Posted on 09/01/2003 4:18:02 PM PDT by joan
Slovenia on Monday threatened to withdraw its support for Croatia's European Union aspirations in response to Zagreb's plans to proclaim an exclusive economic zone in the Adriatic Sea.
"We are coming to the point at which Slovenia will have to re-consider its policy (of backing Croatia's accession to the EU)," Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said.
However, Croatian President Stipe Mesic replied that it was "in Slovenia's interest that Croatia accelerates its approach to both the European Union and Mesic also voiced regret over the Slovenian government Sunday's move to recall its ambassador to Zagreb, Peter Bekes, "for consultations" amid outrage at Croatia's plans to lay claim to a large part of the Adriatic.
Croatia and Italy propose to divide the Adriatic Sea bordering their territorial waters into two exclusive economic zones, leaving Slovenia without direct access to international shipping waters leading to the Mediterranean.
This has brought to a head a long-standing row between Croatia and Slovenia over access to the Adriatic.
The two former Yugoslav states have since independence in 1991 been locked in a dispute over their shared border at Piran Bay on the Adriatic.
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