No breakthrough in implementation of arbitration award
Ljubljana, 17 December - Slovenia-Croatia relations further worsened this year as Slovenia formally asserted on 30 December 2017 sovereignty over the land and sea it was awarded by a Hague-based tribunal six months earlier, an award that Croatia continues to reject.
Ljubljana
The map of the Slovenian-Croatian border in the Bay of Piran as determined by the Hague-based international arbitration tribunal.
Photo: Nebojša Tejić/STA
File photo
With Slovenia now implementing the ruling which sets the the border south of the line dividing the Piran Bay in half and Croatia insisting the median line is the border, fishing boats from both countries have been caught up in administrative procedures, with fines climbing into tens of thousands of euro.
Slovenia wanted the European Commission as the guardian of EU treaties to take a more determined stance on Croatia's refusal to implement the award, and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker even offered the Commission could mediate.
However, in the absence of any tangible progress, Slovenia announced it would block Croatia's efforts to join the OECD and the Schengen zone and even took Croatia to court. The lawsuit, filed with the EU's Court of Justice in July, is based of Article 259 of the Lisbon Treaty and accuses Croatia of violations of EU law.
To Slovenia's disappointment, the Commission had not upheld Slovenia's plan to take Croatia to court, leaving the country to act on its own, even if its Legal Service advised it to back up Slovenia's positions in its case against Croatia.
The Legal Service said that most of the claims put forward by Slovenia alleging Croatia's breach of EU law could be confirmed, so the Commission should issue a reasoned opinion against Croatia.
Slovenian officials hope this bodes well for the court case, but it also means that Slovenia and Croatia could not take the border issues off their agenda more than a quarter century since they became independent.