The Slovene press on Friday reported that Croatia and Italy had agreed on the division of the epicontinental belt in the Adriatic, claiming that earlier this month the Ivo Sanader cabinet adopted a text of the agreement.
The Slovene press reported that on 4 August the Croatian government adopted the text of the deal with Italy on the precise demarcation of the border-line at the epicontinental belt in compliance with the 1968 agreement which Italy and the then Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia signed and which could be applied in line with regulations for the succession to the former federation.
"We are following carefully what is going on. When necessary, we shall react appropriately so as to protect the Slovene interests," the Slovene ministry said in a press release sent to the local media.
The Croatian Foreign Ministry has explained that the agreement between Zagreb and Rome "does not prejudge the demarcation of the border between Croatia and Slovenia" given that the agreement tackled technical details.
According to the Ljubljana-based 'Dnevnik' daily, Slovene experts for international law believe that Ljubljana should immediately react by sending a protest note to its two neighbouring countries, and opposition parties also expect a more resolute response from the Slovene authorities.
In relation to reports published by the local media on Friday, the Slovene Foreign Ministry said it was not officially informed of the Italian-Croatian agreement.
Later on Friday, the same ministry dismissed media allegations and the Opposition's accusations that the Slovene government was caught off guard by the Croatian-Italian talks on the demarcation of the frontier on the Adriatic Sea, adding that Slovene Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel has already written to his Italian counterpart Gianfranco Fini on the matter.
"Last week, we again considered the issue of the epicontinental belt and held several rounds of talks with representatives of Italy and Croatia," the ministry said in a press release adding that during those talks Slovenia asked for its inclusion "in all possible agreements on the border at the Adriatic which will matter Slovene interests or in any way prejudge the demarcation of the border line between Slovenia and Croatia".