MEETING OF ADRIATIC-IONIAN INITIATIVE ENDS

BRDO KOD KRANJA, Oct 13 (Hina) - A meeting of countries of the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative focusing on a number of projects for the protection of the sea and coast in the two areas ended at Brdo kod Kranja, Slovenia, on Monday. The Croatian delegation managed to tone down one of the conclusions adopted at the meeting, which speaks about the unacceptability of unilateral moves regarding the ecological protection of the Adriatic, something Slovenia had insisted on. #L# Slovenia's Environment Minister Janez Kopac said at a news conference after the meeting that the meeting itself did not address Croatia's decision to declare a protected zone in the Adriatic, but he reiterated that Slovenia considered the decision as a unilateral move unacceptable and that the environmental protection of the sea and coastal area was possible only through cooperation among all countries in the Adriatic-Ionian area. "Slovenia opposes unilateral moves because environmental protection can be implemented only through co-ordinated joint action, and any unilateral action in that sense can have negative consequences for the environment," Kopac said when asked how Slovenia viewed Croatia's decision to declare a protected zone in the Adriatic, which will go into force in a year's time. He added that he was not acquainted with reports that Italy had shelved the issue of Croatia's fishing and ecological zone in the Adriatic and added that Slovenia and Italy were still adjusting their actions with regard to that matter in the European Union. The Slovene minister said that Croatia, too, had agreed to drawing up a study on possible adverse effects of ballast water before the construction of an oil terminal at Omisalj, given that all Adriatic countries might be affected by ballast water. Kopac said ballast water could be released only at places where the sea was at least 120 metres deep, which was one of the reasons which called for co-ordinated measures of environmental protection. (hina) rml sb