The minister told the commercial POP television network on Thursday that Slovenia's plans to proclaim an ecological zone in the Adriatic and the issue of demarcation of the border between Slovenia and Croatia were two separate issues.
"Determining our zones in the Adriatic is a separate issue, it is not related to the state border," Rupel said.
Commenting on the decision made by the Janez Jansa cabinet earlier in the day on sending to the parliament a bill on an ecological zone and an epicontinental shelf in the Adriatic to be discussed under urgent procedure, Rupel said that his ministry was involved in the final stage of preparing the bill as this was "an internal matter of Slovenia, although it has some foreign political dimensions".
According to Rupel, Slovenia is a maritime country with an epicontinental shelf and access to the international waters. Accordingly, Slovenia has the right to declare zones in the sea in line with international law, he said.
Slovenia is willing to talk with Croatia about the demarcation of their zones on the Adriatic, but that is something different from the issue of the state border, he said adding that "Slovenia does not shun possible international arbitration although it is afraid that Croatia may not respect the arbiters' decision".
Rupel declined to comment on today's withdrawal of Croatian Ambassador Mario Nobilo from Ljubljana to Zagreb for consultations.
Slovenia's Minister of Ecological Protection and Zoning, Janez Podobnik, held a news conference in Ljubljana today to explain the decision of the Jansa cabinet.
Podobnik said that the main purpose of the said bill was to proclaim a zone in which efficient steps could be made to protect the entire ecological system of the Adriatic, of the Slovene territorial waters and coastal areas.
Presenting the bill, Podobnik said that it was "a combination of the international law of the sea and laws on ecological protection". In this context he emphasised the ecological component of the bill.
Asked by a Croatian reporter whether the bill's article regulating the outer boundary line of the ecological zone meant that Slovenia was laying claims on Croatia's territory, Podobnik answered that the article was unequivocal.
"It regulates an interim boundary. It is clearly stated that the boundary line of the epicontinental shelf will be established through an international agreement between the countries concerned," the Slovene minister said.