ANNUAL SUMMER BORDER SPAT ENDS AMICABLY

UNCLAS ZAGREB 001079 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL HR SI REGIONAL ISSUES SUBJECT: ANNUAL SUMMER BORDER SPAT ENDS AMICABLY Ref: Zagreb 1026 and previous Sensitive but Unclassified - please handle accordingly ¶1. (SBU) Summary and comment: Croatian PM Sanader and Slovenian PM Jansa agreed September 2 to cooperate in a flood-control project on the banks of the Mura river, where uncertainty about precise border demarcation recently led to controversy. With both capitals returning to work after the summer, the two leaders acted responsibly - as they have in the past - to prevent a minor confrontation over construction equipment from becoming something more serious. Disagreements remain however, over the land border and the maritime boundary, and eventually both governments will have to take a more comprehensive approach to resolving them. End Summary and Comment ¶2. (U) Croatian Foreign Minister Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic told the press September 4 that the September 2 agreement between Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader and his Slovene counterpart Janez Jansa to cooperate in reinforcing a dyke on the left bank of the River Mura, which stretches along both sides of the border, does not prejudge the state border but is to the benefit of both countries and local population and sets an example of how two countries strengthen their international position through cooperation. The agreement to have the dyke reinforced by Croatian and Slovene companies is in line with the findings of the Badinter commission, which concluded that borders between states established in the area of the former Yugoslavia were borders of the former Yugoslav republics, which Croatia fully supports, the minister told reporters. ¶3. (SBU) The FM explained that the dyke on the River Mura was built sixty years ago and is no longer effective in controlling floods. In 1999, the two countries agreed to repair it together but nothing was done until June 2006 when Slovenia announced it would repair the dyke on its own. Croatian authorities declined to allow Slovenian repair work to be carried out in Croatian territory, but took steps to begin reinforcing the dyke, informing the Slovene side in notes. The repairs are being carried out in the area where data on municipal borders correspond in both Croatian and Slovene cadastral (land ownership) books. (NOTE: Because land ownership has no real bearing on the determination national borders, this statement is not clear and has caused some consternation in Slovenia.) A bridge over the Mura linking Sveti Martin and Hotiza and a local border crossing were built in the area. The Croatian press reported that the Minister asserted that Slovenia confirmed in an exchange of notes in early 2005 that the border crossing is in Croatian territory. COMMENT: Embassy Ljubljana indicates that the Slovenian MFA sees this statement as unfounded. According to the Slovenian MFA, Grabar Kitarovic was referring to one of the border-crossings described in an Agreement on Trans- border Cooperation which also includes a special clause to the effect that the Agreement's regulations do not prejudice any future border determination between the two countries. END COMMENT ¶4. (U) Slovene Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel responded in the press on September 5, noting that the joint statement agreed by Prime Minister Janez Jansa of Slovenia and Ivo Sanader of Croatia at a meeting by the Mura river on September 2 showed the need to maintain the state of affairs along the border that had existed on June 25, 1991 when the two countries declared independence from the Yugoslav federation. Bradtke