LJUBLJANA: RUPEL ON SLOVENE MARITIME ZONE

LJUBLJANA, Dec 16 (Hina) - The Slovene parliament's committee on infrastructure and the environment on Tuesday unanimously supported changes to the maritime code under which Slovenia would have the right to declare its own zone in the Adriatic, while Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said that the changes did not mean that Slovenia would automatically declare such a zone. #L# The changes were prompted by the conclusions of the recent conference on sustainable fishing in the Mediterranean in Venice, as well as the possibility that international factors could decide about the sea border between Slovenia and Croatia. "Should international arbitrators or some other international forum decide about that issue, it would be necessary to protect Slovene interests. By adopting the changes to the maritime code we obtain a counteragrument should Croatia refer to our old code or the Memorandum on Piran Bay, which define Slovenia as a geographically disadvantaged country (a country without access to open seas and the right to declare maritime zones), Rupel said explaining the government's proposal. (hina) rml sb