Croatia–Slovenia border disputes

[19] When Slovenia notified the UN Secretariat in 1995 of its succession to Yugoslavia's ratification of the Convention (continuing the agreement), it included a note saying that this system of exclusive economic zones has become part of international law[clarification needed] and asserted its rights as a geographically disadvantaged state.

[18][clarification needed] The convention makes it clear that any decision to declare an exclusive economic zone should be made in co-operation with all interested parties; Croatian sources claim that Slovenia's self-description as a geographically disadvantaged state amounts to an admission that it is a country without access to international waters.

[31][32] Among the Slovenian citizens residing in the area on the left bank of the Dragonja river is Joško Joras, whose refusal to recognize any Croatian jurisdiction after the two countries' independence has led since the early 1990s to numerous conflicts between Slovenia and Croatia.

Since 2008, local farmers – (such as from the northern Međimurje towns of Štrigova, Sveti Martin na Muri, Mursko Središće and Podturen) – had to reach their properties (fields, meadows or woods) on the river's other side by crossing the strict Schengen border checkpoints.

[citation needed] In 2007, the prime ministers Sanader and Janša achieved an unbinding agreement in principle to solve the border problem using the International Court of Justice in the Hague.

[citation needed] Zmago Jelinčič, leader of the right-wing Slovene National Party (SNS), has reportedly stated that Slovenia should block Croatia's EU accession until the matter is resolved.

[53] On 23 September 2004 Slovenia threatened to veto Croatia's EU accession after Croatian border police detained 12 Slovenes, among them Janez Podobnik (leader of the opposition Slovenian People's Party (SPP)), after they refused to show their identification at the Sečovlje crossing point.

[58][59] In August 2007, the Croatian proposal for solving the disputed border issues before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg was rejected by Slovenia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Dimitrij Rupel.

[62] Before December 2008, Slovenia had rejected claims that it was responsible for blocking Croatia's EU accession, stating that the process's slowness was "because [Zagreb] has difficulties meeting the standards of the organization it wants to join".

[64] Slovenia's Prime Minister Borut Pahor stated at the time that documents – notably maps – that Croatia had provided as part of its candidacy for accession could prejudice a resolution of the two countries' long-running border dispute.

On 21 November 2008, Pahor gave a speech declaring that for the "last 14 days we have been in lively contact with the French EU presidency and are thankful for taking into consideration of our objections, so that the issue can be resolved on the adequate way".

According to Žbogar, these were documents from the chapters Agriculture, Food safety, Veterinary & Phytosanitary Policy, Taxation, Infrastructure, Regional politics and structural instruments, Justice, Freedom and Security as well as Environment.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner expressed his surprise at Slovenia's move to block Croatia just due to the dispute over a "few kilometres of coast".

[citation needed] "The blockade of 10 chapters, 8 for opening and 2 for closing, is a move without precedent in the history of the negotiations of European Union", said Croatia's then Prime Minister Ivo Sanader.

[93] Bernd Posselt, the German representative at the European parliament, condemned on 18 December 2008 the Slovenian government's act of blockade, calling it "Anti-European aggression".

Posselt, a representative of the Bavarian CSU Party in the European parliament, also called it an act of "ransom": "The Slovene socialist government is abusing its right for a veto.

Because of a marginal bilateral dispute, Slovenia is blackmailing the middle European candidate country Croatia, excellently prepared for an EU accession, even though the deeply pro-European Croatian government expressed its readiness to let all the unresolved problems get resolved at the international arbitration a long time ago", he said.

[56][98] Controversy erupted over claims that Andrej Šiško, a SSN member convicted for an attempted murder and sentenced to 22 months in prison, was released for a day in Rogoza to attend the negotiations of the highest body of his Party with Pahor about preventing a referendum.

[100] Croatian newspaper Večernji list columnist Milan Jajčinović wrote in response "Slovenia's Prime Minister Borut Pahor, it seems, got scared of the created madness he himself contributed to.

[117] The Slovene People's Party (SLS) announced that it would start collecting signatures of support for a referendum on the arbitration agreement between Slovenia and Croatia that is to determine the manner in which the final border between the two countries is to be set down.

[citation needed] The Arbitration Agreement between Croatia and Slovenia was signed in Stockholm on 4 November 2009, by both countries' prime ministers, Jadranka Kosor and Borut Pahor, and the EU President, Fredrik Reinfeldt.

The barracks are on Croatian territory; however, the Tribunal "observes that it has no jurisdiction to address Croatia's request for a declaration as to the presence of Slovenian civilian and military personnel in that area".

[140] Benelux - Prime Ministers Xavier Bettel, Mark Rutte and Charles Michel issued a joint statement in which they supported the verdict and called on "both parties to adhere to an arbitrary decision-making structure.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel stated, during the press conference in Berlin in June 2017, that Germany "calls upon both countries to accept the verdict and implement it".

According to the Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar, German Chancellor Angela Merkel confirmed to him during their meeting at a 2017 Western Balkans Summit that her government believes that verdict should be implemented.

[158] On 6 September 2017, Slovenia informed the Deputy Permanent Representatives of EU Member States that it could not support membership in the OECD "if a particular country does not meet the membership criteria (especially the rule of law, respecting the international law and international courts)", referring to Croatia's rejection of the arbitration verdict, although Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar later added that the warning wasn't meant just for Croatia, but for any other country.

[162] This solution is similar to the idea of the academician Davorin Rudolf who proposed that the Bay should be governed as condominium which means that it wouldn't be divided nor would it be extraterritorial, but that both Croatia and Slovenia would have sovereignty over it simultaneously.

After the several-hour-long meeting, the prime ministers confirmed their previous standpoints, with Cerar stating that Croatia "works against civilization standards and good neighborly relations," and Plenković replying that arbitration ruling was "non-existent" and that 29 December would be a "day as any other".

In response, Croatian Foreign Ministry called on Slovenia to "refrain from the unilateral implementation of measures aimed at attempting to change the situation in the field" and on "a constructive dialogue on resolutions of border disputes".

Slovenia also accused Croatia of violating the Common Fisheries Policy by sending police escorts to guard its fishing boats in contested waters, and preventing Slovenian inspectors from boarding the vessels.