The Croatian ministry said in a statement that the bill on declaring an ecological zone and epicontinental shelf was drafted jointly by the Slovene Foreign Ministry and the Slovene Ministry for the Environment and sent it to the Slovene Government on 18 August in urgent proceedings. The Croatian Foreign Ministry said Croatia reacted immediately after receiving information about the bill adding that the Government was in permanent diplomatic contact with Slovene officials.
The statement also said that Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader held talks with his Slovene counterpart Janez Jansa on 19 August, while state secretaries of the Croatian and Slovene Foreign Ministries, Hido Biscevic and Bozo Cerar, are scheduled to discuss the issue on Wednesday, 24 August.
The statement also said that contrary to some claims, the Croatian Government and the Foreign Ministry were intensively working to resolve this issue in the spirit of good neighbourly relations and that they would continue to protect Croatia's national interests in accordance with international law.