Posted on 02/23/2009 8:38:52 PM PST by Ravnagora
A border row dating back to the collapse of Yugoslavia is threatening Croatia's chances of completing EU membership talks this year and becoming the bloc's 28th member by 2011.
Slovenia, the first former Yugoslav nation to join the EU in 2004, has been blocking talks with Croatia because of the 18-year-old dispute, which mainly concerns a small bay in the Adriatic Sea.
Seen from a boat, Piran is a glorious sight - a Venetian-style city built of limestone and marble, lapped by the blue waters of the Adriatic.
It's easily missed on a map, but this small bay of just 20 square km (eight square miles) is making big diplomatic waves.
Border line
The row centres on access to international waters, which Slovenia treasures because its coastline is just 46km (29 miles) long. By contrast, Croatia's huge Adriatic coast stretches for 1,700km (1056 miles).
However, Croatia claims that the border should be drawn down the middle of the bay of Piran, which Slovenia fears would deny its ships direct passage to the high seas.
When both nations were part of Yugoslavia, borders didn't really matter.
But since they declared independence in 1991, incidents have flared up in the bay, with fishing boats seized and nets damaged.
"It's a big problem," said Milenko Bulezan, a fisherman for 20 years. "If we know where the border is, we go to that line, but we don't know now."
"We're afraid to go over this border," Mr Bulezan said. "The Adriatic Sea before was also for Slovenia, not just for the Croatian side."
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(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
Seem Tudjman’s successors are greedy. I guess cleansing Krajina was not enough.
We should put in a call for Masonezam and Dixonovic.
Peace! Ain’t it great?
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