Following the arbitration tribunal decision, incidents have been reported in the disputed area.
The Slovenian police reported two incidents at Piran Bay yesterday, according to the Slovenian media. Croatian fishermen sailed in twice (the second time together with a Croatian police ship) to an area controlled by the Slovenian police and considered by Slovenia to be part of its territory. They left the area after being warned. On the other hand, the Croatian Interior Ministry reported three incidents at Piran Bay yesterday, reports Index.hr on 2 July 2017.
According to the Slovenian police, the first fishing vessel sailed into Slovenian territorial waters. The Slovenian police warned the fishermen, and soon after two Croatian police ships arrived at the location. All three ships left the disputed area after a warning.
The second incident took place in the afternoon when the second fishing vessel sailed into the Slovenian territorial waters and started fishing. Two ships of the Croatian police accompanied the fishermen and left the area after a warning.
The Croatian Interior Ministry also issued a statement referring to the incidents that took place on Saturday.
“On 1 July 2017, the Croatian police recorded three cases of violations of the demarcation at sea.
At 10:45, within the territorial sea of the Republic of Croatia, a police vessel of the Republic of Croatia found a Slovenian police vessel, and after it had established contact, it issued a warning that they were within the territorial sea of Croatia and should leave, which they did at 11.05. Before the arrival of the Croatian police vessel, the Slovenian police ship in transit, without stopping, warned Croatian fishermen that they were in the territorial sea of Slovenia and then left without any action towards the fishermen.
At 11:00, near the demarcation line, a Slovenian police boat entered by about 0.8 miles into the territorial sea of the Republic of Croatia. A contact with the vessel was established and it was warned that it is located within the territorial sea of the Republic of Croatia. The Slovenian police boat then left the territorial sea of Croatia.
At 14:06, a Slovenian police vessel was seen entering the Croatian territorial sea sailing towards a Croatian fishermen boat. Before the arrival of the Slovenian police ship to the fishermen boat, 0.3 miles within the territorial waters of the Republic of Croatia, a contact with the Slovenian police was established, they were warned to leave the territorial sea of the Republic of Croatia, which they did at 14:28. There was no contact between the Croatian fishermen and the Slovenian police ship,” reported the Croatian Interior Ministry.
The incidents follow Thursday’s announcement of the arbitration decision in the border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia, which awarded three-quarters of Piran Bay to Slovenia. Two years ago, Croatia left the arbitration proceedings and announced it would not accept the verdict.
