Croatia and Slovenia agree to start border arbitration talks

Croatia and Slovenia have agreed on the members of the arbitration panel tasked with settling their border dispute, and the panel’s work is set to begin.

The court’s president will be Gilbert Guillaume of France, while the other two members will be Bruno Simma of Germany and Vaughan Lowe of Great Britain, Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic and Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic announced in Zagreb on Tuesday.

“It is very encouraging that we managed to reach an agreement so quickly on such a delicate issue,” Milanovic told reporters, adding that intensive diplomatic consultations had been held prior to the agreement.

The European panel members selected by Zagreb and Ljubljana were part of a list of possible judges provided by the European Commission, while the two countries also each put forward a judge to stand on the five-member panel. Croatia appointed Budislav Vukas, and Slovenia Jernej Sekolec.

“Bilateral talks have proven to be important and this government will continue to nurture such talks. Croatia and Slovenia have made the first important step in the establishment of international arbitration,” Pusic said.

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