ZAGREB, Sept 11 (Hina) - The president of the Democratic Centre, Mate Granic, told Hina on Wednesday that Croatian fishermen supported the Agreement on Cross-Border Traffic and Co-operation from 1997 which he as the then foreign
minister signed, however, they ask that provisions that relate to fishing be changed because circumstances had changed since then.
ZAGREB, Sept 11 (Hina) - The president of the Democratic Centre,
Mate Granic, told Hina on Wednesday that Croatian fishermen
supported the Agreement on Cross-Border Traffic and Co-operation
from 1997 which he as the then foreign minister signed, however,
they ask that provisions that relate to fishing be changed because
circumstances had changed since then. #L#
The Slovenians limited the space available for fishing by a law,
protected the sea bed, there is less fish and more fishermen, Granic
said and reminded that the Agreement provided room for amendments.
Croatian fishermen will not provoke any incidents in Piran Bay but
will forward a letter to the Croatian government with this demand,
Granic said at the end of a meeting with representatives of the
Fishermen's Guild from the Buje region held in Delnice.
The DC president also said that the party would reject Tuesday's
agreement between the Croatian and Slovene premiers on a temporary
regime in Piran Bay because it was superficial and did not resolve
anything.
He said that according to his information, the Croatian and
Slovenian premiers agreed on the establishment of "a joint
supervising service" that would monitor and regulate fishing in the
area from the Slovenian border to Vrsar. Granic said that it was not
certain what would the joint supervising service represent.
No temporary demarcation has been determined nor any temporary
border regime but the problem is trying to be resolved with a border
agreement but, Granic said and added that it would be dangerous if
Slovenian police were allowed to come out of Piran bay.
He estimated that the agreement, even though temporary, did not
pre-empt the border and was still unacceptable for Croatia. The DC
president said his party agreed with the fishermen from the Buje
Region.
Granic announced that his party would open a discussion in
parliament on Croatia's foreign policy and border issues.
The president Fishermen's Guild from the Buje Region, Daniel Kolec,
told Hina that the agreement needed to be frozen and new
negotiations started with Slovenia in efforts to avoid new
conflicts.
(hina) sp it ha