Friendship but also divergence as Croatian president visits Slovenia

The presidents of Slovenia and Croatia praised the countries' bilateral relationship but also offered differing views in particular on the war in Ukraine as Nataša Pirc Musar hosted Zoran Milanović on his first official trip abroad since he was recently sworn in for his second term in office, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

The two neighbours maintain regular political dialogue and have frequent contacts at the top level, as well as strong trade and investment, while Slovenians are the second largest group of foreign visitors to Croatia. The countries disagree on issues such as the border, discussions on which they have decided to put on hold.

Visiting Slovenia with his spouse, Milanović met Slovenia's most senior officials, Pirc Musar as well as Prime Minister Robert Golob and National Assembly President Urška Klakočar Zupančič.

Addressing reporters alongside Pirc Musar, he said their discussions focused on bilateral relations and the situation in Europe, which he said was not good, arguing that Europe had itself to blame because of its inaction.

Divergence over peacekeepers in Ukraine

Milanović, known for his strong views, is a vocal opponent of Croatia's participation in NATO's military assistance to Ukraine, arguing it could lead to the deployment of Croatian troops in Ukraine and a threat to national security.

Unlike Pirc Musar, he is not in favour of the potential deployment of a European peacekeeping force in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire. He said European countries did not have enough troops to monitor the implementation of a peace deal.

"There's not that number, the British army currently has 70,000 troops. Unfortunately, these are safari armies, that's the reality," he said.

By contrast, Pirc Musar pointed out that any ceasefire would result in the arrival of a peacekeeping force, which should come to Ukraine under the mandate of the United Nations.

She said such an engagement would require the backing of all 193 UN member states. She finds it premature to talk about the number of troops required though.

In Milanović's view, Europe has acted in a confused way since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine and he believes the solution to end the war lies in a deal between Washington and Moscow, in which the EU will not have a major say.

"No one is going to ask the EU anything," he said, adding that the war in Ukraine "is a war of Russia and the US through Ukraine". He also said that no one would ask Ukraine anything, pointing to the yet unsigned rare minerals deal between the US and Ukraine. The bulk of the Ukrainian territory where the minerals are located is currently controlled by Russian forces, he said.

Meanwhile, Pirc Musar insists that Ukraine and the EU must have a say on peace in Ukraine. "Negotiations on peace in Ukraine should not take place without Ukraine or the EU. It is not right to discuss peace on European soil without the EU. No peace agreement can be signed without Ukraine," she said.

"Slovenia does not want the aggressor to be rewarded and the victim punished in these negotiations," she said, pointing out that starting a war in itself is a violation of international law.

She sees unity as the key to security in Europe, saying that without unity not even armament will help. "All the weapons in the world will do us no good if the EU is not united when it comes to its security and foreign policy."

Countries agree they disagree on border arbitration

The Ukraine issue aside, the two leaders announced that the countries would resume the renovation of bridges on their shared border, a vital issue for the closely interlinked border communities.

According to Pirc Musar, the wording of the agreement on the renovation of 20 bridges has been agreed. "We expect this agreement to be signed by the end of the year, so that the bridges will be restored, making life on both sides easier," she said.

They also touched on the border arbitration award in which an arbitration tribunal determined the border between the countries in 2017, delineating the sea border for the first time.

While Slovenia considers the decision final and has been enforcing it, Croatia refuses to recognize it, having withdrawn from the arbitration process after a Croatian newspaper published in 2015 a recording of phone conversations between a Slovenian member of the arbitration tribunal and a Slovenian agent in the case discussing details of the tribunal's confidential deliberations.

The pair stepped down and the tribunal decided to resume its work, arguing that while Slovenia had violated the arbitration agreement, the nature of the violation had not been such as to justify Croatia's withdrawal or prevent the tribunal from delivering the award.

Milanović said the problem was not the content of the tribunal's decision, with which both parties agreed, but the procedure, the way they arrived at the solution.

He argued open issues between Slovenia and Croatia should not damage relations, while Pirc Musar stressed the importance of dialogue and cooperation between the two countries, including on contentious issues.