MESIC AND KUCAN MEET AT BRDO PRI KRANJU
At the 9th Meeting of Presidents of Central European States

Brdo, 1 June 2002


President Kucan met with Croatian President Stipe Mesic on the sidelines of the Meeting of Presidents of Central European States. The Presidents discussed the outcome of the Central European summit meeting and the current state of affairs in bilateral relations. They agreed that it was not good that the countries have been stating for the past ten years that bilateral problems are solvable yet these problems nevertheless still remain unsolved. According to Kucan this is not a good bill of credibility for the two countries, which is why both Zagreb and Ljubljana should seriously consider the significance of this situation.

As President Mesic said to the press following the meeting, the two countries should again get around the table and seek out the issue that can be solved first. Kucan also believes that at least one issue should be resolved if there is no other way. He points out, however, that "his position is not to start solving the problems from anew". As he put it, "we should begin from where we are now and agree on the issues that are solvable, otherwise everything is made relative all the time".

"The border in the Bay of Piran had been agreed between the two governments, the agreement had been initialled, but suddenly it has become relative, it is not there. This cannot be, we cannot arrive at a solution for each problem and then have that solution disappear. That is the worst approach," Kucan pointed out. An agreement has been made, we need to let time run its course, and some day the problem will be solved on the basis of what was agreed between the two governments, the President stated decidedly. Kucan also underlined that these problems cannot be solved "through the media, using half-truths or wrong interpretations, which only add to the weight of these already tough problems".