How the 15-member senate sees the matter will be clear in a few months. It is even possible that only a portion of Slovenia's lawsuit will be ruled admissible.

The court realizes it has a difficult case on the table. They have so far had fewer than ten cases of member states suing each other. The Slovenia-Croatia case is even more specific since it is the first one to deal with territory.

Slovenia's arguments seem convincing and if the judges endorse them, Croatia will be left with nothing but to carry out the arbitration tribunal's final award.

Croatia has so far pretended to have nothing to do with this matter and offered new negotiations. Alas, such a game pays off only as long as the political price of sticking your head in the sand is lower than the price of implementing the judgement.

If Croatia loses at court, the calculation will change overnight - which would be an elegant way for Croatia to present itself as a pro-European country that respects EU court decisions.

After almost three decades of border disputes with many twists and turns, a different scenario would not be surprising either. However, the first oral hearing showed a great degree of understanding for Slovenia's arguments, the paper says in Croatia on the Defensive.