ZAGREB, Jan 22 (Hina) - Croatia has open problems in determining the border line with all neighbourly countries established after the collapse of the former Yugoslavia (SFRY), Hrvoje Kacic, the Croatian state border commission's head,
told Hina on Friday. At some spots Croatia has not yet achieved the full territorial integrity, Kacic added. It is only Hungary with which Croatia has no open border issues, he stressed. The Croatian border with Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia and Yugoslavia (Serbia/Montenegro) has not still been defined, and Croatia cannot carry out control over its territory at such spots as the Old Town (Stari Grad) in Hrvatska Kostajnica (100 km south-east of Zagreb) the southernmost peninsula of Prevlaka and islets in the Danube river (eastern Croatia), Kacic added. Considering the great length of Croatian borderlines which total over 3,000 kilometres, Kacic stressed that the determin
ZAGREB, Jan 22 (Hina) - Croatia has open problems in determining the
border line with all neighbourly countries established after the
collapse of the former Yugoslavia (SFRY), Hrvoje Kacic, the
Croatian state border commission's head, told Hina on Friday.
At some spots Croatia has not yet achieved the full territorial
integrity, Kacic added.
It is only Hungary with which Croatia has no open border issues, he
stressed.
The Croatian border with Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia and
Yugoslavia (Serbia/Montenegro) has not still been defined, and
Croatia cannot carry out control over its territory at such spots as
the Old Town (Stari Grad) in Hrvatska Kostajnica (100 km south-east
of Zagreb) the southernmost peninsula of Prevlaka and islets in the
Danube river (eastern Croatia), Kacic added.
Considering the great length of Croatian borderlines which total
over 3,000 kilometres, Kacic stressed that the determination of
borders will be a protracted process which demands a high level of
skill and knowledge, responsibility and the conscientious
approach.
According to him, Croatia respects the state of the inter-republic
borders of June 25, 1991, the day when independence was declared and
when the borders became international frontiers.
Kacic maintained that problems of land borders should be given
priority.
Negotiations with Bosnia-Herzegovina on border issues, which are
to resume on 25 January in Sarajevo, have been burdened by the fact
that the Bosnian central commission for identification and
demarcation of state border is not efficient due to different
stands of Croat, Moslem and Serb representatives who are in the
commission.
As regards the border with Slovenia, Kacic said negotiations
between the two countries had been protracted.
A significant progress has been achieved, but some issues take more
time, Kacic explained.
The most difficult question in this case is the Bay of Piran, as
Slovenia requests that the territorial part connected with the open
sea in the bay should belong to it, he added.
The issue of the sea border has been brought into focus, he said
adding that there was no major shifts from the preliminary stands.
Considering the sea border between Croatia and Bosnia near Neum,
Kacic did not believe that the opinions of the two countries would
differ on this question.
There is a principle that those who have a coast, should have a part
of the sea, and as it follows from the state of affairs in 1991, this
principle should be respected.
In regard with the eastern border with Yugoslavia on the Danube, the
definition of this frontier is to commence. Croatia has some
territory across the Danube at its left bank, whereas Yugoslavia
has not so much land at the right bank of the river.
However, traffic is being conducted at 14 border crossings in this
region, Kacic said, while the situation is more complex in the
south, at the border between Croatia and Montenegro. It was not
before 20 January this year that Croatia and Montenegro agreed on
opening border crossings at Debeli Brijeg and Konfin on Prevlaka.
Yugoslavia stills considers Prevlaka as a territorial problem,
while for my country it is only a security issue, Kacic said.
For Croatia, Prevlaka is in principle a solved problem of the land
border, and the resolution of the border on the sea should be based
on the 1982 international convention on the maritime law, he said.
On January 15, the UN Security Council extended the mandate of UN
monitors for another six months on Prevlaka, failing to express
explicitly that this area is a part of Croatia's territory.
Asked whether Prevlaka was a territorial problem for the Security
Council, Kacic replied that on January 11, 1992, the Badinter
commission took a stand that the then borders between the republics
(of the SFRY) became frontiers protected by the international law.
This stand was adopted by the Hague conference on the former
Yugoslavia (ICFY), and according to the demand of the ICFY, the last
soldier of the then Yugoslav Army (JNA) had to leave Croatia,
including Prevlaka, in autumn 1992, Kacic explained.
This stand was also quoted by a declaration of Croatian President
Franjo Tudjman and the then Yugoslav President Dobrica Cosic of
September 20, 1992, announced in Geneva, he added.
UN Security Council resolutions, including the latest one, have
followed these achievements. Therefore, Kacic said, Croatia has
the reason for believing that the international community, and the
Security Council as well, will respect the international law.
(hina) mm ms