Croatian and Slovenian presidents pledged on Wednesday to advance relations at all levels between the two neighboring countries despite outstanding issues, said reports reaching here from the Croatian capital Zagreb.
"I believe that we should focus on our broader, long-term interests and build in line with that an atmosphere of trust and cooperation," Croatian President Stjepan Mesic told reporters after talks with his Slovene counterpart Danilo Tuerk.
"That way, we will create a context to facilitate our efforts to start dealing with outstanding issues," Mesic was quoted as saying by the Croatian news agency HINA.
Slovenia and Croatia, which are geographic neighbors and former Yugoslav republics, have not been able to completely draw their land and sea borders since their independence in 1991.
Besides the border issue, other unsettled problems include the Krsko nuclear power plant, which is in southeastern Slovenia but was built by both countries, and the issue relating to the savings accounts of Croatians in the now-liquidated Ljubljanska banka of Slovenia.
Tuerk arrived in Zagreb earlier on Wednesday at the invitation of Mesic for his first official visit to Croatia since he assumed the post last December.
Both Mesic and Tuerk agreed that outstanding issues should be solved patiently and responsibly, and with the help of a third party if necessary.
Tuerk underlined the very good cooperation between the two countries, noting that there was great potential for advancing it.
"For that potential to be realized, it is necessary to underline certain principles that will guide us in the future," Tuerk said, citing mutual respect, mutual trust and cooperation.
Tuerk said he had not brought any a new diplomatic initiative about the border dispute as this would be up to the new Slovenian government to consider.
He said that the two sides should stick to the rule "uti possidetis juris," a principle stating that newly formed states should have the same borders that they had before their independence.
Croatia's EU accession has been stirring dust in Slovenian-Croatian relations, since Croatia failed to launch talks with the bloc in the beginning of November on four policy areas as a result of the unsolved border issue between Slovenia and Croatia.
Since Croatia began negotiations on joining the European Union in October 2005, it has opened 21 chapters, of which four are now closed. Technical negotiations on all 35 chapters are expected to be wrapped up by the end of 2009.
Tuerk, who was accompanied by Slovenian Foreign Minister Samuel Zbogar on his first official Croatia trip, also met Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader and Croatian Parliament Speaker Luka Bebic.
Source:Xinhua
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