Croatia–Slovenia border disputes

BELGRADE - Earlier this month, the Croatian Embassy in Slovenia sent leading Slovenian officials — including officials in the offices of the prime minister and the president — boxes of chocolates with labels reading "Greetings from Croatia."

But the Christmas gift wasn't appreciated.

Serbia will continue to be a good neighbor to Croatia, despite the fact that country refuses give its consent to EU's opening of chapter 23.

Along the EU path, the Serbian administration has been well-prepared for the screening process, says Slovenian official Andrej Engelman.

Bilateral issues and disputes should not be linked to a state's EU membership, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Wednesday,

He in this way commented on Croatia's decision to obstruct the opening of Serbia's EU entry negotiations on Chapter 23.

The European Commission and EU countries "plan to intensify their pressure on Croatia" to give up on the conditions it set for Serbia to open chapter 23.

This has been reported by Croatian daily Vecernji List on Monday. The paper cited unnamed sources in Brussels "with knowledge of the debate on Croatia's blockade."

Representatives of Croatia and Slovenia will meet again at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, PCA, in The Hague on Thursday to try and resolve their issues over maritime borders in the Piran Gulf, off the two neighbouring countries' coasts - a dispute that dates back to the break-up of Yugoslavia.

With all 141 MPs present, the Croatian parliament voted against the arbitration agreement with Slovenia at a special session on Wednesday, unanimously backing the stance of the country's government.

Croatian legal experts argued on Tuesday that Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic would be able to go through with his decision to suspend the international arbitration process with Slovenia over the contested Piran Gulf off the two neighbouring countries' coasts.

Croatia is withdrawing from the arbitration agreement on the Piran Bay, Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic has announced.

Milanovic told an extraordinary press conference on Monday that arbitration proceedings had been "contaminated."

Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic scheduled a meeting for Monday with the heads of all 13 parliamentary groups to update them after Zagreb said last week that it may pull out of international arbitration with Slovenia over the Piran Gulf following revelations of secret conversations between a judge and the Slovene representative.