ZAGREB, January 28, 2018 – President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on Saturday expressed regret that Slovenia had sent fines to Croatian fishermen, saying that such behaviour on Slovenia’s part was irresponsible and could escalate the situation.
Commenting on the Croatian response, which included sending fines to Slovenian fishermen who had crossed the demarcation line in the Bay of Savudrija, she said that Croatia had responded in kind, by resorting to reciprocity as the only course of action it could take under international law.
The President reiterated the need to resume talks to resolve the border dispute.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t want this to happen because it is irresponsible behaviour to start sending fines before reaching an agreement first. Croatia has been constantly calling for dialogue and we have proposed solutions which I believe could be acceptable to Slovenia. This can only escalate the situation and, of course, it is not good to drag our and Slovenian fishermen into this,” Grabar-Kitarović said.
Slovenian police have announced that they have sent the first 14 fines to Croatian fishermen from Savudrija and Umag and that they will continue to enforce the law in a similar way next week. This prompted Croatian police on Saturday to send fines to eight Slovenian fishermen who had been repeatedly caught crossing the border without permission.
“We should respond in kind. That’s the only way to achieve reciprocity under international law. But it’s not good that Slovenia has started to send fines. I think that talks should have continued,” the President said.
