Auf gute Nachbarschaft! – Über die slowenische Blockade der EU-Beitrittsverhandlungen mit Kroatien
Hoping to Be Good Neighbours! – The Slovenian Blockade of EU Accession Talks with Croatia

Summary/Abstract: The Croatian government has proclaimed membership in the EU as its primary goal in foreign policy and is aiming to conclude technical negotiations by the end of 2009 and become a full member of the EU by 2011 at the latest. However, despite some progress in the reform progress, Slovenia’s veto could jeopardize Croatia’s roadmap to EU membership. Since December 2008 Ljubljana has been blocking several stages of Croatia’s EU accession negotiations, because of a long-standing border dispute with the southern neighbour. The two former Yugoslav republics have been unable to agree on a sliver of land and the Adriatic Sea border since they jointly proclaimed independence in 1991. Currently Slovenia attempts to cash in its EU membership by solving the dispute, which centres on Slovenia’s access to international waters, while Zagreb requests a solution according to the rules of international law and insists that the border dispute remains a bilateral issue and that its resolution is not a prerequisite for EU membership. The next few months will be crucial for Croatia’s way towards EU membership as well as for the future relationship between the two neighbours.

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