As has been previously announced, acting on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Croatia on Friday, July 24, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of European and Foreign Affairs Vesna Pusić has sent letters to the Permanent Court of Arbitration and to the European Commission in relation to the latest developments which have seriously brought into question the credibility and legality of the whole of the arbitration procedure between the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Slovenia.
Among other things, the letter sent to the Permanent Court of Arbitration states that the publicly disclosed materials involving communication between Jernej Sekolec, the arbiter appointed by Slovenia, and Simona Drenik, the Slovene agent before the court, have brought into view the fact that there have been violations of the basic principles of the procedure and that the autonomy and the integrity of the arbitration procedure have been severely and systematically infringed.
In the letter to the Court, the remaining arbitration judges have been called on to expeditiously examine the materials containing the information which has inflicted immense damage to the integrity of the entire procedure, as well as to the public perception of its legitimacy. The court has been urged to present its position on what has thus far been disclosed. A well-argued Croatian position on the above has also been produced.
In her letter to the European Commission, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Vesna Pusić has informed the EU body on the measures Croatia has taken with regard to the latest developments related to the fact that the arbitration procedure has been deeply compromised, although Croatia had approached it in good faith and with respect for all the rules of international law and international adjudication.