Assistant MFA, Damir Kušen, received the Ambassador of Slovenia to the Republic of Croatia, Dr Andrej Bekeš, in Zagreb

Assistant Minister Kušen noted that the actions of Slovenian police in particular cases were not in accordance with the existing agreement between border police authorities of the two states and he invited Slovenian side to jointly address the European Commission concerning further implementation of the Agreement on Border Traffic and Cooperation and its section dealing with commercial fishing. Slovenia was urged to jointly step up political and diplomatic efforts to overcome the tensions, avoid incidents and eliminate their politisation.

Croatian side called Slovenian authorities to resume negotiations with a view to achieving agreement on the optimum instruments within the framework of international law to permanently settle the issue of delimitation at sea, stressing that Croatia expects restraint with regard to the jurisdiction over the Cove of Savudrija and observance of the agreement.

Guided by the policy of good neighbourly relations, and taking into consideration the positive history of mutual relations between the two countries and peoples, and believing in our joint responsibility toward European values and standards, the Republic of Croatia will continue to contribute to further improvement of our mutual relations and amicable settlement of open issues.