VUKAS: THERE WAS TOO MUCH POLITICKING IN PROCLAIMING EEZ

UMAG, Nov 6 (Hina) - The president of the International Court for Maritime Justice, Branislav Vukas, said on Thursday evening that there was too much politicking while adopting a decision to proclaim environmental and fishing zone in the Adriatic and too little expert explanation for the public. #L# The public should have been given an expert explanation about the advantages as well as disadvantages of the environmental and fishing zone, Vukas said at an event in Umag organised by a non- governmental organisation. He said that the result of the Maritime Legislation Conference was a U.N convention under which every coastal country had the right to proclaim an economic belt without asking for a permission or consent. The Assistant Agriculture and Forestry Minister and head of the Fishing Department, Ivan Katavic, said Croatia would not have any difficulties in using all of the possibilities of the fishing zone because this right had been granted to it by the Maritime Act. "By proclaiming the environmental and fishing zone, we've gained the right to exploit, promote and preserve the sea environment, said Katavic, adding that by proclaiming the zone Croatia was on a path to put an end to the unsustainable situation in the Adriatic. (hina) it