Gun-Boat Diplomacy

The latest disputes between the, until now, "allied" republics of Slovenia and Croatia best prove that the egoistic state reasons that existed while the partly handicapped states were gaining their independence will, in the near future, be the cause of many unpleasant confrontations on the territory of former Yugoslavia---even where they were least to be expected. Apart from a few minor disputes over the definition of the Croatian-Slovenian border, there exist another three important points on which the two states' politicians haven't managed to agree so far. The fact that almost two-year long talks have produced no results and that the situation is still tense is also attested to by the very sharp statement by Croatian president Franjo Tudjman made at a press conference on March 1, in which he assessed that "the Slovenians had occupied St.Gera" and that Croatia "cannot watch that calmly." In response to this, the Slovenian Ministry of agriculture soon issued an ultimatum to the Croatian electric power industry to pay 10 million DM for its bank accounts to be unblocked and for partially repaying its debt to the Slovenian nuclear power plant in Krsko (Croatia owes the power plant 60, and Slovenia around 30 million DM), or else, the nuclear power plant will stop supplying Croatia with electricity. The ultimatum came when, due to the shortage of electricity, the Croatian electric power industry started introducing day-long power cuts in Dalmatia. Without some kind of settlement, the north-western part of Croatia would also have been left in the dark...

The dispute was (temporarily) resolved by Croatia paying back part of the debt. But, then came Croatia's retaliation in the form of an ultimatum---if the "Ljubljana bank" does not pay out the so called old hard currency savings to Croatian citizens under the same conditions as apply to Slovenian bank account owners, it will become the Croatian state's property...

The dispute over a hillock (to make the matter even more paradoxical, its name in Slovenia is Trdinov Vrh, and on the other side of the border, in Croatia---St.Gera) on which there is also a barracks of the former federal army---the Yugoslav People's Army (which is now used by members of Slovenian territorial defense units), as well as the inter-state quarrel over a few hundred meters of forests on Sneznik and the high tones because of the still non-existent demarcation of the bay of Piran (which both republics claim to possess) could perhaps seem ridiculous from today's perspective, but let us not forget that many other, seemingly harmless conflicts between former Yugoslav republics appeared to be just as ridiculous. For this reason it would probably be good if, unlike its belated reaction in the case of Yugoslavia's disintegration, Europe devoted some more attention to this dispute already now, since it is still not too late for relatively simple solutions.

