Croatia undeterred by Slovenia on EU accession

CROATIA HAS vowed to complete European Union accession talks next year, despite neighbouring Slovenia's decision to block negotiations on a range of issues due to a long-running border dispute.

Croatia hoped to conclude talks on five policy "chapters" and open discussions on 10 others at yesterday's EU meeting in Brussels, but Slovenia objected to Zagreb's use of documents that allegedly pre-judge the outcome of arguments over the ex-Yugoslav republics' frontiers on land and in the Adriatic Sea.

As a result, Slovenia allowed its neighbour to complete negotiations only in three policy areas and start them in one new area.

"This blockade will not slow us down in implementing reforms. We want to complete the job in 2009, this remains our aim," said Croatian prime minister Ivo Sanader. He added he "expected Slovenia to change its decision". "The message to the public is that there's no reason to panic. Croatia will resolve this problem . . . Croatia will join the EU and it's only a matter of days, weeks or months until Slovenia realises that it can't use such blackmail," he said.

Mr Sanader called Slovenia's blocking of so many chapters "unprecedented in the history of accession talks" but insisted he would not be forced into concessions on the border issue. He said Zagreb "won't be buying membership of the EU with our territory. That is our firm stance, and our friends, the Slovenes, should be aware of it."

Slovenian prime minister Borut Pahor said he was willing to meet Mr Sanader for talks as soon as next week. "Ljubljana is interested in Croatia successfully concluding accession talks with the EU and we hope that our reservations will be cleared up during the Czech EU presidency," he said.

Prague takes over the EU presidency in January from France, which made unsuccessful last-ditch efforts to resolve the diplomatic clash between Croatia and Slovenia. Olli Rehn, the EU's enlargement commissioner, urged Croatia to push ahead with reforms, and said it was still "realistic" for Zagreb to finish accession talks in 2009.

"It will depend essentially on Croatia's ability to make reforms, particularly in the judicial sector and the fight against corruption as well as restructuring the shipyards," he added.