ZAGREB, January 30, 2018 – Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Tuesday said that Zagreb regretted that Slovenia was continuing pursuing its “unacceptable policy of unilaterally implementing the arbitration decision,” and underscored that Croatia would respond in the same way to fines issued by Slovenia’s police to Croatian fishermen.
“I am sorry that Slovenia is continuing pursuing its unacceptable policy of unilaterally implementing the arbitration decision from the process that Croatia withdrew from and the ruling that Croatia does not recognise,” Plenković told reporters. He added that according to “international law, it is impossible to unilaterally implement a decision like that.”
“This option of theirs to send misdemeanour orders to our fishermen is deeply incorrect. They are unilateral acts. We, as a serious country, have been prepared this entire time to reciprocate and will do so. As such, Croatian police will respond with the same measure to the trespassing of our territory by Slovenian fishermen so that we clearly demonstrate our firmness,” Plenković said.
The prime minister stressed that Croatian fishermen would not pay the fines. “We will find mechanisms how to help them legally and challenge these misdemeanour orders that the Slovenian police have sent,” he said.
