Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03ZAGREB2227
2003-10-16 07:37:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Zagreb
Cable title:  

TROUBLED WATERS OVER CROATIA'S ECOLOGICAL AND

Tags:  PREL PBTS PHSA EWWT EFIS SENV HR 
pdf how-to read a cable
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L ZAGREB 002227 

SIPDIS


STATE PASS L/ASHLEY ROACH AND OES/BOB SMITH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/15/2013
TAGS: PREL PBTS PHSA EWWT EFIS SENV HR
SUBJECT: TROUBLED WATERS OVER CROATIA'S ECOLOGICAL AND
FISHING ZONE?

REF: A. ZAGREB 01903

B. ZAGREB 01925

Classified By: Pol/Econ Counselor Nicholas Hill, Reason: 1.5 b and d

Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L ZAGREB 002227

SIPDIS


STATE PASS L/ASHLEY ROACH AND OES/BOB SMITH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/15/2013
TAGS: PREL PBTS PHSA EWWT EFIS SENV HR
SUBJECT: TROUBLED WATERS OVER CROATIA'S ECOLOGICAL AND
FISHING ZONE?

REF: A. ZAGREB 01903

B. ZAGREB 01925

Classified By: Pol/Econ Counselor Nicholas Hill, Reason: 1.5 b and d

Summary
--------------


1. (C) Croatia continues to have trouble with its neighbors
and the EU over its economic zone waters. On October 3, the
Croatia parliament approved the government's proposal to
proclaim an ecological and fishing zone in the Adriatic. By
scaling back its earlier plan to declare an exclusive
economic zone (EEZ),and by deferring implementation of the
zone for twelve months, the government hopes to blunt the
wrath of the EU and neighboring countries. The government
apparently feared that the EU -- pushed by Italy and Slovenia
-- would try to limit Croatia's options by unveiling at the
November 25 Mediterranean Fisheries Ministers conference in
Venice a proposal for a "joint economic zone." End Summary.

Showing They Can Disagree about Anything...
--------------


2. (U) On October 3, the Croatian parliament supported a
government proposal to declare a fishing and ecological zone,
a step down from the earlier proposal for an exclusive
economic zone, with a delay in implementation of 12 months.
Although the difference between a fishing and ecological zone
and an EEZ is slight -- both are based on the Convention of
the Law of the Sea -- the issue has emerged as a bone of
contention for Croatia's ruling coalition. The largest party
in the coalition, the Social Democrats (SDP),argued that
Croatia could avoid worse problems with the EU by scaling
back the scope of its extension of jurisdiction. The
opposition plus the Peasants Party (HSS) -- the ruling
coalition's second largest party -- argued that it would be a
betrayal of national interests if Croatia did not exert its
full rights. In the end, the HSS agreed to the government's
proposal after a non-substantive amendment was added. With
eyes on parliamentary elections -- expected on November 23 --
all parties saw this as a net political gain with the

Croatian public.

EEZ Option Endangered
--------------


3. (C) Andreja Metelko-Zgombic, head of the MFA's
International Legal Department, confirmed that the country
delegations to the September 24 Brussels prepatory meeting
for the Venice Conference of Fisheries Ministers had indeed
urged Croatia not to act unilaterally -- a posture she found
somewhat hypocritical, given that a number of European
countries had declared unilaterally fishing and/or ecological
zones, including in the Mediterranean. She believed that
Italy was developing a novel idea for a "special" regime for
the Adriatic. Croatia has long maintained its right to
declare an exclusive economic zone, including relevant
language from the Convention on the Law of the Sea in its
domestic Maritime Code from 1994. It would be harder to
invoke this right, she said, if and when the EU clearly
stated a preference for a different solution.


4. (C) Zgombic reaffirmed that Croatia felt confident it
could and should accommodate Slovenian economic interests in
fisheries. She said only two Slovenian boats now enter the
high seas, mainly to catch sardines for Slovenian canneries.
Their needs would be addressed easily. More difficult would
be Slovenia's political needs. Zgombic said a 1993 Slovenian
parliamentary declaration set as a Slovenian diplomatic
imperative "territorial contact" with the high seas and
control over the entire Piran Bay. She told us that the
Slovenian position was emotionally charged and, from a legal
perspective, largely "irrational."

The Adriatic as a European Sea
--------------


5. (C) "The Adriatic must be a European sea," said an easily
exasperated Slovenian diplomat we talked to on October 7.
Jadran Hocevar, the Political Counselor and sometime DCM,
told us he was outraged by the Croatian declaration of the
ecological/fisheries zone. He said that Slovenia's economic
interests could be more easily accommodated than its
political interests: "We have 30 commercial fishermen, 46 and
a half kilometers of coast, and 1000 years of history." He
predicted that the declaration would make implementation of
the 2001 border "agreement" between Slovenia and Croatia more
difficult -- an implausible comment given that the Croatians
have said over and over again that the deal initialed by
representatives of the two prime ministers was a dead letter
already because the Croatian parliament would not ratify it.

Chasing the Few Fish Left
--------------


6. (C) Hocevar noted that Italian interests would be even
harder to accommodate than Slovenia's. The Italian side of
the Adriatic has been fished out almost completely -- a point
the Italian DCM conceded to us privately. "We've over-fished
our side of the Adriatic," he said bluntly during a reception
last month. "We must fish in the eastern half." As a
result, large Italian fishing vessels regularly ply close to
-- and occasionally in -- Croatian territorial waters, taking
advantage of the rich spawning areas off Croatia's vast
network of islands. While Slovenia caught about 1,500 tons
of fish a year, and Croatia about 30,000 tons, Hocevar
estimated Italy's catch at "several hundreds of thousands" of
tons. For their part, the Croatians point to independent
studies showing that fish stocks in the Adriatic are in steep
decline.

Comment
--------------


7. (C) Science and politics have mixed to create the GOC's
current problems over its waters. The ruling coalition faces
considerable political pressure to do more to protect its
waters and diminishing fish stocks. While it would be easy
to ascribe the current kerfuffle to GOC incompetence -- a
default explanation that usually works -- on this issue, the
government may conceivably be acting shrewdly, although the
strength of EU displeasure has yet to be measured. The
Venice Conference looms large and the GOC may want to improve
its negotiating posture in advance. Given its EU-centric
focus, it will likely cede much to its neighbors -- allowing,
for example, Italian trawlers to fish in its ecological zone
and Slovenian ships to enter at will. What the Croatians
will not want to cede will be their right under international
law to declare an ecological and fishing zone. And they will
want to exclude vessels from outside the region -- for
example, Asian fish factory trawlers. On this point, they
should not have difficulty gathering a chorus of supporters
among the participants in Venice.

MOON


NNNN