The border agreement was signed in 1999 by the then Croatian and Bosnian Presidents, Franjo Tudjman and Alija Izetbegovic respectively. The incumbent Croatian Government has withdrawn the agreement from procedure due to the appearance of new circumstances and sent it to inter-state border commissions so that they could reach a new agreement, the spokesman for the Ivo Sanader Cabinet, Ratko Macek, said today.
According to Macek, the commissions have wrapped up the first round of their job.
At negotiations with Bosnia on this issue, Zagreb will attach paramount importance to the protection of Croatia's national interests, Macek said.
Earlier in the day, two HSP parliamentarians claimed that somebody in the Croatian government had initialled a border demarcation agreement with Bosnia-Herzegovina ceding part of Croatian territory to the neighbouring country for the sake of the Peljesac bridge project.
"Three islets and the top of Klek peninsula in exchange for the bridge - that is the gist of the initialled agreement," HSP deputy Miroslav Rozic said.
Independent member of parliament Slaven Letica said on Thursday that the border demarcation agreement ceded the top of Klek peninsula, Lopata cliff, and Mali Skoj and Veli Skoj islets to Bosnia and Herzegovina, but the Croatian government dismissed his claims as absolutely untrue.
In response to the government claims, the HSP today presented a document on a secret border protocol of 5 May 2005, which the party said provided evidence that a government official had initialled a description of the borderline bypassing Klek peninsula and running along the middle of Mali Ston Bay.
Tadic said that the initialled description of the borderline was not one from 1999, but was negotiated in May 2005.
The HSP does not know who initialled the document but believes that it was approved by the Croatian government.