HSP leader Anto Djapic said the motives for the convention were Croatia's negotiations on accession to the European Union and new development-related challenges. In attendance were HSP members from seven Croatian counties on the Adriatic -- Istria, Primorje-Gorski Kotar, Lika-Senj, Zadar, Sibenik-Knin, Split-Dalmatia, and Dubrovnik-Neretva.
The convention addressed issues of strategic importance for the coastal counties -- demarcation of the state border, shipowners' requirements, development of tourism, fisheries and fishing ports, the need to set up a coast guard, the coast's road connections with inland Croatia, agriculture, protection of potable water, prohibition of GMO, and waste.
Djapic also spoke of a proposal to set up an Adriatic Euroregion and the southern port of Ploce. He urged supporting dialogue between the east and west coasts of the Adriatic Sea, and said the HSP could not accept the establishment of a region which would negate Croatia's borders or have Italian regions imposing their will on Croatian counties.
Djapic said it was pointless for Croatian counties to join the Adriatic Euroregion if Croatia did not have an Adriatic strategy or if there was no coordination among its seven Adriatic counties.
The convention ended with the adoption of the 13-item Adriatic Resolution.
The document says, among other things, that Croatia has to base its relations with its Adriatic neighbours on international agreements and international law conventions, notably the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
"State sovereignty on the sea is inseparable from state sovereignty on land. Therefore, concessions to neighbouring states regarding the border on the sea or the joint supervision of the sea alongside Prevlaka and Savudrija are unacceptable. The sea border with Slovenia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina needs to respect the principle of the middle line and the findings of the Badinter commission, and the settlement of the dispute should be left to the International Court of Justice or the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea," reads the Resolution.
It also says that the payment of war damages must be the prerequisite for normalising relations with countries which committed aggression against Croatia, that Croatia must apply without delay its protected ecology and fisheries zone in the Adriatic, and that the Adriatic Sea deserves the status of a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area in line with International Maritime Organisation regulations.
The document also says that concessions to neighbouring states regarding the immunity of their troops or free entry of their war ships in Croatian territorial waters are not acceptable, except for the part stemming from membership of international security organisations.
The HSP further said that also unacceptable was selling Croatian islands to foreigners, majority foreign ownership or foreign supervision over Croatian ports, and foreign licences on Croatian roads or ports.