EU court says no jurisdiction over Slovenia, Croatia border row

ZAGREB, Jan 31 — EU’s Court of Justice said today it lacked jurisdiction to rule on a border row between Slovenia and Croatia but urged the two nations to work to resolve the long-standing issue.

Slovenia filed the case against Croatia with the Luxembourg-based court in July 2018 accusing Zagreb of breaching European Union law by refusing to implement an arbitration ruling on the dispute.

Ljubljana said Zagreb was not implementing a 2017 ruling from the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which allocated Slovenia more than two-thirds of the disputed Piran Bay.

Croatia has refused to recognise the decision and has urged Slovenia to instead start fresh talks on the border spat, which has raged since both countries declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.

Croatia, whose coast stretches for 1,700km (1,054 miles), refused to accept the ruling. It wanted the maritime border to be drawn down the middle of the bay. But, Slovenia which has just 46km of coastline, had argued its access to international waters was at stake.

The EU-backed arbitration court had given both parties six months to implement its decision, but after the deadline expired, police patrols from both countries started fining each other’s fishermen for border and fishing violations.

The Court of Justice said today in a statement that it “lacks jurisdiction to rule on the action brought by Slovenia”. 

However, it said that both EU member states are required under the bloc’s treaty to “strive sincerely to bring about a definitive legal solution consistent with international law” over the dispute.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic tweeted the court’s decision was a “victory for Croatia’s arguments”. 

He called on Slovenia to enter a “dialogue and bilateral talks to reach a lasting solution ... acceptable for both sides”.

Before filing the complaint, Slovenia had asked the European Commission to put pressure on Croatia to implement the ruling, or to launch formal procedures against it.

But Brussels had urged both sides to seek a solution among themselves while offering to mediate. — AFP