Gulf of Piran

The Gulf of Piran ( _sl. Piranski zaliv, _hr. Piranski zaljev "or" Savudrijska vala, _it. Baia di Pirano), named after the Slovenian town of Piran, is a gulf in the northern part of the Adriatic Sea and part of the Gulf of Trieste. It is delimited by the line connecting Cape Savudrija ("Savudrijski rt") in the south to the Cape Madona ("Rt Madona") in the north and measures around convert|19|km².

On the eastern Slovenian coast lay towns of Piran, Portorož and Lucija. On the southern Croatian coast are tourist camps of Crveni vrh and Kanegra, built in the 1980s. The main river flowing into the gulf is Dragonja, whose mouth goes along the border between Croatia and Slovenia. Along the mouth of Dragonja extend the Sečovlje saltpans covering the area of convert|650|ha.

The exact maritime border between Croatia and Slovenia was never defined in the former Yugoslavia. Since their proclamation of independence in 1991, it has been an agenda of conflict for fishermen and police from both countries.

Dispute

History of dispute

Following World War II, the area extending from the north of Trieste to the river Mirna in the south was a part of the Free Territory of Trieste. In 1954, the Territory was dissolved and the area was provisionally divided between Italy and Yugoslavia, and formally annexed by the Treaty of Osimo in 1975. The Yugoslav part was further divided between Slovenia and Croatia, both constituent republics of the federation.

In 1991, shortly after both countries declared independence, in the first draft proposal of delimitation, Slovenia proposed to establish the borderline in the center of the bay, which is the position of Croatia today. However, Slovenia changed its proposal next year. A few months later, on 5 June 1992, Slovenia for the first time declared the sovereignty over the entire gulf.Fact|date=September 2008 Since then, Slovenia has kept insisting on this position.

Arguments

Croatia claims that the border line should be equidistant from both shores. The claim is based on the first sentence of the Article 15 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea [http://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/part2.htm UN convention of the Law of the Sea, Part II] : Full text of the Article 15 reads: Where the coasts of two States are opposite or adjacent to each other, neither of the two States is entitled, failing agreement between them to the contrary, to extend its territorial sea beyond the median line every point of which is equidistant from the nearest points on the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial seas of each of the two States is measured. The above provision does not apply, however, where it is necessary by reason of historic title or other special circumstances to delimit the territorial seas of the two States in a way which is at variance therewith.] .

Slovenian claims are based on the Article 15 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea as well, however its second sentence, which stipulates historical claims and control of the seas supersedes other claims. According to Slovenia, Savudrija was associated with Piran for centuries, and Slovenian police constantly controlled the entire gulf between 1954 and 1991. If this claims would be proven true, Slovenia would hold sovereignty over the entire gulf. This would allow it free access to the open sea. Historical control by Slovenia is disputed by Croatiacite web |url=http://www.pravnadatoteka.hr/pdf/aktualno/hrv/20021015/Turkalj_Razgranicenje_teritorijalnog_mora.pdf |title=Razgraničenje teritorijalnog mora između Hrvatske i Slovenije u sjevernom Jadranu (Piranski zaljev) |first=Kristian |last=Turkalj |accessdate=2008-09-20 |language=Croatian] .

Drnovšek-Račan agreement

On 20 July 2001, the prime ministers of Slovenia and Croatia Janez Drnovšek and Ivica Račan paraphed the so-called Drnovšek-Račan agreement, which defined the entire border between the countries, including the maritime border. [Damir Arnaut. "Stormy Waters on the Way to the High Sees: The Case of the Territorial Sea Delimitation between Croatia and Slovenia". David Caron & Harry Scheiber, Eds., Bringing New Law to Ocean Waters. Klüwer 2004. http://www.brill.nl/m_catalogue_sub6_id21272.htm] According to that agreement, Croatia would get approximately one third of the gulf and a maritime border with Italy, while Slovenia would get a corridor to the international waters. However, the Croatian parliament voted against the ratification of the agreement.

References