Thursday, November 5, 2009

Swedish EU Presidency - Croatia and Slovenia agreed – EU closer to enlargement

Slovenia, a member of the European Union, and Croatia have been disputing a 20 square kilometre bay for about 5 years now after Slovenia became a member of the EU. Croatia has also applied for the membership but Slovenia chose to veto the appliation which all EU countries have the right to do if they oppose a country's entry into the union. This has been stopping Croatia from being able to join the EU for about a year now and the border issue needed to be resolved between the two countries before Croatia could join the EU. In September 2009, Slovenia PM Borut Pahor announced that the block on Croatia's access has been lifted which was the last inorder to have Croatia join the EU. Both Pahor and Croatian PM Jadranka Kosor signed an agreement with the Swedish PM Fredrik Reinfeldt to reslove the boder issue. This is proof of political courage and leadership on both of the Prime Ministers parts said Reinfeld in Stolkholm on Wednesday. “Today we have not just turned a page, we have opened a whole new book. Prime Minister Pahor and I have developed a close and trusting relationship of a kind that I wish all prime ministers. Now I hope that we will also receive the support of our respective parliaments and that today’s agreement can give new hope to our neighbours in South Eastern Europe”, said Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor. “This is not only a historic day for Croatia, Slovenia and the EU, but for the entire international community. Today we have shown that we solve problems, we do not create them. I hope that this can inspire others to follow our example”, said Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor.

By: Ivana Miljic

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