Location of Disputed Areas Between Slovenia and Croatia
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IEMed. Mediterranean Yearbook 2017 336 Maps Appendices MAP A.19a | Location of Disputed Areas between Slovenia and Croatia THE ARBITRATION PROCESS. Since their independence in 1991, Slovenia and Croatia have made several bilateral efforts to delineate their common sea and land border. In AUSTRIA 2001, the Račan-Drnovšek Agreement represented the first major attempt to define the entire border but the agreement Maribor did not enter into force since Croatia never ratified it. In November 2009, both countries finally signed an agreement HUNGARY to submit all the disputed segments of their boundaries to the Permanent Court of Arbitration of The Hague, after Slovenia blocked the Croatian EU accession process from December 2008 to September 2009. In July 2015, the press reported that a Slovenian judge on the arbitration panel, Jernej Sekolec, had been in collusion with a representative from the ITALY Ljubljana Slovenian government, Simona Drenik. Both of them resigned and according to an internal investigation of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, no leak of information had occurred. However, in July 2015, the Croatian Parliament voted for the SLOVENIA withdrawal of Croatia from the arbitration process alleging that the arbitration had suffered irreparable damages because of the Slovenian breach. The court issued a final award on 29 June 2017. This award establishes the land boundary based on the uti possidetis principle, cadastral Zagreb documentation and historical evidence / effectivités provided by the parties. In the case of the sea border, the Court grants Trieste Slovenia three quarters of the Bay of Piran and a 2.5 nautical-mile wide and approximately 10 nautical-mile long corridor through Croatian waters to give Slovenia direct Koper access to international waters. While Slovenia has accepted the ruling, the Croatian government assures that the decision is not legally binding and that Croatia has no intention of implementing it. CROATIA Rijeka MURA RIVER REGION. According to Slovenia, the border should follow the course of the Mura river as a natural boundary between the regions of Prekmurje (Slovenia) and Medjimurje (Croatia), following the division between the Dravska (Slovenia) and Savska (Croatia) banates defined in the 1929 Act on the Name and Division of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Croatia focuses on the uti possidetis principle and refers to the Austro-Hungarian administrative borders defined in 1860 Pula BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA and observed by the Treaty of Trianon (1920) for those areas gained by Yugoslavia from Hungary after WWI in the Mura region, in which the cadastral district boundaries overlap ADRIATIC SEA significantly. Own production. Source: Permanent Court of Arbitration: https://pcacases.com/web/view/3 MAP A.19b | Location of Disputed Areas between Slovenia and Croatia Italy-Croatia continental shelf border CENTRAL REGION. According to Slovenia, the boundary 1975 Treaty of Osimo (TO): should follow geographical features, mainly the course of the boundary with Italy rivers Drava, Sava, Bregana, Sotla, Kamenica, Kupa/Kolpa Croatia’s 12NM territorial sea and Čabranka or the Trdinov Vrh/Sveta Gera mountain in line with the 1929 banate system of Yugoslavia that modified the Bay of Piran closing line ITALY previous Austro-Hungarian boundaries. Croatia focuses on Croatian claim the uti possidetis principle, and the cadastral district Slovenian claim boundaries in force until 1991, arguing that the 1929 Act confirmed by the 1931 Yugoslav Constitution, did not modify Tribunal’s decision the historical borders between Croatia, Styria and Carniola 2.5 NM wide Junction Area set in 1860 by the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. to High Sea through GULF OF Croatian waters TRIESTE ISTRIA REGION. The parties agree that no historical boundary ever existed in Istria before WWII. In the Eastern 45º37’53.58’’N, 13º37’43.46’’E TO 3 Trieste part of Istria, the disagreement mainly focuses on cadastral ITALIAN TERRITORIAL SEA overlapping and at the Tomšič Plots on the interpretation of the boundary based on the former border between Italy and Yugoslavia (Treaty of Rapallo, 1920). In the western part, Croatia applies the uti possidetis principle and contends that TO 2 45º33’57.4’’N, 13º23’04’’E B in 1944 a de facto agreement was reached to set a border SLOVENIAN TERRITORIAL SEA 45º35’56.01N, 13º42’43.42’’E along the Dragonja River that was applied when the Zone B 45º32’49.99’’N, 13º18’43.62’’E TO 4 of the Free State of Trieste was transferred to Yugoslavia. C 45º32’22.5’’N, 13º27’07.7’’E Izola Koper However, Slovenia claims that the border is south of the river while Croatia claims that the border is on the river itself (St. Cape Madona Odorik channel). Slovenia bases its position on the principle A 45º30’41.7’’N, 13º31’25.7’’E SLOVENIA of equity and historical rights and contends the 1944 45º30’43.2’’N, 13º20’56.3’’E D Cape Savudrija BAY OF PIRAN agreement was a mere practical and provisional solution. St. Odorik Channel mouth TO 5 45º27’11.02’’N, 13º12’37.68’’E BAY OF PIRAN AND SLOVENIAN ACCESS TO INTERNATIONAL WATERS. Slovenia appeals to the uti possidetis principle and claims the integrity of the bay, E 45º23’56.6’’N, 13º13’34.6’’E alleging that it had the status of internal waters under the former Yugoslavia. Croatia claims the Bay was part of the territorial sea of Yugoslavia so Art.15 of the United Nations CROATIAN TERRITORIAL SEA Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) must be applied to divide the bay along an equidistant line. HIGH SEA CROATIA Slovenia also claims a continental shelf in a junction area granting Slovenia free access to high seas. Such a claim is contrary to international maritime delimitation laws, according to Croatia. Own production. Source: Permanent Court of Arbitration: https://pcacases.com/web/view/3 IEMed. Mediterranean Yearbook 2017 337 Maps Appendices.