Brussels, 28/05/2009 (Agence Europe) - The trilateral meeting on 27 May between Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn and the Slovenian and Croatian foreign ministers (EUROPE 9908) did not allow talks on Croatia's membership to the EU to be brought out of deadlock. Both sides formally responded to Mr Rehn's offer of 22 April aimed at resolving the border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia through international arbitration. Croatia accepts the proposal but Slovenia calls for amendments that Zagreb considers unacceptable. Olli Rehn will report on the “presidential trio” (France, Czech Republic and Sweden) during a meeting scheduled to be held “somewhere, in early June”, a spokesman for the Czech Presidency said on Thursday. At this stage, the presidency still hopes to be able to break the stalemate in Croatia's accession talks. The date of 26 June for the next ministerial meeting on accession talks with Croatia is at any rate maintained, the spokesman stressed.
In the meantime, the European People's Party (EPP) has severely criticised the Slovenian government headed by Social Democrat Borut Pahor. The fact that Ljubljana is blocking Croatia's membership negotiations is “terrible” and bears witness to a “mentality” that is unworthy of a member state, EPP President Wilfried Martens said during a seminar in Brussels on 27 May (see related item). “How can we develop a future for the Balkan region with such an attitude of the past?”, he asked.