The two countries were involved in a border conflict, which dates back to 1991, when they parted from the territory of former Yugoslavia. The dispute circled around the Piran Bay, situated in Adriatic Sea. Croatia, known for its beautiful resorts, wanted its border to be recognized as extending to the middle of the bay. But Slovenia rejected the request as it owns a shorter part of the coast and feared that the move would constrain its ships’ access to the open sea.
Earlier this month, prime ministers of Croatia and Slovenia agreed to have private talks on the border dispute and that it should not interfere with Croatia’s wish to enter the Union.
In a statement quoted by BBC, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt noted that this was a critical day for Croatia's ambition to join the community. Currently Sweden presides over the EU. He also confirmed that Croatia has achieved agreement on five policy chapters and is opening another six.
If the negotiations between the EU and Croatia come to a successful end, the country will become the 28th full-right member of the European family, hopefully by 2011.
Till then, the country has to cope with serious challenges like corruption, administrative and judicial systems efficiency, as well as the relations with The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
Seven Countries in the Queue
Currently there are seven countries, applying to form the next wave of enlargement of the EU: Croatia, Turkey, Albania, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Macedonia (FYROM), Montenegro and Iceland.
Currently Turkey is in an uncomfortable position because of the failure to resolve the conflict with Greece over Cyprus.
Albania is expected to finish entry negotiations by 2015 at the earliest. The same holds for Bosnia-Herzegovina, a former part of Yugoslavian federation.
Macedonia has objective hindrances to access the EU because of a dispute over its name with Greece – there is a Greek territory called Macedonia, and Greece opposes a country with the same name. In 2008, resolving the name dispute was set as a precondition for the entry into the EU.
Sweden and Malta announced that the application of Iceland will be prioritized, although the latest poll in the country showed the majority of the population is against EU membership.
