Overview of the week's top stories since 3 Oct. 2003

• Croatia passes Adriatic plan to concern of Slovenia, EU
• Mayor released, Koper city council wants investigation
• ECHR considering Ljubljanska Banka case

Croatia passes Adriatic plan to concern of Slovenia, EU

On 3 October, the Croatian parliament, the Sabor, voted 70:44 to create an "ecological and fishing zone" on the eastern half of the Adriatic. The plan is slightly different from the Croatian government’s original plan to declare an "exclusive economic zone," which would have given the country wider-reaching authority in the waters off its coast. The ecological and fishing zone is to be implemented within one year’s time.

Ljubljana was not pleased with the news. The Slovene Foreign Ministry released a statement in which it denounced the move. The Ministry based its protests on the idea that it "is in contradiction with Croatia's international legal obligations to refrain from all actions that disable a final implementation of a compromise solution on the sea border between Slovenia and Croatia." Even 12 years after independence, the two countries have come to little agreement on questions of the border between them.

The ministry added that implementation of the plan "prejudices a final implementation of the sea border between the two countries and also interferes with the area over which Slovenia has its sovereignty and sovereign rights." The Ministry also pointed out that the Sabor vote did not conform to European practices, such as multilateralism and compromise.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food also released a statement in which it focused on the consequences of the EEZ for Slovene fishermen.

"Friday's decision of Croatia's parliament will never be acceptable for Slovenia as it threatens the interests of the country in terms of free fishing on the open sea, i.e. in the international part of the Adriatic, and it endangers environmental protection in the Adriatic," the statement reads.

Italy is also troubled by Croatia’s decision. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi met with Slovene Prime Minister Anton Rop on 4 October to discuss the issue. They decided that the two countries’ foreign ministries should form a joint position on the matter as soon as possible.

According to Reuters, Italy brought the matter before the European Commission this week, "saying it viewed Croatia's plans with concern, and hinted it might slow down ratification of Zagreb's associate membership accord." Slovenia has also suggested that any unilateral move in the Adriatic could harm Croatia’s EU membership bid.

The EU intends to adopt a special declaration on Croatia’s move on 13 October in Luxembourg. Croatia hopes to join the union by 2007, while Slovenia joins next May.

Croatia announced its original exclusive economic zone (EEZ) plan on 1 August. The plan would have split the Adriatic down the middle between Croatia and Italy, cutting Slovenia off from international waters. The EEZ would have put Slovenia nearly 500 km from international waters. Under the current plan, Slovene vessels have navigation rights and aircraft have over flight rights, but fishermen will face quotas, licensing fees and other restrictions.

Mayor released, Koper city council wants investigation

Several others are connected to the case, including Igor Vučić, business director of the Local Tourist Agency Koper and Ante Guberec, president of the soccer club Sport Line Koper.

The Croatians are alleging that the fact that they cannot withdraw savings kept in the Yugoslav-era Ljubljanska Banka infringes upon their basic human right to enjoy possessions, laid out in the first protocol of the European Convention on Human Rights. They are also alleging discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, since Slovene depositors have had no such problems.

In early September, a group of Bosnian citizens also threatened to take Slovenia to the European Court of Human Rights on similar allegations.

Because the problem of the fate of funds deposited in the Yugoslav-era Ljubljanska Banka is shared by all of the former Yugoslav republics, official Ljubljana maintains that it must be resolved on a multilateral level, together with other issues surrounding the dissolution of the former Yugoslav federation.

And in other news…

• Slovenia ranked in the top third on the Transparency International annual Corruption Perceptions Index released this week. The country ranked 29 with a score of 5.9. This put the country just behind Cyprus (27^th) but well ahead of EU members Italy (35^th) and Greece (50^th). Slovenia dropped this year, from 27^th in 2002, but is still better off than 2001 when it ranked 34^th, behind both Estonia and Hungary.

• A group of ethnic Slovene children from Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein visited Slovenia this week. The group participated in an educational program at the Academic and Extracurricular Activities Center in Rakovi Škocjan. Nearly 160 students participated from the three countries.

• Editor’s Note: Slovenia News Bulletin will be taking a break for a few weeks but will return in early November.