ZAGREB, Sept 2 (Hina) - Croatia's Deputy Foreign Minister Ivan Simonovic on Tuesday briefed representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited in Croatia about the country's views and positions on its intention to expand jurisdiction
in the Adriatic, the ministry said in a statement.
ZAGREB, Sept 2 (Hina) - Croatia's Deputy Foreign Minister Ivan
Simonovic on Tuesday briefed representatives of the diplomatic
corps accredited in Croatia about the country's views and positions
on its intention to expand jurisdiction in the Adriatic, the
ministry said in a statement. #L#
The immediate reason for the briefing were some reactions from
Slovenia which Croatia's diplomacy sees as "unfounded and
inappropriate given the international law which regulates this
matter and Croatia's transparent conduct with regard to the
intention to expand jurisdiction in the Adriatic".
In its international legal nature, the proclamation of expanded
jurisdiction is a unilateral act of every coastal country which has
access to the open sea, and such a country is not obliged to agree on
the issue with other countries, the statement said.
"However, in bids to nurture good relations and cooperate, the
Republic of Croatia has been conducting bilateral consultations on
the matter with all interested states."
The statement went on to say that Croatian representatives had
informed Mediterranean representatives at a preparatory meeting of
all Mediterranean countries, organised by the European Union in
Athens in June, that Croatia was considering the proclamation of an
exclusive economic zone in the Adriatic.
Croatia had announced its intention to discuss the expansion of
jurisdiction in the Adriatic with all interested countries,
Slovenia included, before the Mediterranean representatives
convened in Brussels later this month.
Simonovic told the foreign diplomats Slovenia's thesis that it had
access to the open sea and was consequently entitled to its own
economic zone was legally incorrect.
"Owing to its geographical position, Slovenia cannot proclaim an
economic zone because Slovenia's territorial waters are closed off
by Italy's and Croatia's territorial waters," said the statement.
Simonovic stressed that Slovenia could not make Croatia's right to
proclaim an exclusive economic zone conditional on the
ratification of a border demarcation agreement between Croatia and
Slovenia "that has never been signed".
The ministry statement said Croatia's expansion of its
jurisdiction in the Adriatic would not be to the detriment of other
countries but to the benefit of every Adriatic country, notably due
to the establishment of systematic fish stock management on
sustainable and rational bases and an effective protection of the
marine environment.
Proclaiming an economic zone would provide conditions for signing
fishing treaties with the European Community and other interested
countries, the ministry added.
During Simonovic's briefing the Slovene embassy's charge
d'affaires asked why Croatia was insisting on the proclamation of
an exclusive economic zone when the EU was advocating the expansion
of protected fishing and ecological zones.
Simonovic replied that Croatia was really not forcing nor imposing
anything but simply intended, in keeping with international law, to
expand jurisdiction in the Adriatic while protecting its own
interests as well as the joint interests of Mediterranean
countries.
The Croatian government has not yet made the final decision on how
it will expand Croatia's jurisdiction in the Adriatic in line with
the EU's intentions regarding the use and protection of the
Mediterranean, the ministry said.
Back in 1968, the then Yugoslav federation and Italy divided the
Adriatic epicontinental basin. An economic zone would now mainly
refer to fishing, scientific research, and the protection of the
marine environment.
Croatia is still ready for serious talks and negotiations on the
expansion of jurisdiction with all interested countries,
particularly Slovenia, and will fully respect other countries'
rights, the foreign ministry statement concluded.
(hina) ha sb