In any case, of all the unpleasant topics burdening Croatian-Slovenian relations, certainly the most unpleasant and dangerous is the dispute over the territorial division of the bay of Piran. Even though, compared to other borders between former Yugoslav republics, those between Slovenia and Croatia are the most precisely drawn and defined, a comical situation has been created and every side is now insisting on its own principles and presenting its own maps. In resolving the dispute, it would certainly be most important of all to determine the end point on the coast on the basis of which the border on the sea would be defined. Thus, in the event of the Slovenian proposal being accepted, the border on the sea would be determined on the basis of municipality borders as registered in cadastres, and Slovenia would get almost the entire bay of Piran. But, if the Croatian proposal were to be accepted, Slovenia would lose half of its already small territorial sea. And the rifle shots at a Slovenian boat from the Croatian side, and frequent unpleasant encounters of the two state's police boats in the bay, show that the present academic discussions could soon lead to a tragic result. One of the arguments for Slovenia's claim to the bay of Piran is the fact that, until the two republics became independent (June 25th 1991), it was secured and used---by the Slovenian side, and in international law that is an important argument for determining whom the bay of Piran would belong to. There exist several old documents, that is, decrees issued by the Piran municipality entrusting the Slovenian police with controlling the fish preserve in the bay, as well as new ones. For instance, at several coordinating meetings with the Croatian side (before and after the proclamation of the two countries' independence) it was agreed that the Slovenian police continue to control almost the entire bay of Piran. Today, Croatian negotiators reject those agreements. At the same time, the Slovenian side criticizes the Croats for advocating contradictory criteria in determining borders, since they recognize municipal borders as state borders everywhere except in the part around the bay of Piran. Finally, for two years now, these have not been just academic disputes. In the bay of Piran, Slovenian and Croatian patrol boats, and even war ships have been running into one another for months, urging (for the moment without the use of force) the other side to leave the bay so that, perhaps before some future international tribunal, they would be able to prove that they "actually possess" and have the right to the entire bay. Thus, as soon as they started drawing their own borders, the two new states which, unlike other former Yugoslav republics, solemnly undertook to respect the inviolability of borders and to be in favour of a peaceful resolution of all disputes, got entangled in confrontations over several heaps of earth and a part of the bay. What these disputes are like in practice is best illustrated by the official report of the Slovenian foreign ministry submitted to the Assembly in the form of an answer to an MP's question. Thus, in 1992, Slovenia had 67 border disputes with Croatia, as many as 64 of which were to the detriment of the Republic of Slovenia. Six of them were violations on the sea, 5 of which were from the Croatian side. In 1993, this picture drastically changed. "The first assessments of the events on the sea, especially in the bay of Piran which is controlled by the Slovenian police, show that the problem is deteriorating this year, since in all of 1992 there were five border incidents, while the same number was registered in only thirteen days of 1993," says the official report. Examples of "close encounters" in the bay of Piran supplement this gloomy picture, illustrating the level of the two countries' relations and the kind of policy they are conducting towards each other. Thus, for instance, on November 29th 1992, Slovenian fisherman Zlatko Novogradec informed the Slovenian police at the border crossing in Piran that, when he was lifting his net in the bay, a Croatian patrol boat, which came from the direction of Savudrija, tried to stop him. The fisherman started heading towards Piran, but the Croatian boat followed him deep into the bay, shot up a flare and finally abandoned the pursuit and returned in the direction Savudrija. Encounters and skirmishes between Slovenian and Croatian patrol boats have become increasingly frequent. On January 13th, Croatia obviously decided to end the game and to use "heavier" arguments in the showdown. There was an encounter in the bay between a Slovenian police boat and a Croatian war ship which was around two miles inside the waters under Slovenian control. Slovenian policemen took pictures of the encounter. After both sides kept insisting, for quite some time, on the other side's departure, and this being accompanied by mutual accusations, the Slovenian patrol boat sailed off to a "safe" distance from the Croatian gun-boat, which, even then, kept ordering the Slovenian boat to move further away, and only afterwards did this ship belonging to the Croatian navy slowly sail off towards Savudrija. "The crew of the military ship was in full war gear, with open cannons and artillerymen behind them," observed the Slovenian policemen. Thus, with a "gun-boat diplomacy" and the unilateral drawing of borders, which the Croatian authorities first resorted to, the crisis has entered a new phase. These incidents have caused great disturbance among the Slovenian public. This is unequivocally attested to by public opinion polls: in 1990, 3.8 per cent of the polled saw Croatia as a state that could endanger the independence of Slovenia; in 1991, this was the opinion of 3.5 per cent of the pollees and in 1992, of as many as 46.5. The bargaining over such small territories could perhaps seem like futile nitpicking, but for small states with a relatively small number of inhabitants every square meter is obviously of great importance. And the intransigence of the stands is also contributed to by the position in which the new states have found themselves. Namely, the parties involved in this dispute are states to which the disintegration of former Yugoslavia hasn't brought only independence but also painful restrictions. Thus, due to the uprising of the Serbs in the Krajina regions, Croatia does not control one third of its territory, so that it is very sensitive to all open territorial issues. On the other hand, with the disintegration of Yugoslavia, Slovenia was left without direct access to the international waters of the Adriatic and it got a little part of the coast and of the territorial sea so that, according to eminent Slovenian expert on issues concerning international law, Dr.Mirjam Skrk, Slovenia "belongs to the group of geographically deprived states." Its fishing boats can reach the international waters of the Adriatic (12 miles from the coast) only via Croatian territorial waters. As a possible solution, the Slovenian diplomacy is proposing to the Croatian and the Italian side to recognize the northern part of the Adriatic as the "Venetian bay," so that more lenient international regulations would be applied to Slovenian ships. However, an imminent success of this initiative is not very probable for many reasons.

Meanwhile, for several months now, Slovenian boats have been treated in the Croatian sea as foreign boats and they are forbidden to catch fish. This has largely affected the Slovenian fish industry. Apart from that, Croatian police boats have the right to control whether, while they are "harmlessly passing," which is permitted by international law, Slovenian boats act in accordance with regulations. The problem is that, in doing this, Croatian patrol boats abide by the naval practice inherited from the disintegrated Yugoslavia, a practice which, for the purpose of preventing "intrusions" by Italian fishing boats (which had enough of their own sea, so that they had nothing ask for in the Yugoslav territorial waters) were very rigorous and partly even uncoordinated with international regulations. Due to the application of these rigorous "Yugoslav" regulations, Croatian police boats punish Slovenian fishermen even for minor and unimportant offenses (the way ships sail, the way they pack their nets) which provokes protests on the Slovenian side... Since they are not able to reach agreement, each side is making unilateral moves. In the bay of Piran the Slovenian border police placed its facilities where the cadastre municipal borders end. In Sneznik, Croatian foresters cut part of the forest on the Slovenian side. The hillock on St.Gera perhaps really does belong to Croatia, but Slovenian politicians haven't said and will not say so out loud because they want to resolve this problem "within the framework of the entire border issue," that is, to return the hillock only after the borders on the sea are defined, which, as it is known, Croatia is not ready to accept... Perhaps it is necessary to wait a few more years for these disputes to be resolved in bilateral negotiations. If moderate tones prevail on both sides, it will still not be too late for agreement to be reached successfully. However, if the present state lasts too long, it will not be good either for the new states or for their neighbors. For this reason many experts on both sides suggest that the problem be internationalized and that it be resolved with the help of the Inter-state court in the Hague. In that way, the two republics that have become independent could show in practice that they meant seriously when, over the past years, they advocated the principle of a peaceful resolution of disputes and the respect of international law, and to prevent some future, perhaps not even malevolent shot in the bay of Piran, from finishing like other disputes in the rest of the Balkans.