Gulf of Piran 2627773 221861390 2008-06-26T12:26:05Z 89.212.230.10 {{Cleanup|date=June 2008}} [[Image:Portorož.JPG|thumb|300px|right|The Gulf of Piran, as seen from [[Portorož]].]] The '''Gulf of Piran''' ({{lang-sl|Piranski zaliv}}, {{lang-hr|Piranski zaljev (rarely Savudrijska vala)}}, {{lang-it|Baia di Pirano}}), named after the town of [[Piran]], is a [[headlands and bays|gulf]] in the northern part of the [[Adriatic Sea]] and part of the [[Gulf of Trieste]]. It measures around 19 km². It is delimited by line connecting point of Madona (''Rt Madona'', [[Slovenia]]) to point of Savudrija (''Savudrijski rt'', [[Croatia]]). The bay is divided between Croatia (sout) and Slovenia (north), but exact maritime border is a matter of [[#Dispute|dispute]] since 1991. On the northern (slovenian) coast lay cities of [[Piran]], [[Portorož]] and [[Lucija]]. On the southern, Croatian, coast are tourist camps (biuldt in 1980) of [[Crveni vrh]] and [[Kanegra]]. The main river flowing into the bay is [[Dragonja]]<!-- , ob izlivu v morje so obsežne [[Sečoveljske soline]].-->, whose mouth marks the border between Croatia and Slovenia. == Dispute == [[Image:Bay-of-Piran maritime-boundary-dispute.jpg|thumb|230px|right|Sea border between Slovenia and Croatia according to the [[Drnovšek-Račan Agreement]] which was never ratified.]] Since 1991, the border between [[Slovenia]] and [[Croatia]] in the Gulf of Piran has been disputed. The two countries disagree about the border, as it was never defined in the [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|former Yugoslavia]]. == Croatian claims == [[Croatia]] claims that the border line should be equidistant from both shores. The claim is based on the Article 15 of the [[United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea]]<ref name="article 15">[http://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/part2.htm UN convention of the Law of the Sea, Part II]: Full text of the Article 15 reads: Where the coasts of two States are opposite or adjacent to each other, neither of the two States is entitled, failing agreement between them to the contrary, to extend its territorial sea beyond the median line every point of which is equidistant from the nearest points on the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial seas of each of the two States is measured. The above provision does not apply, however, where it is necessary by reason of historic title or other special circumstances to delimit the territorial seas of the two States in a way which is at variance therewith.</ref>. If Slovenian claims of historical right are proven true, these claims will be denied by the very same article. == Slovenian claims == Slovenian claims are based on the [[United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea]] (article 15, second sentence)<ref name = "article 15" />, which stipulates historical claims and control of the seas supersedes other claims, as well as the treaty of mutual recognition between both countries, which sets the border between the two countries on the borders existing on June 25, 1991, the date when Croatia and Slovenia declared independence. According to Slovenia, [[Savudrija]] was connected with Piran for centuries, and Slovenian police have constantly controlled the whole gulf between [[1954]] (dissolution of the [[Free Territory of Trieste]]) and [[1991]] (breakup of Yugoslavia), so the whole gulf is to belong to Slovenia. Historical control by Slovenia is disputed by Croatia<ref name="turkalj">[http://www.pravnadatoteka.hr/pdf/aktualno/hrv/20021015/Turkalj_Razgranicenje_teritorijalnog_mora.pdf International border in Gulf of Piran ('''Slovenian''').]</ref>. Beside requests for a greater part of the Bay, so Slovenian territorial waters would border international waters, Slovenia even proclaimed its own [[EEZ]]. According to [[United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea]]{{Fact|date=May 2008}}, that Slovenia ratified at July 6th 1992{{Fact|date=May 2008}}, [[EEZ]] must be connected with territorial waters and territorial waters can extend up to 12 miles from land. Slovenian territory is more that 15 miles{{Fact|date=May 2008}} from international waters. Thus, Slovenian claims for access to open seas contradicts [[United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea]]. If [[Slovenian EEZ]] is accepted, every point of it would be closest to Croatia and also closer to Italy than to Slovenia, which also contradicts{{Fact|date=May 2008}} United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. == United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea == {{POV-section|date=May 2008}} According to [[United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea]], in case of dispute, both sides should restrain from crossing the equidistant line{{Fact|date=April 2008}}. Croatian fishermen have respected the equidistant line since the dispute started, but Slovenian fishermen have continued to fish beyond the equidistant line in the disputed territory, claimed by both [[Slovenia]] and [[Croatia]], since they own shellfish farms south of the line.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} == History of dispute == Following World War II, the area from north of Trieste to river Mirna to the south was a part of [[Free Territory of Trieste]]. In 1954 the territory was dissolved and territories were provisionally divided between Italy and Yugoslavia, and formally annexed by the [[Treaty of Osimo]] in 1975. The Yugoslav part was further divided between Slovenia and Croatia, both consituent republics of the federation. After the independence of both nations, the Gulf of Piran has been an agenda of conflict for fishermen and police from both countries. Shortly after both countries declared independence, in the first draft proposal of delimitation, Slovenia proposed<ref name="turkalj"/> to establish the borderline in the center of the bay, which is the position of Croatia today. However, Slovenia changed its proposal next year. A few months later, on June 5th 1992, Slovenia, for the first time, requested the entire gulf to be Slovenian. Since then, Slovenia has kept insisting on this position. === Račan-Drnovšek agreement === On July 20, 2001, the Prime Ministers of Slovenia and Croatia initialled the so-called [[Drnovšek-Račan Agreement]] which defined the entire border between the countries, including the maritime border. <ref>''See'' Damir Arnaut, ''Stormy Waters on the Way to the High Sees: The Case of the Territorial Sea Delimitation between Croatia and Slovenia'', in David Caron & Harry Scheiber, Eds., Bringing New Law to Ocean Waters, Klüwer 2004, http://www.brill.nl/m_catalogue_sub6_id21272.htm</ref> According to that agreement, Croatia would get approximately one third of the gulf and a maritime border with Italy while Slovenia would get a corridor to [[international waters]]. However, the Croatian parliament voted against the ratification of the agreement. ==References== {{reflist}} [[Category:Landforms of Croatia]] [[Category:Landforms of Slovenia]] [[Category:disputed waters]] [[bs:Piranski zaliv]] [[et:Pirani laht]] [[fr:Baie de Piran]] [[hr:Piranski zaljev]] [[nl:Baai van Piran]] [[sl:Piranski zaliv]] [[sr:Пирански залив]]