STA, March 20, 2018 – The new Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl evoked the rule of law and international law to express Austria's support to Slovenia's position in the border arbitration dispute with Croatia after she met counterpart Karl Erjavec in Ljubljana on Tuesday.
"I'm in a position to say that Austria, in terms of the rule of law and order based on international law, supports Slovenia's position," Kneissl commented on Slovenia's efforts to have Croatia acknowledge last June's decision of an international arbitration tribunal.
Kneissl, who is paying her first visit to Slovenia as foreign minister, and Erjavec also discussed a wide range of other topics, including Austria's checks on the border with Slovenia, which are to continue despite Slovenia's opposition.
FM #Erjavec welcomes #Austria FM @Karin_Kneissl at her visit to #Slovenia. It is a first visit of FM @Karin_Kneissl to #Slovenia. ???? pic.twitter.com/izHpvogMH7
— MFA SLOVENIA (@MZZRS) March 20, 2018
Not directly responding to a question about Austria's simultaneous opposition to the checks on the part of Germany and insistence on the controls on the Slovenia border, Kneissl argued the numbers in Austria showed the illegal migration flow was continuing and reiterated the argument that Schengen's external border needed to be secured better.
While she added that the controls needed to be commensurate, Erjavec reiterated Slovenia's opposition, arguing the numbers were back to the usual range and did not justify the extension of the measure.
The checks are causing trouble for people on both sides of the border and will be a particular problem during the tourist season, Erjavec said.
Another international topic was the Western Balkans, which Kneissl prefers to refer to as SE Europe, arguing "Belgrade and Sarajevo are European cities as far as I'm concerned".
Erjavec pointed out Austria would take over the presidency of the EU this year and that the Western Balkans would remain in the focus. Kneissl echoed this, adding Slovenia's perspective on the situation would be very valuable to Austria.
