LJUBLJANA, Sept 19 (Hina) - Slovene Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel on Friday welcomed the position of Brussels about the need to establish dialogue with Croatia with regard to a dispute caused by Croatia's plan to expand its
jurisdiction in the Adriatic.
LJUBLJANA, Sept 19 (Hina) - Slovene Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel
on Friday welcomed the position of Brussels about the need to
establish dialogue with Croatia with regard to a dispute caused by
Croatia's plan to expand its jurisdiction in the Adriatic. #L#
He reiterated the official position of Ljubljana that Slovenia has
the right to have access to the open sea and does not accept any
unilateral moves by Croatia.
In a statement issued today, the Slovene Foreign Ministry said that
Rupel recently received a letter from EU foreign policy
representative Javier Solana, external relations commissioner
Chris Patten and EU enlargement commissioner Guenter Verheugen,
who informed him about their position regarding the dispute in
response to his request for their opinion about Croatia's plans.
"The EU officials have said that they understand Slovenia's concern
regarding such plans, and that the EU attaches great importance to
solving such issues on the basis of a constructive dialogue," says
the ministry, adding that such a stand was in line with Slovenia's
expectations.
Rupel further says that Solana, Patten and Verheugen have welcomed
Tuesday's meeting between Slovene and Croatian representatives in
Smarjeske Toplice as a way to find mutually acceptable solutions
through dialogue, and recalled the upcoming conference on the
sustainable development of fishing in the Mediterranean, to be held
in Venice.
Rupel also said that Slovenia supported the European policy in the
area of environmental protection and fishing, but that it could not
accept Croatia denying it the right to have access to the open sea.
(hina) rml