The memorandum was signed aboard the ship Bukva, owned by a local fisherman, a mile off the middle of the Bay of Savudrija, which the Slovenes refer to as the Bay of Piran.
The signatories demand that Croatia resolve its problems with Slovenia separately rather than in a package, relying on international law.
They believe that the problem of sea border delimitation should be solved by arbitration in line with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the issue of the Krsko nuclear power plant should also be resolved by arbitration based on the International Energy Charter, while the problem of deposits by Croatian citizens in Ljubljanska Banka should be solved through lawsuits as already decided by the Human Rights Court.
Letica and the HSP want Croatia to abolish Article 39 of the Cross-border Cooperation Agreement which allows Slovene fishermen to fish in Croatian territorial waters, as well as Article 71 of the Sea Fisheries Act which allows foreigners to fish in Croatian waters.
"The Croatian Coastal Guard must be present in the Bay of Savudrija in view of frequent violations of Croatian sovereignty at sea by Slovene police. At the same time, judicial authorities and the Interior Ministry should vehemently respond to any attempt at violating Croatian sovereignty on land, particularly with regard to the borderline and border crossing," Tadic said.
Letica said that the border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia dated back to 1993 when the Slovene Parliament adopted a memorandum on the Bay of Piran, after which "Slovenia has been trying at all costs to gain control of the whole Bay of Savudrija and change the border at Croatia's expense in order to gain access to international waters."
The signing was attended by fishermen from Savudrija, led by the chairman of the Istria County Fishermen's Guild, Zeljko Majdenic.