Croatia, Italy and Slovenia declare an exclusive economic zone in the Adriatic Sea

Croatia, Italy and Slovenia declare an exclusive economic zone in the Adriatic Sea

The Croatian government approved a decision to declare an exclusive economic zone in the Adriatic Sea, along with Italy and Slovenia. The zone will be formally established in January following a tripartite meeting of ministers from all stakeholders. The Croatian parliament will vote on the decision at Thursday's extraordinary meeting, said Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovič.

All countries will have freedom and rights

During a discussion with the Slovenian and Italian partners, the Croatian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlič Radman "reached an understanding" and will officially announce the creation of a common zone at the end of the year. Grlič Radman added that they will also discuss strengthening cooperation in the Adriatic area with the aim of protecting the environment and managing the so-called blue economy. The Croatian Minister of Foreign Affairs also informed the European Union and neighboring states about the zone. And he talked about it at a video conference, Mediterranean Dialogue. He emphasized that that the exclusive economic zone will be declared in accordance with the Maritime Code, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and EU law, and that this zone will remain a maritime area where all countries have freedom and rights guaranteed by international law, without prejudice to sovereign rights, and jurisdiction of Croatia. In this context, the Minister of Agriculture Marija Vuckovičová said that the VHZ will further improve the already "close and recently even excellent cooperation with Italy" in matters of fishing fleets and resource management.

The invitation of Slovenia was a good will

The Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs said last week that the declaration of an exclusive economic zone was the result of the implementation of the Croatia-Italy Common Fisheries Policy, as well as environmental cooperation. Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša noted during questions in parliament that it was "goodwill" for Italy and Croatia to invite Slovenia to negotiate their plans to declare an exclusive economic zone in the Adriatic. Janša discussed this with Plenkovič and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte last weekend. Under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, countries have the right to declare an exclusive economic zone up to 200 nautical miles from their coasts. This means that the country has exclusive rights in this zone regarding the exploitation of marine resources, in particular energy production and fisheries.