Croatian accession still in limbo

Published on 7 June 2010 at 13:07

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The gates to the EU are opening up a crack for Croatia. On 6 June, Slovenians voted by referendum in favour of a new deal between the two countries to resolve their sea border disputes. 51.48% of the voters said yes, according to a tentative tally. But “the problems with Slovenia haven’t been buried and forgotten”, headlines Vecernji list. The Zagreb daily explains that Slovenian expat votes could still overturn the results. More importantly, the opposition has already threatened to block ratification of the agreement to end the deadlock on Croatian EU accession talks: the deal needs a two-thirds parliamentary majority to pass.

“If the agreement is not ratified, that would mean Slovenia is slamming shut the door to the EU in Croatia’s face at the very moment that Croatia is wrapping up the negotiations,” observes Vecernji list. Such a rebuff, remarks another Croatian daily, Novi list, would isolate Slovenian PM Janez Jansa in Europe, unless it coincides with the interests of big countries like Germany, France and Great Britain, which are increasingly wary of further EU enlargement.

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