Slovenia Lifts Block on Croatia EU Bid

Slovenia PM Borut Pahor said the government would immediately propose to parliament that "Slovenia removes restraints for Croatia's EU negotiating process". Photo by 24ur.com

Slovenia says it is ready to lift its block on Croatia's bid to join the European Union.

The announcement came after talks between Prime Minister Borut Pahor and his Croat counterpart Jadranka Kosor, the BBC reported.

They also said they had agreed that a continuing 18-year-old border dispute would not prejudice Croatia's accession talks with the EU.

Slovenia had blocked Croatia's EU negotiations since December because of the border dispute.

Pahor said the government would immediately propose to parliament that "Slovenia removes restraints for Croatia's EU negotiating process".

Kosor said she had faxed a letter to the Swedish EU presidency saying they had "reached an agreement on the continuation of talks with the EU and continuation of the border talks".

"No document can be prejudicial to the final border solution," Kosor added.

Croatia had hoped to complete accession talks with the EU this year, and become the 28th member of the bloc by 2010 or 2011.