The Republic of Croatia will not block any country on its way to the European Union (EU), but will consistently insist on meeting all criteria. This is the answer the RTCG Portal received from the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Croatia on the question if they will block Montenegro due to the dispute over the training ship Jadran.
Commenting on the dispute over the Jadran, the Croatian ministry said it was part of "still unresolved issues related to the succession of military assets of the Republic of Croatia and Montenegro".
Asked whether the dispute over the Jadran could affect the good neighborly relations between the two countries and whether Croatia could block Montenegro on its way to the EU, they answered:
"The Republic of Croatia supports Montenegro and its path towards the EU as it did in terms of their membership in NATO. Thanks to this, two countries are today allies in NATO. The Republic of Croatia will not block anyone on the road to the EU, just the opposite, but will consistently insist on fulfilling all the criteria."
Talking about whether there will be activities to resolve the demarcation issue at Prevlaka, the Croatian ministry said that "there is only the question of establishing the land and sea border and the question of demarcation between the Republic of Croatia and Montenegro".
"The provisional regime of land and sea boundaries, established by the Protocol on the Southern Border between the Republic of Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 2002, is in effect and is in force. Although the two countries have not yet agreed on how to permanently solve the border issue, we believe that dialogue needs to come to a border agreement," the official Zagreb said.
They recall that the Government of the Republic of Croatia has appointed a new composition of the Border Commission, about what the Montenegrin side has been informed.
"This has created preconditions on the Croatian side to continue working on this issue," the ministry said.
They emphasized that when it comes to border issues, the Republic of Croatia encourages all EU membership candidates "to engage more and more, primarily bilaterally, to find solutions in accordance with international law".
