At a press conference today, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Mr Janez Janša, spoke about the Croatian Ecological and Fisheries Protection Zone (EFPZ) in the Adriatic Sea. According to the Prime Minister, Croatia's unilateral declaration and enforcement of the zone raises a problem which concerns the European Union, since by enforcing the zone Croatia is failing to honour its pre-accession commitments to the European Union.

 

(Photo: Kristina Kosec/Bobo)

 

Mr Janša said that the agreement reached by Slovenia, Italy, Croatia and the European Commission in 2004, under which the Croatian Ecological and Fisheries Zone would not apply to the EU Member States, was acceptable to Slovenia. He also added that the Slovenian Government would insist on the existing agreement until a new acceptable solution was generated.

 

(Photo: Kristina Kosec/Bobo)

 

According to the Prime Minister, the time which the Slovenian Government and the European Commission had given Croatia either to implement the international agreement reached previously or to propose a new solution is starting to run out. “We expect solutions to be produced as soon as a new government has been formed, enabling the newly-constituted Croatian Parliament to adopt decisions in this matter,” said the Prime Minister. He regretted that the incident with Croatia had marked the beginning of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, but nonetheless confirmed that, even in its role as presiding country, Slovenia would defend its legitimate national interests. “There is no way in which the situation which some are currently attempting to establish may interfere with Slovenia’s sovereign rights in the Adriatic Sea nor can it in any respect predetermine a final solution or arrangement regarding the maritime border between Slovenia and Croatia,” stressed the Prime Minister, going on to add that the Government would reimburse Slovenian fishermen for any damages they might incur on account of the situation.

 

(Photo: Kristina Kosec/Bobo)

 

The Prime Minister mentioned some previous examples of Croatia's failing to adhere to agreements that had already been concluded, which he called “a tale of credibility”. The most well-known of these cases was the Drnovšek-Račan agreement, which, in his opinion, had adversely affected a number of other unresolved issues between the two countries. Further examples of Croatia’s failing to keep its word which he cited were the arrangements relating to the problems of holders of savings account at the former Zagreb branch of Ljubljanska banka, a matter to be discussed by the International Monetary Fund, the Brioni declaration on the avoidance of incidents, and Croatia’s attempt to unilaterally demarcate the continental shelves in the Adriatic Sea between Slovenia and Italy. Here the Prime Minister pinpointed a difference between the present situation and former incidents, namely that the earlier incidents had “represented a dilemma, complication or problem in bilateral relations between Slovenia and Croatia, while the current one is a problem primarily between Croatia and the European Union.”