Zagreb - President Borut Pahor has warned in an interview with Nacional that Europe and the world are not aware that the situation in the Western Balkans is getting complicated again. He thus announced that an attempt would be made at taking a position on the electoral law in Bosnia-Herzegovina at the regional summit in September.

Talking with the Croatian weekly, Pahor spoke about the Slovenian-Croatian relations, Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina and the attitude of the EU towards the Western Balkans, in which he sees a lack of understanding of a larger picture.

The Slovenian president said that both bilateral and multilateral relations were getting complicated in the Western Balkans, and that there was an apparent lack of trust.

Because of the war in Ukraine, everybody is getting more introvert, which is understandable, but this does not mean that the situation in the Western Balkans, which deserves prospect of joining the EU, should be underestimated, he added.

According to Pahor, the only true, strategic answer is enlargement of NATO and the EU, because if enlargement is slowed down and the situation in Ukraine continues to get complicated, this would not be good for the Western Balkans.

The region would become "a parallel stage for geopolitical tensions between the East and West and the question will arise as to where the border of this new 'Iron Curtain' will be."

If this line was to be drawn in the middle of the Balkans, i.e. in Bosnia-Herzegovina, there could be serious conflicts, Pahor said.

For this reason, an attempt would be made by the regional leaders at taking a position on the electoral law in Bosnia-Herzegovina at the Brdo-Brijuni Process summit that will take place in Slovenia's Brdo pri Kranju on 12 September.

"I think it is difficult to expect for the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina to move forward if each ethnicity only strives for its own aspirations that threaten others. I think a compromise solution would be good for all of them."

Pahor said he had excellent relations with the Croatian and Serbian presidents, noting that Serbia's Aleksandar Vučić was well aware of the conditions for this.

Among these conditions, he mentioned Vučić publicly renouncing the "Serb World" initiative and that Europe and the Western Balkans needed to know that Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik did not have Vučić's support in his secessionist aspirations.

Pahor said he had always advocated for good relations with Croatia, defending the position that Slovenia should not block the country's accession to the Schengen Area and the eurozone even if it did not agree to the border arbitration decision.

In light of the energy crisis, he commended the "visionary Croatian policy" at the time when "many raised eyebrows because of environmental and other concerns" as it was building a liquefied natural gas terminal on the island of Krk.

The Slovenian president expressed the hope that Slovenia would get "its share of gas" through the terminal, adding that the two countries also had to start more specific talks about a second reactor of the Krško Nuclear Power Plant.

Asked whether he would continue political career after the end of his second presidential term in the autumn, Pahor said there were no such plans, as nobody was irreplaceable.

"The situation is currently very chaotic, but I will be available for another year in the transitional office, and if there is an opportunity to do something good, I will be there. If not, I will find something else to do."