LJUBLJANA, Sept 4 (Hina) - The Slovene Foreign Ministry on Wednesday sent the Croatian Embassy in Ljubljana two protest notes concerning Monday's events in Piran Bay.
LJUBLJANA, Sept 4 (Hina) - The Slovene Foreign Ministry on
Wednesday sent the Croatian Embassy in Ljubljana two protest notes
concerning Monday's events in Piran Bay. #L#
The first note refers to "attempts by Croatian bodies to assume
jurisdiction over the Slovene territorial waters and to the
harassment of Slovene fishermen".
Ljubljana also strongly protests against actions by Croatian
fishermen who the Slovene ministry claims on Monday "prevented
Slovene fishermen from fishing on the Slovene state territory".
"We state with great concern that contrary to the situation at the
time when the country gained independence, on June 25, 1991, the
frequency of Croatian police and fishing boats entering the Slovene
territorial waters has been increasing, which has worsened
relations between the countries," says the Slovene ministry,
calling on Croatia "to refrain from all actions which could cause
incidents".
The second note is a reply to the protest note the Croatian Foreign
Ministry sent Ljubljana with regard to the same incident.
It is stated in the note that the middle line in Piran Bay did not
represent the demarcation line between the two countries and that
in interpreting where the demarcation line at sea should be,
Croatia referred only to the first item of Article 15 of the UN
Convention on the Law of the Sea, which "negates historical facts
about the situation in Piran Bay".
"According to the coordinates stated in the Croatian note, we
conclude that the said fishing vessels were in the Slovene
territorial waters and that Slovene fishermen were prevented from
fishing by Croatian fishermen and police," reads the Slovene
Foreign Ministry note.
(hina) rml sb