ITALIAN OFFICIALS INSIST ON 'FAIR SOLUTION' TO PROBLEM OF FISHING IN ADRIATIC

ROME, March 11 (Hina) - Italy asked Croatia to help achieve "a fair solution to the problem of fishing in the Adriatic" at Thursday's meeting of officials of Italy, Croatia and Slovenia in the Slovene port of Portoroz.#L# The meeting revolved around protection and exploitation of the Adriatic sea. "We reiterated that we opposed the model which Croatia had chosen and we requested that the proper solution of the problem of fishing be set as a necessary condition for that country's admission to the European Union," said the Italian Agriculture Ministry's undersecretary in charge of fisheries, Paolo Scarpa Bonazza, commenting on the results of the second tripartite meeting on this matter. Besides Scarpa, the Italian Foreign Ministry's undersecretary, Roberto Antonione also attended the Portoroz meeting as an Italian representative. Scarpa was quoted by the Italian news agency ANSA as telling reporters that the Italian Agriculture Ministry supported the harmonisation of interests in the joint management of the exploitation of the Adriatic sea by the concerned countries. The decision on tripartite meetings was made in January so that solutions for the regime of fishing in the Adriatic could be found following "the unilateral decision of Croatia on the establishment of the ecological fishing zone, namely an exclusive economic zone which, if comes in force, could cause very negative consequences for the fishing sector in Italy", the Italian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Scarpa said that although the Croatian decision was legitimate from the point of view of international law, it should be altered in regard to specific conditions in the Adriatic sea which he described as a semi-closed sea. Scarpa said he would like to see the soon establishment of a zone which would be managed together by Italy, Croatia and Slovenia. The next tripartite meeting will take part in the Croatian coastal city of Pula in three weeks. (Hina) ms