb relations.
"During the negotiations, Croatia aligned with the European Union's standards and aquis communautaire, which made it easier for us to solve some issues during that process. The negotiations with the EU change a state and represent a spiral that accelerates its transition. That's a big added value of that process. The Croatia that will complete the negotiations at the end of the month is completely different from the Croatia that began the negotiations."
Zbogar said he believed the period in which relations with Croatia were tense and deteriorating because of unsolved issues was definitely over and that the ratification of Croatia's EU accession treaty in the Slovenian parliament would confirm that.
"Our relations are unburdened now and the atmosphere is good. An important moment of truth will be when Croatia's accession treaty comes before the Slovenian parliament, which will most likely happen next year. That will probably be the last time we ask ourselves how much relations with Croatia mean to us, how far we have come in their development and if we see the arbitration agreement as the solution," Zbogar was quoted as saying.
He explained that the Slovenian parliament would have to ratify Croatia's EU accession treaty with a two-thirds majority, which means that it will require also the support of those MPs who were against it at last year's referendum.
