Croatian MPs Vote to End Slovenia Arbitration
With all 141 MPs present, the Croatian parliament voted against the arbitration agreement with Slovenia at a special session on Wednesday, unanimously backing the stance of the country's government.
The vote obliges the government to start the process of leaving the arbitration agreement with Slovenia over the disputed waters in the Piran Gulf after media revelations of secret and unauthorised conversations between a judge at the Permanent Court of Arbitration and the Slovene representative at the court.
A parliamentary statement adopted at the session said that Slovenia had "severely breached" the treaty and made it impossible for the arbitration to continue.
"The principles of fairness, legality, independence and credibility, were systematically and severely violated," the statement said.
But the European Commission warned on Wednesday that even if Croatia tries to leave the arbitration process, the court will continue to work on the Piran Gulf issue, and that there is "no sustainable alternative to the arbitration procedure".
The Croatian government responded however that "the European Commission does not have jurisdiction over the issue of the arbitration agreement", claiming that it is solely a bilateral agreement between two equal EU member states.
Before the vote, Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic told lawmakers that the arbitration agreement had been "compromised" and so Zagreb had to pull out.
"Whether the arbitration court continues its work or not, we will have nothing to do with it anymore. The court may continue to work, but we won't recognise any of its decisions," Milanovic said.
Last week, newspaper Vecernji list published recordings of unauthorised phone conversations between Jernej...
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