Croatia Property: Accept Mediation or Risk Losing EU Accession

The European Union has proposed a mediation group headed up by former Finnish president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Martti Ahtisaari to help solve the border dispute with Slovenia that threatens Croatia's accession into the EU.

The dispute has gone unsolved for 18 years but tensions have risen since Slovenia blocked the opening or closing of 11 chapters of Croatia's 35-chapter EU negotiations package over the unresolved issue, in December.

The Slovenian government has already accepted the proposal, but Croatia has postponed its decision until Monday. Croatia would like the International Court of Justice to decide on the matter at the Hague, but this is rejected by Slovenia.

The new mediation group is, the only "viable way forward," said enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn on Tuesday March 3,

"All previous attempts to resolve this issue have failed over the past 18 years. Since I cannot see another viable way forward, I expect a positive response to our initiative by both countries, without such impossible conditions that would effectively imply its rejection," Mr Rehn said in Brussels at a conference organised by EUobserver and the Croatia-EU Business Council.

"Otherwise I am concerned that Croatia may be prevented from concluding its accession negotiations in the envisaged timeline," he added.

The Croatian property market is crying out for EU admission, and has been since price growth stalled in 2006. Its neighbours that have been successful in EU entry are thriving all around it, so I hope for their sake they will accept the mediation group.

If Croatia fails to be accepted into the EU, then its neighbour Montenegro will benefit because many of the investors awaiting croatia's entry into the EU, will invest in Montenegro when it is accepted into the EU, expected in the next couple of years.