Croatia Vows to Shield Fishermen in Piran Gulf

The dispute between Croatia and Slovenia over the Piran Gulf risks going up another notch after Croatian police offered to accompany Croatian fishermen in the waters of the Piran Gulf and ward off any Slovenian attempts to issue them with penalty notices.

The two former Yugoslav republics are locked in an unresolved dispute over the waters off the Istrian peninsula, which both claim.

Demanding that the Croatian state intervene, Croatian fishermen met the country's Agriculture Minister, Tomislav Tolusic, and representatives of the Interior, Foreign and Justice ministries in in Zagreb on Thursday.

The meeting was called after Slovenian police on December 29 started implementing the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, issued six months earlier. This awarded around 80 per cent of disputed water to Slovenia, granting Slovenia also a 2.5-nautical-mile-wide maritime corridor towards international waters.

However, Croatia quit the arbitration process in July 2015 after revelations that taped unauthorised conversations took place between a judge on the panel and a Slovenian diplomat. It therefore has decided to ignore the ruling.

With Slovenian police stopping Croatian fishing boats from entering waters that until recently were under Croatian control, fears have grown that they will receive tickets for illegal fishing, which could be collected whenever they cross the border into Slovenia. Fishermen demanded protection from the Croatian police.

After the talks with government officials, fishermen said that they were satisfied with the outcome, and would continue to consider the middle of the Gulf as the maritime border between the two states. The government has given guarantees that their interests will be protected...