Slovenian parties want referendum on Croatian border agreement

11/11/2009

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia -- The ruling coalition has joined appeals coming from the opposition to hold a referendum on the new arbitration agreement with Croatia to settle the bilateral border dispute. The four ruling parties announced on Tuesday (November 10th) that they would ratify the agreement only if a majority of Slovenians back it in a consultative referendum. A new survey published in the daily Delo suggests that 48.5% of Slovenians support the agreement, 37% oppose it and 14.6% are undecided. Before any ratification, the document will be forwarded to the Constitutional Court for evaluation. On Friday, President Danilo Turk said he supports holding a consultative referendum prior to ratification in parliament. In contrast, the opposition wants a binding referendum. (HINA, Poslovni, Nova TV, HRT, RTS, Reuters - 10/11/09)