Croatia and Slovenia have moved closer to settling a long-running border dispute after the Croatian parliament ratified a deal that would see the issue brought before an impartial international mediator.

An arbitration tribunal would be tasked with ruling on the dispute over a small piece of land that would give Slovenia access to international waters.

The issue has been a stumbling block for Zagreb in its bid to join the European Union. Although Slovenia is one of the smaller members of the 27-nation EU, it still holds the right to veto any entry into the bloc by Croatia.

In September the Slovenian government proposed that Ljubljana would withdraw its blocking of Croatia's EU accession negotiations in exchange for a pledge by Zagreb that it would make no more assumptions about the two countries' 18-year border row.

The quarrel arose following the break up of the former Yugoslavia, before which the two countries were part of the same political entity. Croatia says the border between the two countries should run down the middle of the Bay of Piran, which Slovenia says would deny it access to the Adriatic.

Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor told the lawmakers before the vote that they were "concluding a major and important task, I believe that history will prove it."

"The border dispute will be resolved according to international law ... before an international judicial body."

"If we do not back this agreement no future generation of politicians will be able to negotiate something better and more favorable for Croatia," she stressed.

The deal was signed by Kosor and her Slovenian counterpart Borut Pahor earlier November in Sweden, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency.

The Slovenian government plans to hold an advisory referendum on the deal before forwarding it for ratification by parliament, which is expected to take place within the next few months.

dfm/AFP/Reuters

Editor: Kyle James