Stop your blackmail, Croatian PM tells Slovenia

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković urged fellow EU member Slovenia on Thursday to stop its diplomatic "blackmail" related to a border issue between the two ex-Yugoslav republics and return to dialogue.

Plenković raised the issue at a government session after Slovenia indicated this week it could block Zagreb's access to the borderless Schengen area and to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Slovenia, an EU member since 2004, wants Zagreb to accept the ruling of an international arbitration about the sea and land border in the northern Adriatic - something Croatia rejects, saying the legal proceedings had been contaminated and were therefore null and void.

Slovenian officials told EURACTIV.com this week that Croatia's failure to implement the border ruling might amount to a breach of the EU's rule of law and might thwart its...