CROATIA-SLOVENIA/BORDER Croat parliament OKs withdrawal from Slovenia border arbitration

Record ID: 145151

  • Title: CROATIA-SLOVENIA/BORDER Croat parliament OKs withdrawal from Slovenia border arbitration
  • Date: 30th July 2015
  • Summary: ZAGREB, CROATIA (JULY 30, 2015) (REUTERS) ZAGREB MAIN SQUARE EQUESTRIAN STATUE PEOPLE BUYING NEWSPAPERS AT KIOSK FRONT PAGES OF VECERNJI LIST AND JUTARNJI LIST DAILIES VECERNJI LIST HEADLINE READING (Croatian) "CONTROVERSIAL ARBITRATION - PARLIAMENT ORDERS WITHDRAWAL, EUROPEAN COMMISSION SAYS WE CAN'T" PAGE TWO OF VECERNJI LIST DAILY, SHOWING PICTURE OF PARLIAMENT IN SESSI
  • Embargoed: 14th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Croatia
  • Country: Croatia
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA3KVUR4LG4G62YWM97GDG0RVC2
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Residents of Zagreb on Thursday (July 30) expressed support for the decision taken the previous day by Croatia's parliament and government to withdraw from border arbitration with neighbouring Slovenia following a diplomatic scandal.
    Croatia's parliament approved a withdrawal from international border arbitration talks with Slovenia after the leak of a tape purporting to show a Slovenian judge on the panel improperly exchanging confidential information with the Ljubljana government.
    The news of parliament's decision was met with approval by people on the streets of the Croatian capital Zagreb.
    "I think we need to be proud and we need to take a stand towards our own country and towards our neighbours. Not with the intention to disrespect them or do anything wrong by them, but simply to have a proud and fair stance, and not to give our territory to anyone, not even an inch," retired engineer from Zagreb, Ivan Lovric, said.
    "Excellent. It is the only smart decision they ever made, both the government and the parliament, as you know... Congratulations, they should be just as determined going forward, and avoid yielding to the European Commission," local pensioner Zlata Bartovcak concurred.
    "We went to war for our country, didn't we? People were killed... I absolutely support the government and parliament, so that this problem is eliminated. Now Slovenians are pressuring us, they appointed some foreign judge, and so on... Absolutely, I support the government and the parliament on this," fellow retiree Stef Rocic agreed.
    The boundary dispute in the northern Adriatic's Bay of Piran, where Slovenia wants direct access to international waters, prompted Ljubljana to block talks in 2008 on Croatian membership of the European Union.
    The two agreed to international border arbitration, a deal that allowed Croatia to join the EU in 2013, nine years after its neighbour entered the now 28-member bloc.
    The court of arbitration has three international judges and one each from Croatia and Slovenia, and it is meant to be independent of national governments.
    Last Wednesday (July 22), however, Zagreb-based daily Vecernji List published excerpts from a leaked tape in which Slovenian judge Jernej Sekolec discusses confidential details of the case, the probable outcomes and strategy, with Simona Drenik, who represents Slovenia's Foreign Ministry before the court.
    Both resigned last week without giving any statements, after which Slovenia appointed French expert Ronny Abraham, who is president of the Hague-based International Court of Justice, as its arbitrator to replace Sekolec.
    On Wednesday (July 29), Croatian lawmakers unanimously endorsed a proposal put forward by the Social Democrat-led government of Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic, who said the two former Yugoslav republics should seek a different solution to their border dispute, as the arbitration process was now "irreversibly compromised".
    "Whether the arbitration court will continue with its work or not, we don't have anything to do with that. According to the Vienna Convention, Slovenia has a few months to respond to our termination of the agreement and the withdrawal from the agreement due to grave violations of the agreement, and this I think is clear to everyone. To those to whom it is not, it will become clear very soon," he told the Zagreb parliament before the vote.
    The European Commission said the arbitration process should continue as the best way to solve the border issue troubling the two countries.
    While there is no known formal deadline for the panel to report after starting work in 2011, Croatian and Slovenian media reports have suggested it is due to reach a decision this year.
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