ISSN: 2560-1601

Vol. 25, No. 4 (SI)

Jan 2020

Slovenia external relations briefing: Expectations on the development in foreign relations in 2020 Helena Motoh

1052 Budapest Petőfi Sándor utca 11.

+36 1 5858 690 Kiadó: Kína-KKE Intézet Nonprofit Kft. [email protected] Szerkesztésért felelős személy: Chen Xin

Kiadásért felelős személy: Huang Ping china-cee.eu 2017/01

Expectations on the development in foreign relations in Slovenia 2020

Summary At a turbulent background of changing international relations, it can be expected that Slovenian foreign relations will also reflect that, with three aspects being the most prominent: the relations within the and the preparations for Slovenian presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2021; the relations with the neighbouring countries; and the role of Slovenia in the political developments in the Western Balkans region.

Planning for the Slovenian presidency of the Council of the European Union In 2008 Slovenia presided the Council of the European Union for the first time after it joined on May 1st, 2004. The 2008 presidency was marked by the period between the signing of the Treaty of Lisbon in December 2007 and before it entered into force in December 2009. During its presidency Slovenia thus had to lead the preparatory work, while the numerous ratification processes in member states were going on, including a shock caused by the rejection of treaty on the referendum in Ireland. Apart from these developments, the 2008 presidency was focused on science and innovation, where it introduced the concept of the “fifth freedom”, the free movement of knowledge within the EU (initially called the “Ljubljana process”. During Slovenian presidency important steps were made in the direction of solving the climate issues in the preparation for the 2009 Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. During the 2008 presidency a network of stabilisation-accession agreements was signed with the Western Balkan countries. Dialogue on the visa liberalisation with all Western Balkan countries started and EU was given a mandate to start negotiating the transport agreement and better cooperation was established in the field of civil protection and common systems to fight against organized crime in this region were put in place. Accession negotiations with Croatia and Turkey also continued during this period. In addition to that, the issues of intercultural dialogue were especially emphasized. When Slovenia will be taking over the presidency twelve years later, in the second half of 2020, many of the issues are again a topic of EU decision making. The main role of the presiding member state is to lead the functioning of the Council of European Union, especially to manage the legislative part of the EU and formation of the common position of the member states for the communication with European Parliament and European Commission. While the

1 scope and contents of the legislation depends on many factors, the average number of legislative proposals in a half-year period is between 500 and 700. In the case of Slovenian 2021 presidency the number of legislative proposals and their contents will depend primarily on the new strategic agenda of the EU for the period 2019-2024, which was adopted at the European Council meeting in June 2019, on the work programme of the new von der Leyen European Commission and the 18-months programme of the presidency trio (T10), which Slovenia forms together with Germany (July-December 2020) and Portugal (January-June 2021). Preparations for this large-scale task will require lots of time, resources and people. Training off the personnel has already started and so has the planning for the number of events which will take place during the half-year presidency, ensuring the meeting of high-level security, technical and logistical standards. The project will employ 350 additional people and will be conducted with and estimated budget under 80 million euros. The activities for the promotion of Slovenia during the presidency have also already started with the most important one being the programme “A basket of towns”, an integral programme that will offer destinations all over Slovenia for the event that will take place during the presidency. The idea behind this innovative programme is to go beyond the capital and the main tourist destinations to include the whole of Slovenia with short and convenient transport connections into one destination for this large scale event, thereby also presenting the less well known attractions and destinations within Slovenia to the wider EU public.

Relations with the neighbouring countries There are several open issues between Slovenia and the neighbouring countries, Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia. The main one, however, remains the dispute concerning the implementation of the Arbitration court decision on the border between Slovenia and Croatia. The dispute goes back to the border delimitation after both countries became independent from the former Yugoslavia. Not having been able to resolve the dispute on the border on land and – especially – on sea despite many attempts, the two countries agreed to solve the issue via the Arbitration Tribunal. The decision to do so was made in November 2009 and the tribunal was to determine the maritime and land boundary, Slovenia's junction to the high sea and the regime for the use of the maritime areas. The decision was delivered in June 2017 by the Arbitration Tribunal in Hague. The delimitation of the land border followed the principle of following the former administrative borders. The Award also determined the maritime boundary between the two countries with the modified equidistance line while the Bay of Piran retained the status of internal waters. Due to the inappropriate leaking of information on the Slovenian side, Croatia refused to recognize and implement the decision of the Arbitration tribunal and conflicts

2 between border police and fishermen started on both sides. After the European Commission failed to aid in the solution of the issue, Slovenia initiated an action against Croatia at the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg. After the hearings in 2019 on January 31st, 2020 the EU Court of Justice delivered its judgment on the admissibility of Slovenian action against Croatia, declaring that this issue is not in its jurisdiction. Therefore in 2020 the main issue for Slovenian foreign policy in relation to the neighbouring countries will doubtlessly be negotiating the implementation of the Arbitration Award. The process might to large degree depend on the political situation in both countries.

Western Balkans and the enlargement of the EU Having close historical, cultural ties and linguistic ties with the countries of the Western Balkans, Slovenia plays an important role of being a political, economic and development partner in the process of EU enlargement into this region. Slovenia is especially active in relation to the business environment in the countries of this region, assists in the development of institutions, better management, and fight against corruption and organised crime. An important factor in the further stabilisation of the region is the strengthening of the regional cooperation and political dialogue in the region. Slovenia is especially active in the initiative Positive agenda for Youth in the Western Balkans that helps establish contacts in post-conflict period. Slovenia together with Croatia also initiated the Brdo-Brijuni Process, a platform to address sensitive global and regional political issues in South-East Europe. In 2020, the year of Slovenian presidency of the Council of the European Union, the priorities of Slovenian activities in the Western Balkans region for this year are also closely linked to the progress of accession negotiations in the candidate states. Of the Western Balkan states Croatia is the only one that has already joined EU in July 2013. , Serbia, Northern Macedonia and are official candidates, while and are potential candidates. Help with reforms in internal affairs and rule of law is also an important priority as are the strengthened activities within the framework of Brdo-Brijuni process and the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA). In the field of sustainable development, also one of the priorities, Slovenia seeks to help establish Green Deal for Western Balkans in 2020. Other priorities are the implementation of the succession agreement and economic diplomacy. Slovenia will also stay active in international peace-keeping operations and missions in the western Balkans region with the members of its army, police, civilian experts and other staff.

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Conclusions The year 2020 in Slovenian foreign relations will be marked by many different factors and dependent on world situation, developments within EU and the domestic political situation when the new government is formed. In relations with the neighbouring countries, the most prominent issue will continue to be the implementation of the Arbitration Court decision in the border dispute with Croatia. Apart from that, one of the main activities will be the preparation for 2021 Slovenian presidency of the Council of the European Union. An important part of this period will also be marked with Slovenian role in the political developments and relations in the Western Balkans and the relations between states in this region. Another important issue, where Slovenia will remain very active is the enlargement of EU in the Western Balkans and the related processes of stabilisation and harmonisation with EU standards and policies.

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