LJUBLJANA, Oct 4 (Hina) - The Slovene Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Friday night saying that it had delivered a note to the Croatian Embassy in Ljubljana protesting over the Croatian parliament's decision to declare a fishing
and ecological zone in the Adriatic Sea.
LJUBLJANA, Oct 4 (Hina) - The Slovene Foreign Ministry issued a
statement on Friday night saying that it had delivered a note to the
Croatian Embassy in Ljubljana protesting over the Croatian
parliament's decision to declare a fishing and ecological zone in
the Adriatic Sea. #L#
"Slovenia is deeply concerned about and regrets Croatia's
unilateral decision of this evening to declare a protected
ecological and fishing zone in the Adriatic, which is in complete
contravention of the European manner of negotiating and co-
ordinating actions, and of protection of the Mediterranean," the
national news agency STA quoted the statement as released by the
ministry.
According to the statement, Slovenia believes that the Croatian
parliament's decision is "contrary to Croatia's obligation arising
from international law to refrain from any action which prevents
the final realisation of a consensual solution with regard to the
sea border between the two countries".
By adopting the said decision, Croatia has prejudged the final
border at sea between the two countries, encroaching also on an area
which is under Slovenia's sovereignty as well and where Slovenia
holds sovereign rights.
Following previous statements about the proclamation of an
economic zone by Croatia, Slovenia undertook comprehensive expert
and diplomatic action, concluding in the process that its position
on the matter is in line with the positions of the European
Commission, Italy and "most Mediterranean countries", the ministry
said.
Both EC and Italian officials cautioned Croatian officials on
several occasions that it would be wise to wait with the
proclamation of any zone in the Adriatic until the Venice
conference on protection of the Mediterranean, and that Croatia
should refrain from any unilateral acts regardless of its rights as
a coastal country.
The position of the EC and Italy, as well as Slovenia, regarding the
said principles of proclamation of zones in the Mediterranean,
including the Adriatic, is based on the belief that the exercise of
a coastal country's sovereign right to declare zones requires a
consensus about all related issues, such as demarcation, the
management of natural resources, navigation control regime, etc.
This principle is one of the basic principles of the European
integration process, the Slovene foreign ministry said in the
statement.
(hina) rml