Croatian Ambassador to Slovenia Svjetlan Berkovic was presented on Friday with a protest note from Slovenian authorities regarding Croatia's new regulations on fishing area boundaries in the Croatian Adriatic, officials at the Croatian Foreign Ministry said.
The officials recalled that under the agreement between Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor and Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor, and the agreement on arbitration in the Croatian-Slovenian border dispute, not one unilateral document or act after 25 June 1991 would have legal bearing on decisions to be made by the arbitral tribunal or on any of the parties to the dispute, or prejudge any decisions in any way.
The Croatian Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development has already informed the public that the new regulations do not prejudge the border, officials at the Foreign Ministry said.
Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor said on Thursday that Croatia's regulations on fishing area boundaries had no legal bearing on arbitration proceedings that would solve the bilateral border dispute, but added that the adoption of the regulations was a unilateral step against which Slovenia would officially protest on Friday.
