ZAGREB, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Former Croatian prime minister Jadranka Kosor on Wednesday said arbitration is a reasonable solution to end a dispute only if both parties agree to be a part of it.
Kosor spoke to Xinhua after The Hague-based tribunal handling the South China Sea arbitration case unilaterally initiated by the former Philippine government issued its final award on Tuesday.
Kosor cited the example of territorial disagreements between Croatia and Slovenia when she was prime minister. She said if Slovenia didn't want to take part in an international court, such as the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea for arbitration, Croatia couldn't force it to do so.
"Finally we signed an arbitration agreement and tried to resolve our dispute in that way," she said.
The arbitration was unilaterally initiated in 2013 by the former Philippine government. China reiterated its stance that it neither accepts nor recognizes the ruling.
"There is no international institution that may voluntarily impose attitude or decision if all the countries involved do not agree that this institution has the right to resolve the issue," she added.
