Border dispute between Slovenia and Croatia and the blockade of EU talks : necessary or absurdity in a "Europe without borders"?

Abstract

This thesis treats the border dispute between Slovenia and Croatia in context of the EU enlargement. It reveals some Slovenian and Croatian argumentations in the disagreement of the maritime delimitation in the Adriatic Sea and exposes other bilateral problems. It enumerates the failed bilateral attempts to solve the dispute. For reasons of understanding, the paper resumes some historical facts in general and the problematic situation in the past in the content area Istria. In addition, this paper examines the concept of borders in general and some aspects of frontiers in the EU in particular. It demonstrates how the establishment of borders affected the population in Istria. It analyses, furthermore, the awareness of the EU concerning the border dispute in its scope and question the Slovenian veto on the EU negotiation talks, i.e. using the EU membership to resolve a bilateral issue.