Assistant Minister Neven Pelicarić received on his request Slovenian Ambassador Milan Orožen Adamič regarding Slovenia’s protest note

Assistant Minister Pelicarić rejected the Slovenian side’s protests, stating the well-known Croatia’s position that the land on the left side of the St. Odorik Canal is irrefutably a part of the Croatian national territory. The ownership and other proprietary rights over said land are determined by the Croatian laws and are listed in the cadastres and land registries run at the relevant Croatian municipalities and courts. Such position rests primarily on the border situation as it existed on the 25 June 1991 and the exercising of the sovereign authority of the relevant local governing bodies of the Republic of Croatia over said area.

Assistant Minister Pelicarić also rejected as unfounded Slovenia’s positions attacking Croatia for the acts taken by the relevant Croatian bodies in accordance with the Croatian laws and in the area that is indisputably a part of the Croatian national territory. The goal of said acts was to satisfy the interests of the border-area population, in ways foreseen by the Joint Statement on the Avoidance of Incidents from 10 June 2005.

In that regard, Ambassador Adamič was handed a diplomatic note by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration stating those positions.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration reiterated its position on the importance of good relations and co-operation, as well as the need to solve all outstanding issues in the European spirit. In that regard, the MFAEI would like to point out the importance of preparing and holding the meetings of the two commissions foreseen by the agreement between the Croatian and Slovenian prime ministers, reached on 26 August 2007 in Bled, on the joint appearance before the International Court of Justice in The Hague.