Ronny Abraham Named Slovenia's New Arbiter

Announcing the decision, Prime Minister Miro Cerar said that all obstacles had now been removed for the arbitration tribunal to resume its work unhindered.

Cerar expects that the tribunal would continue to operate independently and impartially to complete its mission and take a final decision on the border.

Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec said in a press release that the move would convey to Croatia that reputable international law experts see no reason why the arbitration tribunal should not complete its work.

Born in Egypt in 1951, Abraham is a French international law expert who succeeded Gilbert Guillaume, currently the president of the Slovenia-Croatia arbitration tribunal, at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. He has served as the court's president since February 2015.

Abraham has been a representative for France in many cases before international and European courts.

He will replace Slovenia's arbiter Jernej Sekolec, who stepped down last Thursday after a Croatian paper released recordings of his phone conversations with a Slovenian agent in the case in which they were heard coordinating their actions.

Croatia has announced it will seek to withdraw from the arbitration treaty, signed by the two countries in 2009, over the scandal. A formal decision is to be taken by the Croatian parliament on Wednesday or Thursday.

Well-placed sources say the government picked a foreigner, who is a top expert in the field, to dispel any doubt as to his bias.

On a similar note, coalition Social Democrats (SD) head Dejan Židan said nobody could criticise Abraham for being biased or not being an expert.

The government made the appointment after consulting parliamentary parties on the matter although the name of the arbiter was not yet disclosed at the meeting.

The opposition Democratic Party (SDS), Alenka Bratušek Alliance (ZaAB) and the United Left (ZL) therefore said that it was the government which carried the responsibility for the decision.

The SDS would not say whether it supported the appointment or not, while ZaAB said it did not oppose it and New Slovenia (NSi) backed it.

The SDS expressed the hope on its Twitter profile that the government had a "lucky hand" in the choice.

While reactions to the appointment are still cautious, the pick of the arbiter has been welcomed by Slovenia's former President Danilo Türk.

Türk, an international law expert himself, congratulated the prime minister, foreign minister, the government and parties on what he described as a "wise and speedy" decision.

Vasilka Sancin, a jurist who was involved in the preparation of the Slovenian case for the tribunal, thought Abraham was "an interesting pick".

"He is undoubtedly a top-notch international law expert," she said, declining to comment further.

Source: SloveniaTimes