Pahor does not want cooling of relations, plans meeting with Kolinda

Slovenian President Borut Pahor expects to meet with Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović in Alpbach, Austria, where the traditional, already 70th Forum Alpbach will be held on the 30th of this month, the office of the Slovenian president confirmed on Thursday, reports the news agency Patria.

That both will accept the invitation to participate in the forum, which expects around 4,500 participants, the Croatian president and the Slovenian president confirmed to their Austrian counterpart Heinz Fischer during their trilateral meeting in Slovenia at the beginning of the year.

Pahor said on Wednesday for the Slovenian Press Agency STA that Slovenia still supports the position that the work of the arbitral tribunal should continue after Croatia withdrew from the arbitration proceedings, and that the arbitrators should deliver a final ruling.

Asked about the "cooled relations" with Zagreb, he replied that he hopes to speak with the Croatian president in Alpbach, which would be the first meeting at such a level since the outbreak of the arbitration affair a month ago, when political communication between Zagreb and Ljubljana was practically cut off, according to Slovenian media reports.

"Our plan was to meet in Alpbach and I personally see no reason to change that," Pahor said, adding that he expects a fruitful conversation with the Croatian president.

"For me, it is important that the arbitral tribunal continues its work, but it is also important that the dynamics of our political contacts with Croatia do not change significantly," Pahor stated on Wednesday for STA, reports Hina.