LJUBLJANA, March 25 (Reuters) - A border row between Slovenia and Croatia, which is delaying Croatia's plan to join the EU, is now harming economic ties, business leaders said on Wednesday.
The dispute over a small stretch of land and sea border, dating back to the 1991 break-up of Yugoslavia, prompted European Union member Slovenia to veto large parts of Croatia's EU membership negotiations in December.
The veto made it extremely difficult for Croatia to conclude its EU entry talks this year, as planned, and undermined close business relations. This prompted business leaders from both sides to discuss the way forward on Wednesday.
"We are here to urge the governments to settle the disputes," Franjo Bobinac, head of Slovenia's top household appliances maker Gorenje, told Reuters on the sidelines of a business conference.
"(The) economy has always opened doors for politics ... and politics should do the same for (the) economy now," he said.
Slovenia's exports to Croatia fell 23.1 percent year-on-year to 57.4 million euros in January, while imports shrank 36.5 percent to 37.8 million, according to the Croatian state statistics office.
Officials said trade fell mainly because of the global economic crisis, but the dispute was also taking its toll.
"The difficult political relations definitely do not have a positive impact on the business of Mercator and other (Slovene) companies," said Ziga Debeljak, chief executive of Slovenia's top food retailer Mercator, which owns several stores in Croatia.
Gorenje is one of the largest exporters to Croatia, which is Slovenia's third biggest trading partner. Slovenia exports some 70 percent of its production, mostly to the EU, with about 8.5 percent of exports going to Croatia. Slovenia wants direct access to international waters in the northern Adriatic, which would force Croatia to cede some offshore waters it sees as its own. Four small villages in the northern Istrian peninsula are also disputed.
Slovenia joined the EU in 2004 -- the only ex-Yugoslav state to do so -- and adopted the euro in 2007. (Reporting by Manca Ulcar; edited by Marja Novak and Phakamisa Ndzamela)