2010 Slovenian border dispute agreement referendum explained

Country:	Slovenia
Date:	6 June 2010
Do you support the implementation of the Law on the Ratification of the Arbitration Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the Republic of Croatia, which was adopted by the Slovenian Parliament at its session of 19 April 2010, becoming valid?
Yes:	371,848
No:	349,595
Invalid:	5,544
Electorate:	1,705,105

A referendum on resolving the border dispute with Croatia was held in Slovenia on 6 June 2010. Voters were asked whether the dispute should be brought before an international arbitration tribunal.^[1] The results showed 51.54% of voters in favour, with a voter turnout of 42.66%.^[2]

Background

The referendum was officially requested in parliament on 26 April 2010, with the date for the election to be decided within seven days, i.e. by 3 May 2010.^[3] The election was called in the evening on 3 May 2010 for 6 June 2010^[4] as had been expected.^[5]

The official wording was:

Polling

Before the referendum, polls constantly showed a majority of the population in favour of the agreement:^[6]

• November 2009: 49% to 37% in favour
• January 2010: 64% to 28% in favour
• March 2010: 50% to 30% in favour
• Early May 2010: 37.6% to 32.9% in favour^[7]
• Late May 2010: 50.7% to 36.1% in favour^[8]
• Late May 2010: 37.6% to 37.0% against^[8]
• Early June 2010: 54% to 46% in favour^[9]
• Early June 2010: 56.8% to 43.2% in favour^[9]

See also

• Croatia–Slovenia border disputes
• Croatia–Slovenia relations

Notes and References

1. http://www.electionguide.org/election.php?ID=1853 Election profile
2. http://www.electionguide.org/results.php?ID=1853 Results
3. http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/newsbriefs/setimes/newsbriefs/2010/04/26/nb-07 Slovenian lawmakers request referendum on Croatian agreement
4. Web site: STA: Parliament Confirms 6 June Referendum on Border Agreement . 2010-05-03 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120310145008/http://www.sta.si/en/vest.php?s=a&id=1508811 . 2012-03-10 . dead .
5. http://www.sta.si/en/vest.php?s=a&id=1502315 Slovenia OK with All Croatian EU Chapters
6. http://bsanna-news.ukrinform.ua/newsitem.php?id=12719&lang=en Opinion poll: Slovenians would back arbitration deal at referendum
7. https://archive.today/20120723112335/http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/35550/slovenians_split_on_vote_over_dispute_with_croatia Slovenians Split on Vote Over Dispute with Croatia
8. http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/slovenia-croatia.4xy/ Slovenians divided on Croatia border deal referendum: polls
9. http://derstandard.at/1271378243457/Spannendes-Rennen-bei-Grenzreferendum-erwartet Spannendes Rennen bei Grenzreferendum erwartet