ZAGREB/LJUBLJANA, Aug 18 (Hina) - A Croatian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Sunday the ministry had been contacted by the Slovene Embassy in Zagreb in connection with the Joras border incident case.
ZAGREB/LJUBLJANA, Aug 18 (Hina) - A Croatian Foreign Ministry
spokesman said on Sunday the ministry had been contacted by the
Slovene Embassy in Zagreb in connection with the Joras border
incident case. #L#
A group of Croats earlier today hoisted a Croatian flag on the house
of Josko Joras, a councillor in the Slovene town of Piran who
resides in Mlini, a Croatian village near the border, and allegedly
made death threats against him.
Joras does not recognise Croatian jurisdiction in Mlini, and
occasionally hoists a Slovene flag and other Slovene insignia on
his house.
Foreign Ministry acting spokesman Zarko Plevnik told Hina the
ministry would comment on the matter upon receiving the police
minutes.
In a statement today, the Slovene Foreign Ministry demanded an
explanation from Zagreb in connection with the matter. Foreign
Minister Dimitrij Rupel requested an explanation from the Slovene
police as well.
Slovene media commented that the developments with Slovenia's
controversial "fighter for the southern border" were related to the
"undefined land border" between Croatia and Slovenia, as well as to
recent incidents in Piran Bay, specifically Croatia's insisting on
having the middle of the bay as the demarcation line until a final
agreement on the sea border is reached.
Joras' attorney and president of the Forum for the Slovene Border in
Istria, Danijel Starman, told POP-TV he would write to European
Commission chairman Romano Prodi "because Croatian hooligans
removed the EU flag from Joras' house."
Minister Rupel told reporters in Piran tonight that Croatia had
still not officially cancelled the border deal initialled by the
two countries' prime ministers, and that for Slovenia the deal was
"still current."
Rupel said Slovenia was not dismissing the possibility of
international arbitration on the border.
As for the Piran Bay incidents, which saw Slovene fishing boats
entering Croatian waters on several occasions in the past
fortnight, the minister said they were an attempt by Croatia to
"dictate the future border demarcation," which he said Slovenia
would not allow.
(hina) ha