Zagreb - The Croatian parliament Friday agreed to international arbitration in a border dispute with Slovenia which has blocked its membership talks with the European Union.

An EU member since 2004, Slovenia this year blocked Croatia's accession talks over the dispute dating from the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia in 1991.

With the delay threatening Croatia's accession target date in 2011, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn proposed to resolve the dispute by a five-nation arbitration court.

The row over where the border runs in the northern Adriatic Bay of Piran has effectively left Slovenia landlocked, its access to high seas cut off by Italy and Croatia.

Croatia, which has 1,100 kilometres of coast, compared to less than 50 belonging to Slovenia, refused to move the border on the southern lip of the Bay of Piran and so allow free access of Slovenian vessels to the sea.

"We want the border issue resolved along the principles of international law, not in the context of: 'you have most of the Adriatic coast, give us a little'," Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader told parliament.

According to Rehn's proposal, the arbitration weold resolve all border disputes, as well as Slovenia's access to the Adriatic.

Slovenia however remains reserved regarding the proposal, with Prime Minister Borut Pahor saying Ljubljana would seek to amend it. (dpa)