"The endorsed bill to proclaim an ecological zone and a continental shelf is not encroachment on another country's territory nor is it the focus of any conflict," Jansa said in a comment on the response by the Croatian government to Thursday's decision by the Slovene government to send the bill to parliament to be discussed under fast-track procedure.
Speaking to reporters at the opening of an international agricultural fair in Gornja Radgona, Jansa said that the Slovene government's decision was "a legal act based on the (Slovene) Maritime Code, which clearly states that Slovenia is entitled to sovereign zones in the (Adriatic) sea."
The Slovene prime minister said that Croatia's reaction to the Slovene move was "partly expected", and added that the decision by the Slovene government was expected and that in their contacts with Croatian government officials Slovene government representatives had explained their reasons for the move.
Jansa said that by announcing the proclamation of the ecological zone and the continental shelf, "Slovenia did what other Adriatic countries have already done" and that it would have been irrational if Slovenia, being a maritime country, had not done it.