Soon after the Slovenian parliament unanimously passed a law declaring a protective ecological zone and continental shelf in the Adriatic on Tuesday, 4 October, Croatia officially proposed that an international body should make the final decision on the disputed maritime border in Piran Bay.
While no body was specified, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague has been most often mentioned by both sides. While the government is still studying the proposal, Slovenia's government and opposition officials immediately rejected the possibility of putting to arbitration solely the maritime border. If anything, all disputed border points should be subject to it, which Croatian PM Ivo Sanader then mentioned as an option Croatia would not oppose, should Slovenia put it forward. Meanwhile, the Croatian parliament unanimously declared the Slovenian law on the protective zone null and void and without any basis in international law on Thursday, 6 October. Commenting on the move, Slovenian government officials did not exclude the possibility of Slovenia holding a referendum on the neighbour's EU entry. Nevertheless, they welcomed the launch of Croatia's EU accession talks, which was endorsed by the EU on Tuesday, 4 October. Yet, FM Dimitrij Rupel thought it would be premature to expect Croatia would join the EU as early as 2008.
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